The International Space Station (ISS) is an internationally developed research facility that is being assembled in low Earth orbit. On-orbit construction of the station began in 1998 and is scheduled for completion by late 2011.
The station is expected to remain in operation until at least 2015, and likely 2020. With a greater cross-sectional area than that of any previous space station, the ISS can be seen from Earth with the naked eye. and is by far the largest artificial satellite that has ever orbited Earth.
The ISS serves as a research laboratory that has a microgravity environment in which crews conduct experiments in biology, chemistry, medicine, physiology and physics, as well as astronomical and meteorological observations.
The station provides a unique environment for the testing of the spacecraft systems that will be required for missions to the Moon and Mars. The ISS is operated by Expedition crews of six astronauts and cosmonauts, with the station programme maintaining an uninterrupted human presence in space since the launch of Expedition 1 on 31 October 2000, a total of 10 years and 102 days. The programme thus holds the current record for the longest uninterrupted human presence in space, surpassing the previous record of 3,644 days, set aboard Mir. As of 25 November 2010, the crew of Expedition 26 is aboard.
The ISS is a synthesis of several space station projects that include the American Freedom, the Soviet/Russian Mir-2, the European Columbus and the Japanese Kibō. Budget constraints led to the merger of these projects into a single multi-national programme. The ISS project began in 1994 with the Shuttle-Mir programme,[18] and the first module of the station, Zarya, was launched in 1998 by Russia. Assembly continues, as pressurised modules, external trusses, and other components are launched by American space shuttles, Russian Proton rockets and Russian Soyuz rockets.
As of May 2010, the station consists of fourteen pressurised modules and an extensive integrated truss structure (ITS). Power is provided by sixteen solar arrays mounted on the external truss, in addition to four smaller arrays on the Russian modules. The station is maintained at an orbit between 278 km (173 mi) and 460 km (286 mi) altitude, and travels at an average speed of 27,743.8 km/h (17,239.2 mph), completing 15.7 orbits per day.
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Stația Spațială Internațională (engleză The International Space Station, ISS) este o stație spațială experimentală aflată în spațiu. Ea poate servi ca spațiu locuibil pentru un echipaj, post de comandă pentru operații pe orbită în jurul Pământului și ca port de întâlnire și acostare pentru mici nave spațiale.
Scopul pentru care este construită este studiul efectelor microgravitației și a menținerii vieții în spațiu și ca platformă de observație astronomică și a Pământului.
Fiind plasată pe orbită la o altitudine ce variază între 319,6 km și 346,9 km, este o structură artificială din spațiu care poate fi văzută cu ochiul liber de pe Pământ.
Stația Spațială Internațională este un proiect la care participă cinci mari agenții spațiale: NASA (Statele Unite ale Americii), RKA (Rusia), JAXA (Japonia), CSA (Canada) și ESA (o asociație de mai multe țări europene).
Official International Space Station
webpages of the participating space agencies:
• NASA
• RSC Energia
• Russian Federal Space Agency
• Canadian Space Agency
• European Space Agency
• Japanese Space Agency
• Italian Space Agency
• Brazilian Space Agency (in Portuguese, archived version)
Interactive and multimedia
• ISS in telescope
• NASA's ISS interactive reference guide
• NASA's ISS image gallery search page
• Current position of the ISS
• ISS and satellite tracking website
• ISS Webcam
• Animation showing ISS assembly sequence
• ISS real-time tracking information
Experiments and science
• ESA – Columbus
• JAXA – Space Environment Utilization and Space Experiment
• NASA – Station Science
• RSC Energia – Science Research on ISS Russian Segment
Click here:
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NASA:
HOUSTON -- Internet visitors can now see the Earth as never before -- live from the International Space Station via streaming video, seven days a week.
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UPDATE:15.03.2011
