The International Space Station is being designed, built, launched, and operated by 16 cooperating nations, including the United States, Canada, Japan, Russia and participating member nations of the European Space Agency -- Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Construction in orbit began in November 1998; a total of 44 launches will be required to complete the facility in 2005. When complete, the International Space Station 'Freedom' will have a width of 109 metres, and will be 88 m long and 44 m tall. It will have a mass of about 450 tonnes, and will provide living space for up to seven astronauts and scientists. The pressurized living and working space aboard, when the station is complete, will be more than 1303 cubic metres , roughly equivalent to the passenger cabin volume of two 747 jetliners. The photo below shows the station, in orbit 200 kilometres above the surface of the earth. Most of the width is comprised of solar panels, which provide electricity for power. The newly added Destiny module can be seen on the near end, perpendicular to the main body of the station.
In February of 2001, the module 'Destiny' was brought into orbit by the Space Shuttle Atlantis and attached to the station. Destiny is a science laboratory, and will also serve as a control center for the space station. The Destiny Laboratory Module is 'the centerpiece of the International Space Station, where unprecedented science experiments will be performed in the near-zero gravity of space'.
The aluminum module is 8.5 m long and 4.3 m in diameter, and consists of three cylindrical sections and two endcones with hatches, that will be mated to other station components. A 51 cm diameter window is located on one side.
Destiny module, left center
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