ISS: Some assembly required 1998 The beginning
The first module of the international space station is the Russian-built Functional Cargo Block, also known as Zarya (Sunrise). This component gives the space outpost its initial power, storage and propulsion capabilities.
2002
The international space station has its origins in 1984, when President Ronald Reagan, in his State of the Union address, directed NASA to build a space outpost within the next 10 years. The station is an unprecedented feat of engineering, but its operation costs $3 billion a year, and experts say it will be hard for NASA to keep running the station and also carry out expensive new deep-space missions. By Alberto Cuadra
2008
Four years after its first component was put into orbit, the station is capable of sustaining a permanent crew of three and has its first research module, the U.S. laboratory known as Destiny.
Rapid growth
P6 truss
Harmony
After three years of inactivity, the assembly of the station resumes in 2006. By 2008, most of the main components of the space outpost are in place.
The last pieces
22 ft.
Zarya
2011 Final touches
3 ft.
A humanoid robotic torso designed to assist the crew during spacewalks with the manipulation of small pieces of hardware.
Thermal radiators
P6 truss
Solar cells
A vital connecting corridor between the research laboratories of the station: Destiny (U.S.), Columbus (European Union) and Kibo (Japan). Harmony is installed in the space station in 2007, ahead of the aggregation of the Japanese and European modules.
15 ft.
Robonaut 2
All the station’s main habitable components are installed, as is its full array of power cells. Without the space shuttle, the station now relies mainly on Russian Soyuz capsules to receieve new supplies and crews.
Canadarm2 Robotic arm
Human to scale 13.5 ft.
15 ft.
14 ft.
41.2 ft.
28 ft.
Integrated truss structure (ITS)
Solar cells
Columbus
The backbone of the space station. The ITS holds the majority of the solar cells that provide power to the station, with a total surface of 38,000 square feet, the equivalent of eight basketball courts. The truss is the longest man-made structure ever put in space.
Each solar array wing (SAW) contains two retractable structures, each 115 feet long, with a mast in between them. Each wing uses nearly 33,000 cells. The eight wings generate a total of 84 kilowatts.
The European laboratory module has a projected life span of 10 years and is the biggest contribution of the E.U. to the station.
43 ft.
23 ft.
Zarya (Sunrise)
Destiny
Zvezda (Star)
Originally designed as a module for the Russian space station Mir. The module has three docking points and plays a vital role during the early stages of the station’s assembly.
The primary research facility for U.S. experiments and the first permanent operating orbital research station since Skylab in 1974. Built by Boeing, this 16-ton laboratory is attached to the station in 2001.
Installed in July 2000, Russia’s service module provides the station’s first living and lab quarters.
Human to scale
S6
S5
S4
1998
Oct. 20, 1998 A Russian Proton rocket launches the the first module of the station: Zarya (Sunrise).
S0
S1
Pressurized modules
Kibo P1
P3
P4
P5
P6
Thermal radiators
Harmony
The Japanese pressurized module is Japan’s first human space facility. The orbital laboratory consists of two 14.4 ft. pressurized modules, an exposed facility for experiments in the vacuum of space, and its own robotic arm.
Astronaut Bill Shepherd and cosmonauts Yuri Gidzenko and Sergei Krikalev become the first crew members aboard the station. They stay in space for several months.
1999
2000
36.7 ft.
April 19, 2001
Feb. 1, 2003
July 26, 2006
March 11, 2008
March 15, 2009
Nov. 2, 2010
Canadarm2, the station's robotic arm, is added. The robotic system plays a key role in the assembly of the station.
The space shuttle Columbia disintegrates during atmospheric reentry. The construction of the station is halted.
The space shuttle Discovery returns to the station after three years. The mission delivers supplies to the station and tests safety procedures.
The first Japanese component, the Kibo laboratory, is added to the station.
The space shuttle Discovery delivers the station's final major U.S. truss segment, S6, and its final pair of powergenerating solar array wings.
The station celebrates the 10-year anniversary of its continuous human occupation. Since Expedition 1 in the fall of 2000, 202 people have visited the station.
2001
2002
2004
2003
Nov. 30, 2000
Feb. 7, 2001
April 8, 2002
The P6 truss is intalled. This component includes the first piece of the main solar-cell array that powers the station.
Destiny, the U.S. laboratory module, becomes part of the station. Destiny is still the primary research facility for U.S. payloads.
The central segment of the station truss, S0, is installed on top of Destiny.
2005
2006
Construction halted Soyuz
Soyuz TMA
Space shuttle
25 ft. Sources: NASA, Boeing, European Space Agency, Russian Federal Space Agency, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency
Japanese robotic arm
Exposed facility
357.5 ft.
Oct. 2, 2000
Unity, the first U.S.-built component of the station, launches with the first space shuttle mission dedicated to the assembly of the outpost.
The truss is divided into 12 segments with the designation S and P (starboard and port).
S3
Major milestones Dec. 4, 1998
15 ft.
During the space shuttle moratorium (2003 to 2006) and after the end of the program, the Russian spacecraft became the main transport to the station. The capsule has more than 47 years of service with the same basic design.
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
Feb. 7, 2008
Feb. 24, 2011
The crew of the space shuttle Atlantis delivers and installs the European Space Agency's Columbus laboratory.
The space shuttle Discovery launches on its final planned mission to deliver the Permanent Multipurpose Module, Leonardo, and Express Logistics Carrier 4 to the international space station, as well as equipment and supplies. Among the cargo aboard Leonardo was Robonaut 2, a robot that could be a precursor of new humanoid remote devices to help during spacewalks.