what is the international space station?

In the early 1980's, the International Space Station was only a paper concept but was touted as NASA's "next logical step" in space exploration. Today, the Space Station is a collaboration of sixteen international partners working together to create a world-class, state-of-the-art orbiting research facility. The Station will afford scientists, engineers and entrepreneurs an unprecedented platform on which to perform complex, long-duration and replicable experiments in the unique environment of space. But, the Space Station is much more than a world-class laboratory; it is an international human experiment - an exciting "city in space" - a place where we will learn how to live and work "off planet."

		The International Partners
		Components of the Space Station

*Click on images for captions
Photo credits for all images: NASA.
Additional materials in this section courtesy of NASA and Boeing.