Roughly the size of a football field the International Space Station ISS is by far the largest human-made structure placed into orbit Most of its parts were delivered by the now-retired Shuttle fleet The ISS is a triumph of space engineering and a model of international cooperation
INTRODUCTION Since the first space station launched in 1971 human presence in orbit has been almost constant Yet living in space poses massive challenges in technology biology and funding How do we build in orbit How are astronauts provided with life support and protected from extremes of heat and cold microgravity and radiation Solving these problems costs vast sums and tests our ingenuity But our orbital foothold is precious for science and spaceflight and as an inspiring human achievement The Russian space station Mir circled the planet in Low Earth Orbit LEO Space stations are typically placed here below an altitude of 300 miles 482 km LEO is near enough for ferry craft to reach but high enough to minimize atmospheric drag
