Beefing Up the International Space Station . ... Credit Copyright: STS-113 Shuttle Crew , NASA Explanation: The International Space Station (ISS) will be the largest human-made object ever to orbit the Earth . The station is so large that it could not be launched all at once -- it is being built piecemeal with large sections added continually by flights of the Space Shuttle . ... Pictured above at the end of last month, astronaut Michael Lopez-Alegria works to install the Port-One Truss . ...