The purpose of the United States' first space station, Skylab, was to prove that people could live and work in space for an extended period of time. Compared to the Apollo capsule it was spacious, about the size of a small house! The astronauts did not have to wear spacesuits all the time as in previous space capsules. Studies were conducted on how well humans adapted to life in space, and data was collected for earth and solar research. Experiments were also conducted in a field called "microgravity" (very close to no gravity at all). In the absence of gravity substances behave differently. For example, on earth we all recognize the shape of a candle flame. But in low gravity the flame looks more like a hemisphere.

Beginning in 1981, a new vehicle called the space shuttle was used for space travel. The shuttle allows men and women to live and work in space. Science experiments conducted on board the shuttle can be used to study the effects of space flight on humans, animals and plants. Other experiments have studied how things can be manufactured in space. The shuttle astronauts also launch satellites from the shuttle and even repair satellites already out in space.

The space station Mir (the Russian word for peace), was occupied by both former Soviet Union and United States crews, demonstrating international cooperation.

The next endeavor is the International Space Station (ISS). The ISS is the largest scientific collaboration in history -- so important and expensive that no one country could create and support it. Sixteen different nations are contributing their scientific expertise and resources to the project. The countries are: the United States, Canada, Brazil, Russia, Belgium, France, Germany, Netherlands, Japan, United Kingdom, Switzerland, Sweden, Spain, Italy, Norway and Denmark.

Although the station will not be completed until 2004, the first occupants will arrive in January, 2000. It will take 45 space missions to build and complete the construction of the station. The international crew of two Russian cosmonauts and one American astronaut has been training for the mission since 1996. Once on board the station will be continually manned.

The station has over 100 major components. These modules were named by the country which created them. For example two modules from the United States are called "Unity" and "Destiny"; another built by Russia is call "Zarya", which means "Sunrise". Astronauts from all these different countries will live and work in space together in this orbiting laboratory.

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Last modified: Mon Sep 6 11:55:30 PDT 199r97

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