![]() ![]() These integrated spacecraft, rockets and associated systems will carry up to four astronauts on NASA missions, maintaining a space station crew of seven to maximize time dedicated to scientific research on the orbiting laboratory. NASA selected Boeing and SpaceX in September 2014 to transport crew to the International Space Station from the United States. The goal is to have safe, reliable and cost-effective access to and from the International Space Station and foster commercial access to other potential low-Earth orbit destinations. The US is turning to the private sector to help with crew transport after retiring the space shuttle fleet in 2011.NASA's Commercial Crew Program has worked with several American aerospace industry companies to facilitate the development of U.S. The ISS has been continuously staffed with international crews since, hosting 207 people who lived on the space station from a period of weeks to months.Ĭurrently, the lone way crews can be transported to and from the ISS is aboard Russian Soyuz spacecraft. The first humans, a three-person crew known as Expedition 1, boarded the space station on Nov. The space station has a mass of about 450,000 kg, is 72.8 m in length, by 108.5 m in width and is about 20 m in height. Called the Zarya, or “Sunrise,” this ISS module was designed to provide the station’s initial propulsion and power. The first portion of what would become the massive International Space Station was launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakstan, on Nov. The unique partnership includes the space agencies of the United States, Russia, Europe, Japan and Canada, as well as nations that are a part of the European Space Agency: France, Germany, Italy, Denmark, Sweden, Belgium, Netherlands, Spain, United Kingdom, Switzerland, and Norway. Sixteen nations participate in what NASA calls the most technically and politically complex space exploration program ever undertaken. (NASA)Īfter years of planning and negotiation, the ISS has become a truly international venture. The first ISS module Zarya as seen from the space shuttle Endeavour in December 1998. Other countries were invited to participate as well. President Ronald Reagan, during his 1984 State of the Union address, committed the United States to developing a permanently-occupied space station that would not only involve NASA. The space agency suggests people choose the location nearest to them if they can’t find their specific position on the list. NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, calculates and updates ISS sighting information twice a week for more 4,600 cities and towns throughout the world. NASA says it will send notification messages for good sightings only, which is when the ISS passes high enough in the sky to be easily seen over objects like trees and buildings. Also, the new service won’t waste your time or eat up text message units by sending useless information. People who sign up for “Spot the Station” will be able set their alerts for morning or evening sightings, or both. Most of the world’s population should be able to see the ISS since it passes over more than 90 percent of people living on Earth. The space station’s size and brightness are about the same as the planet Venus. On a clear night, NASA says the space station can be seen as a point of light traveling at about the speed of a fast-moving airplane. Attend a Space Center Houston special event to meet NASA astronauts, hear from inspiring thought leaders, become a scientist in immersive. Next to the moon, it is the brightest object in the night sky. The ISS, which flies about 322 km above us, is usually best glimpsed either at dawn or dusk. Shepherd, mission commander and cosmonaut Sergei K. Gidzenko, Soyuz commander astronaut William M. The Expedition 1 crew, the first humans aboard the International Space Station in November 2000, enjoy a snack. ![]()
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