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.

Canada is contributing an essential component of the International Space Station, the Mobile Servicing System (MSS). The MSS consists of three main elements: the Space Station Remote Manipulator System (SSRMS), known as Canadarm2, the Mobile Base System (MBS), and the Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator (SPDM), known as Dextre.