The International Space Station –ISS

The International Space Station, abbr. ISS - manned orbital station used as a multipurpose space research facility.

ISS - a joint international project involving 14 countries: Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Spain, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Russia, USA, France, Switzerland, Sweden, Japan.
Originally were still Britain and Brazil, but then they came out of the project.

Emblem ISS

The first European cargo ship "Jules Verne" is approaching the ISS.

Bookcover of the Intergovernmental Agreement on Space Station

17 June, 1992 Russia and the United States signed an agreement on cooperation in space exploration.

2 September 1993, US Vice President Al Gore and Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin announced a new project " international space station." From that moment the official name of the station was "International Space Station"

The basis of the device station laid down modular principle. ISS assembly occurs by sequentially adding to the complex next module or unit that connects to the already delivered into orbit.

One of the main goals for the ISS is the possibility of the plant experiments.

The main areas of research include biology (including biomedical research and biotechnology), physics (including physics of fluids, materials science and quantum physics), astronomy, cosmology and meteorology.

Panoramic cupola ISS.

Humanoid robot - a new employee ISS

At the beginning of 2013 the ISS visited 8 space tourists, each of them paid between 20 and 30 million dollars.

All the tourists were taken to the station Russian spacecraft "Soyuz".

In the history of space exploration, ISS - the most expensive space project.