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Did you know that, even though the International Space Station (ISS) is in orbit more than 400 km above the Earth, it is visible to the naked eye from Canada and most other countries? The birth of this new star in our skies represents the most ambitious engineering project ever undertaken by humanity—the result of an unprecedented international effort.
Construction of this wonder of science and technology began in December 1998, when the Russian module Zarya (which means "sunrise" in Russian) and the American module Unity were successfully joined in space.
ISS assembly continued until the Columbia Space Shuttle accident on February 1, 2003. This tragedy resulted in the temporary cancellation of Space Shuttle flights, and thus, for the moment,
building activities have been suspended.
Since the Columbia accident, astronauts and cosmonauts are flying to the Space Station by Russian Soyuz rockets while Russian Proton rockets transport supplies. Shuttle flights will resume in 2005 with Mission STS-114. NASA estimates that more than 30 missions will be necessary to complete
the Space Station by 2010.
For the present ISS position, look for the link "Where is the Space Station?" at
scipoc.msfc.nasa.gov, or "Where is it now?" at
www.esa.int.
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