The largest man-made object in space, the International Space Station (ISS) is celebrating its 15th birthday today. On December 10th 1998 the first two modules, the Russian Zarya and the America built Unity, joined together and had their doors opened to become the beginnings of the ISS. As of 5 June 2011 there had been 159 components added to the space station giving it a mass of approximately 450 000 kg and making it larger than an American Football field. The ISS holds the record for the longest continuous human presence in space at over 13 years having taken the record over from the last major space station to be orbiting our little blue planet, Russia’s Mir. NASA is holding an anniversary celebration in Florida with the original members of the US mission that opened the doors in attendance.
The ISS is slated to stay in operation until 2020 when its current funding will run out but the US is looking at potentially extending its service until 2028. Russia has also proposed using modules from the ISS in the construction of its new OPSEK station which is set to become the launch pad for longer travel period mission within our solar system to Mars and perhaps even Saturn.
The ISS remains one of the most interesting examples of inter-governmental cooperation with the United States, Russian, European, Japanese and Canadian agencies all having part in the joint operation.
(Image: Wikipedia)
