Space Watch

Launched in 1998, the International Space Station is an orbital laboratory jointly owned and operated by the space agencies of the USA, Russia, Japan, Canada, and Europe. Its primary purpose is to conduct various scientific experiments in an environment that only the ISS can provide. These experiments include: medical research, earth climate observations, testing prototype space equipment and examining the effects of weightlessness on the human body. Already the ISS has greatly contributed to disease research like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, heart disease and cancer research.

Due to the jointly owned nature of the ISS, the station was assembled with modules made by each of the participating countries. The ISS is manned by a crew of anywhere between 3 and 13 but is currently crewed by 7 people. Orbiting around Earth, the ISS is one of the greatest examples of global human cooperation to date.

In recent news, the ISS become 25 years old on the 6th of December 2023. As wonderful as this is it also means that the station is getting closer to its retirement date of 2030. Eventually the ISS will need to be replaced and when that time comes a special de-orbiting vehicle will be sent to guide the station into Earth’s atmosphere where it will safely burn up. However, by the time the ISS is ready for de-orbiting another space station should be ready to carry on its multi-decade mission.

References:

NASA. “International Space Station.” nasa.gov, https://www.nasa.gov/reference/international-space-station/. Accessed 14 December 2023.

Stone, Elena. littleastronomy.com. https://littleastronomy.com/purpose-of-the-international-space-station/. Accessed 14 December 2023.

Howell, Elizabeth. space.com. https://www.space.com/international-space-station-25th-anniversary-nasa-planning-end/. Accessed 14 December 2023.