The
International Space Station (ISS) is to be the largest
structure in space. When completed in 2003 it will be 290
feet long, have a wing span of 356 feet and 4.5 inches, and
weigh 414 tons. It will take over 50 launches to complete
and is the largest international space project ever
undertaken, involving teams from the United States of
America, Russia, Canada, Japan, Brazil, and eleven European
countries. Powered by solar arrays it will be able to
generate 110 kilowatts of power. When done it will support a
permanent international crew of seven astronauts and their
experiments. The assembly will require launch vehicles from
the United States, Russia, and possibly Japan and France. It
will be assembled by flight crew onboard the shuttle and
later on the ISS its self.
Construction on the
International Space has already started. In December 1998,
the crew of Space Shuttle Mission STS-88 began construction
of the International Space Station, joining the U.S.-built
Unity node to the Russian-built Zarya module. The crew
carried a large format IMAX(r) camera from which this
picture was taken. Astronaut James Newman working on
communication cables on Unity while Astronaut Ross monitors
his progress .
![[Picture]](spinglob.gif)
![[Picture]](iss.gif)
