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| Shuttle and Mir |
In 1990, the US and the Soviets were still playing space race and planning separate competing space stations. The US developed the shuttle and the Soviets built a space station, called Mir. With the fall of the Soviet Union, the space race ended. Budgets for space exploration in both countries were slashed. We needed to find another way to explore space. The International Space Station (ISS) was born. The program started with Shuttle missions to the Soviet space station, Mir, while the ISS was being designed and built. Cooperation, and contributions to the program were also added from other companies. Today, the crews have come from over 14 countries that participate in the ISS.
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| Zarya - first ISS module (Russian) |
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| Unity - second module (US) |
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| Click to Enlarge |
With the final module ISS will consist of 16 pressurized modules that were assembled by multiple countries and transported by Shuttle or Russian rockets to the ISS. In 2012, the Russians will launch the last module to connect to the ISS. In 1998, the role of the shuttle became building the ISS. Since construction started in 1998, 37 of the 43 shuttle flights have been to build and supply the ISS. The Russians have also made 67 flights. It has the living space of a five bedroom home and weighs nearly a million pounds. It has been an international project. What we all hoped when we left the plaque on the moon, that space is for all mankind.
The experiments aboard the ISS cover all fields of biology, chemistry, medical, pharmaceuticals, materials, and physics. Much of it is basic research, in that it is learning about these fields, not directly developing a product. This type of research is fundamental to future advances in technology. The station also serves as a proving ground to learn about how we can live in space for the time needed to reach Mars or colonize the moon.
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