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News on TV channel Russia Today of 26.07.10

ISS marks 10 years in space

Ten years ago Russian life-support systems were installed in the International Space Station, which meant crew members could spend more time in orbit performing scientific experiments.

The ISS circles the globe at about 350 kilometers from the Earth's surface. It is the largest artificial construction in space and a marvel of modern engineering.

"The ISS is a major contemporary space project. It has a huge mass of around 380 tons. It involves a large number of program participants including the United States, Canada, European countries belonging to the European Space Agency and Japan. The station is being used as a big scientific laboratory," shared Mikhail Shutikov, Head of the Projecting Department of Space Units of RSC Energia.

Though it is a prime example of international cooperation now, the roots of the station stem from the Apollo-Soyuz program 35 years ago, when the two rival space programs of the US and the Soviet Union integrated technology for the first time. Twenty years later, Russia and the US expanded on that shared experience, with the goal of creating a permanent space presence.

"We had done a lot within the MIR-Shuttle program, which was the predecessor of the International Space Station," acknowledged Yury Skursky, Deputy Head of mission control of the Russian segment of the ISS. "We worked hard to provide simultaneous operation of both the MIR orbital station and preparation for the ISS launch. I remember those years as the most interesting period of strenuous work which finally led to this great result. During the link-up there were no hiccups, everything went smoothly."

Star City has a mockup of the Zvezda module where astronauts and cosmonauts traveling to the ISS come to train. It is in this device that one gets a real sense of the significance of the capsule.

In 1998, two modules of the closed-cycle autonomous life support system - Zarya and Unity - were launched into orbit, but it wasn't until ten years ago in 2000 that the system was attached and the International Space Station became fit for human habitation.

The Head of the Cosmonaut Training Center and cosmonaut himself Sergey Krikalyov remembers that it was a foundation of sorts for the rest of the station.

"If the module had failed, then the other systems' work would be pointless since the module consisted largely of life-support systems. The module made it possible for the crew to stay onboard the station. It would be impossible to build the station at the pace it was constructed at without this special part."

Though the infrastructure was now in place, it was up to the station's first crew to set everything in motion.

"The first two weeks were critical, since a lot of the systems were being activated for the first time," recalls Krikalyov. "Some Russian system segments were merged with US systems. Those machines had never seen each other on Earth, and that was the first time they would work together. The responsibility was huge, and that was why the crew had been composed of experienced cosmonauts."

Ten years on, the ISS is approaching the record for a structure being continuously inhabited in space, an honor currently held by Russia's MIR project. And while it was originally only supposed to be in service until 2015, the future looks bright for the International Space Station.

"ISS members decided to prolong the station's use until 2020 and possibly even longer if the technical state of the station is good," revealed Mikhail Shutikov, Head of the Projecting Department of Space Units of RSC Energia.

This will ensure a continued international presence in space for many more years to come.

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