ISS

welcome

The International Space Station is a partnership of the US, Russian, European, Japanese, and Canadian Space Agencies. The station has been continuously human occupied since Nov 2, 2000. Orbiting 16 times per day at 17,500 miles per hour 250 miles above the ground, it passes over 90% of the world’s surface. When complete in 2010, it will weigh over 800,000 pounds and have a crew of 6 conducting research and preparing the way for future exploration to the moon and beyond.

Expedition 20 Commander Gennady Padalka and flight engineers Michael Barratt, Roman Romanenko, Frank De Winne, Robert Thirsk and Koichi Wakata will have to wait a little longer for the arrival of space shuttle Endeavour and the International Space Station’s newest crew member.

Shuttle controllers postponed the launch of the STS-127 mission to the station due to lightning and thunderstorms within the 20-nautical-mile circle around the launch pad. Another attempt is slated for Wednesday at 6:03 p.m. EDT. The space shuttle Endeavour crew will complete construction of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Kibo laboratory and deliver a new crew member to the orbital outpost.

› Read more about STS-127

Flight controllers are continuing to assess the performance of one of the station’s eight beta gimbal assemblies that stalled Thursday. These joints allow the station’s solar arrays to tilt toward the sun as they generate power. Over the weekend, controllers were able to operate the joint in both directed positions and automatic sun-tracking modes. Beta gimbal assembly operations are now back to normal. Engineers believe the stall was caused by thermal conditions at the current high beta angle but are continuing to evaluate.

› Learn about station attitudes

› Read more about Expedition 20
› View crew timelines

2009 International Space Station Calendar

As part of NASA's celebration of the 10th anniversary of the International Space Station, the agency is offering a special 2009 calendar to teachers, as well as the general public.

The calendar contains photographs taken from the space station and highlights historic NASA milestones and fun facts about the international construction project of unprecedented complexity that began in 1998

Crew Waits for Arrival of Space Shuttle Endeavour

Expedition 20 Commander Gennady Padalka and Flight Engineers Michael Barratt, Koichi Wakata of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, Roman Romanenko, Robert Thirsk of the Canadian Space Agency and Frank De Winne of the European Space Agency, are packing and preparing for the arrival of space shuttle Endeavour and the STS-127 crew. They also are reviewing photography procedures for documenting the condition of the shuttle’s heat protection tiles as it completes a rendezvous pitch maneuver during its approach to the station.

The STS-127 crew began its journey to the International Space Station at 6:03 p.m. EDT Wednesday when space shuttle Endeavour lifted off from Kennedy Space Center, Fla. Endeavour is scheduled to arrive at the station on Friday. The shuttle crew will complete construction of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Kibo laboratory and deliver a new crew member, astronaut Tim Kopra, to the orbital outpost.

› Read more about STS-127

› Read more about Expedition 20
› View crew timelines

2009 International Space Station Calendar

As part of NASA's celebration of the 10th anniversary of the International Space Station, the agency is offering a special 2009 calendar to teachers, as well as the general public.

The calendar contains photographs taken from the space station and highlights historic NASA milestones and fun facts about the international construction project of unprecedented complexity that began in 1998.

› Download calendar (5.3 Mb PDF)