Credit & Copyright: NASA's
Johnson Space Center
Explanation:
It is the largest and most sophisticated object ever built off the Earth.
It has taken numerous spaceflights and over a decade to
construct.
The International
Space Station
(ISS) is currently the
premiere habitat for humans in Earth orbit, and an amalgamation
of sophisticated orbiting laboratories that have examined everything from the formation
of
new materials and
medicines created in
microgravity -- to the limitations of the human body -- to the
composition of the universe.
This month, the
ISS is
celebrating 15 years of continuous human habitation.
The ISS has been visited by astronauts from 15 countries,
so far, and has
international
partners led by
NASA (USA),
Roscosmos (Russia),
CSA (Canada),
JAXA (Japan), and
ESA (Europe).
The featured animation
shows the piece-by-piece construction of the
ISS from 1998 to 2011.
Spanning the length of a football field, the
ISS can be
seen as an unusually
bright spot drifting slowly overhead by anyone who knows
when and where to look.
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day