
The modules can be compartmentalized into the following systems: With 39 main modules, the ISS was intricately assembled, mission by mission, over 22 years in LEO. The assembly of the International Space Station is much like the construction of a Lego block set. Modules of the International Space Station space economy but also frees up NASA’s funding to focus on missions involving deep space exploration. NASA’s willingness to contract commercial cargo resupply and crew transportation services give U.S.-based companies a competitive edge. The existence of the ISS also paved the way for the commercialization of LEO by allowing commercial research and payloads to come onboard. Robotic arms for maneuvers in space also make the impossible possible by removing inoperable brain tumors that could not have been accomplished with human hands alone.Īs astronauts were losing 1.5% of their total bone mass density per month, we were able to identify mechanisms that control bones at a cellular level, as well as the diet and exercises best used for bone loss prevention, which can be applied to vulnerable populations on Earth that suffer from diseases like osteoporosis. These technologies and the study of biological and physical processes in the near absence of gravity enable the creation of products called “ spinoffs“, which are used to benefit the people on Earth.Įxamples of “spinoffs” include the support of water purification efforts worldwide, where the technology developed for water purification in space can be used for high-risk areas on Earth to provide safe drinking water.
INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION PURPOSE HOW TO
The experiments conducted aboard the ISS can help humans understand how to best adapt to long-term space living and develop the technology needed to help us explore further and further into the unknown. The international space station is a technological marvel that is also the most ambitious international collaboration project and the most politically complex space exploration program to exist. What is the purpose of the International Space Station? The following is a list of all international partners involved with the International Space Station:

The principal space agencies include the United States, Russia, Europe, Japan, and Canada. The ISS results from an international partnership of space agencies. This allows the ISS to complete 16 orbits around the Earth every 24 hours while traveling through 16 sunrises and sunsets.

ISS modules were often launched from different countries and continents, and they were not assembled until reaching orbit.īy orbiting the Earth in its low Earth orbit (LEO) at an approximate altitude of 250 miles traveling at a speed of 5 miles per second, or 17,500 miles per hour, the ISS can make a trip (orbit) around the Earth every 90 minutes. Russia launched the first piece of the ISS in 1998, and it serves as a unique research facility with state-of-the-art laboratories for conducting experiments under microgravity conditions. The International Space Station, otherwise known as the ISS, is the largest spacecraft in orbit around Earth.
