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Agencies

Nasa on Monday celebrated the 20th anniversary of the first long-term mission to the International Space Station (ISS).
On November 2, 2000, the crew of Expedition 1 arrived at the space station with a mission to create a science laboratory in orbit.
The three spacefarers, Nasa’s William Shepherd and Yuri Gidzenko and Sergei Krikalev of the Russian space agency Roscosmos, docked at the ISS after two days aboard a Soyuz spacecraft.
Since then, humans have lived and worked on the station for 20 years straight. It now hosts Expedition 64.
International Space Station crew use tea leaves to find elusive air leak
“Our orbiting laboratory has been continuously inhabited ever since: over 240 humans from 19 countries have visited, carrying out over 3,000 ISS research investigations,” Nasa tweeted.
According to Nasa, experiments have been conducted in every field of science in the ISS' unique microgravity environment, improving our understanding of diseases, natural disasters and physics.
Researchers have tested technologies and honed skills needed for further space exploration and to establish a human presence on the moon and Mars.


An international crew of six people occupy the ISS, which has a wingspan of 109 metres and whizzes some 400km above our planet at 28,000km/h (17,398mph).
The project is a pact between the United States, Canada, Japan, Russia, and the 11 member states of the European Space Agency.
Nasa chief warns US Congress about Chinese space station
“We've set the tone for international cooperation,” Joel Montalbano, ISS programme manager at Nasa’s Johnson Space Center told the podcast Houston We Have a Podcast.
“When we've had troubles, we came together across the globe to go fix that,” Montalbano said.
Nasa’s top concern nowadays is the growing threat from space junk. This year, the orbiting lab has had to dodge debris three times.

As for station amenities, astronauts now have near-continuous communication with flight controllers and even an internet phone for personal use. The first crew had sporadic radio contact with the ground; communication blackouts could last hours.
China’s Mars space probe snaps ‘selfies’ for National Day
While the three astronauts got along fine, tension sometimes bubbled up between them and the two Mission Controls, in Houston and outside Moscow. Shepherd got so frustrated with the “conflicting marching orders” that he insisted they come up with a single plan.
“I’ve got to say, that was my happiest day in space,” he said during the panel discussion.

The Mir space station – home to Krikalev and Gidzenko in the late 1980s and 1990s – operated for 15 years before being guided to a fiery re-entry over the Pacific in 2001. Russia’s earlier stations and America’s 1970s Skylab had much shorter lifespans, as did China’s much more recent orbital outposts.
European space agency joins Nasa for asteroid defence mission
One of the best outcomes of 20 years of continuous space habitation, according to Shepherd, is astronaut diversity.
While men still lead the pack, more crews include women. Two US women have served as space station skipper. Commanders typically are American or Russian, but have also come from Belgium, Germany, Italy, Canada and Japan. While African-Americans have made short visits to the space station, the first black resident is due to arrive in mid-November on SpaceX’s second astronaut flight.
DPA and Associated Press


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Space

International Space Station marks 20 years of people living in orbit

The International Space Station. File photo: Nasa

The Soyuz MS-16 capsule, carrying the International Space Station (ISS) crew members Christopher Cassidy of NASA, Anatoly Ivanishin and Ivan Vagner of the Russian space agency Roscosmos, lands in a remote area outside Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan October 22, 2020. GCTC/Russian space agency Roscosmos/Handout via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. MANDATORY CREDIT.

In this photo provided by NASA, the Expedition 1 crew members pose with fresh oranges onboard the Zvezda Service Module of the Earth-orbiting International Space Station on Dec. 4, 2000. Pictured, from left, are cosmonaut Yuri P. Gidzenko, Soyuz commander; astronaut Bill Shepherd, mission commander; and cosmonaut Sergei K. Krikalev, flight engineer. (NASA via AP)

International Space station crew use tea leaves to find elusive air leak

In this handout photo released by Roscosmos Space Agency Press Service U.S. astronaut Chris Cassidy, left, Russian cosmonauts Anatoly Ivanishin, centre, and Ivan Vagner, members of the main crew of the expedition to the International Space Station (ISS), walk prior the launch of Soyuz MS-16 space ship at the Russian leased Baikonur cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, Thursday, April 9, 2020. (Roscosmos Space Agency Press Service via AP)

Astronaut Jeffrey Ashby moves into the International Space Station's Zvezda Service Module with a video camera on May 25, 2011. NASA

Nasa chief warns US Congress about Chinese space station

A radar image of China’s Tiangong-1 space station, which ceased operation in 2018. Beijing has announced plans for a permanent space station by 2022. Image: Fraunhofer Institute FHR via AP

FILE - In this June 18, 2012, file image released by China's Xinhua News Agency, Chinese astronauts, from left, Liu Wang, Liu Yang and Jing Haipeng wave while aboard the orbiting Tiangong-1 space station. China's defunct and believed out-of-control Tiangong 1 space station is expected to re-enter Earth's atmosphere sometime in the coming days, although the risk to people and property on the ground is considered low. (Beijing Aerospace Control Center/Xinhua via AP)

China’s Mars space probe snaps ‘selfies’ for National Day

China’s Tianwen-1 Mars space probe flies the flag for National Day. Photo: Xinhua

(201001) -- BEIJING, Oct. 1, 2020 (Xinhua) -- The China National Space Administration (CNSA) releases mid-flight images of Mars probe Tianwen-1 as the country's National Day coincides with the Mid-Autumn Festival on Oct. 1, 2020. It is the first time that Tianwen-1 took selfies. (China National Space Administration /Handout via Xinhua)

News

World

United States & Canada


This week marks two decades since the first crew arrived at the International Space Station
Since then it has morphed into a space complex that’s almost as long as a football field



The ISS was a cramped, humid, puny three rooms when the first crew moved in. Now it has three toilets, six sleeping compartments and 12 rooms.


SpaceX

International Space Station marks 20 years of people living in orbit

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;} This week marks two decades since the first crew arrived at the International Space Station Since then it has morphed into a space complex that’s almost as long as a football field

This week marks two decades since the first crew arrived at the International Space Station

Since then it has morphed into a space complex that’s almost as long as a football field