On at the present time 22 years in the past, three astronauts arrived on the International Space Station (ISS) to start what’s turned out to be a steady human presence in orbit.

On Nov. 2, 2000, Exp 1 crewmates Bill Shepherd, Sergei Krikalev, and Yuri Gidzenko, the primary resident station crew members, arrived at their new residence in house to start a four-month keep aboard the orbiting outpost. 🧳🛰️ https://t.co/XUS3gB5JYr pic.twitter.com/isuP4nwjS7

— International Space Station (@Space_Station) November 2, 2022

The day earlier than a Russian Soyuz rocket launched Bill Shepherd, Sergei Krikalev, and Yuri Gidzenko to orbit on October 31, a NASA press launch mentioned that October 30, 2000, can be “the last day on which there were no human beings in space.”

And certainly, since then, there was a steady presence of worldwide astronauts on the ability because it orbits round 250 miles above Earth.

While years of planning went into the formidable venture to construct a space-based facility for human habitation, work started in earnest on November 20, 1998, with the launch of a Russian-made short-term management module referred to as Zarya.

A short while later, on December 4, NASA’s Space Shuttle Endeavour carried to orbit Unity Node 1 — the primary American part of the ISS.

Endeavour rendezvoused with Zarya, and utilizing the Shuttle’s robotic arm, captured the Russian module and related it to Unity.

It was the primary of many comparable docking maneuvers that steadily constructed the ISS right into a a lot bigger facility that’s now 356 toes (109 meters) end-to-end — one yard in need of the size of an American soccer discipline, together with the top zones.

NASA describes this marvel of contemporary engineering as “larger than a six-bedroom house,” providing loads of room for what’s normally a crew of round half a dozen astronauts.

Each set of visiting astronauts spends about six months residing and dealing aboard the satellite tv for pc, conducting science experiments in microgravity circumstances, the outcomes of which might profit humanity; performing upkeep on the station through spacewalks; figuring out to remain match; conducting Earth research from the ability’s seven-window Cupola module; and having fun with downtime with crewmates.

Despite the successes, challenges in sustaining the growing old station signifies that it’ll ultimately be decommissioned, in all probability in 2031. By that point, nonetheless, a brand new worldwide station needs to be in orbit, making certain a human presence in house for a very long time to come back.

A few years in the past, to mark the station’s twentieth 12 months, Digital Trends shared a set of movies displaying how astronauts stay and work aboard the ISS.

Editors’ Recommendations