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ISS News

The International Space Station celebrates 10 years as humanity’s home in space

On November 2, 2010, as it logs 2,4 billion km on the odometer, the International Space Station (ISS) will mark another major milestone in its history: the tenth anniversary of humans living continuously on board the orbital outpost.

Since the first module of the Station was launched in 1998, the Station has circled the globe 16 times per day at 28 000 km/h at an altitude of about 370 km, covering a distance equivalent to the Moon and back daily. US Astronaut Bill Shepherd and Cosmonauts Yury Gidzenko and Sergei Krikalev were the first crew to live on board the ISS, spending a total of 136 days aboard the fledgling spacecraft. Since then, close to 200 people have lived and worked on board the Station, including six Canadians.

Canadian robotics literally constructed the Station while in space, with the Shuttle’s Canadarm joining the first two segments. After its installation in 2001, Canadarm2 became the “construction crane” of the Station (with help from the Shuttle’s robotic arm), assembling the Station section by section and continuing to service the ISS along with Dextre and the mobile base. Today, the ISS has about as much living space as a five-bedroom house and is home to a crew of six residents, with six more Space Shuttle visitors en route this week.

More than 600 science experiments have been conducted on the ISS to date, including Canadian research on the cardiovascular and nervous systems, radiation exposure, plant growth in space and physical sciences.

Congratulations to the team members from 15 countries around the world who work around the clock to sustain the ISS on its mission!

This week, the ISS will be visible in the night sky over many Canadian cities. Why not take a moment and head outside to see the Space Station for yourself?