Fwd: International Space Station: a unique laboratory in Earth's orbit

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From: "Gary Johnson" <gjohnson144@comcast.net>
Date: February 27, 2015 at 10:17:27 AM CST
To: "Gary Johnson" <gjohnson144@comcast.net>
Subject: FW: International Space Station: a unique laboratory in Earth's orbit

 

 

International Space Station: a unique laboratory in Earth's orbit

February 26, 15:38 UTC+3
Russia's space agency Roscosmos announced its decision to approve using the International Space Station until 2024

 

Russia's space agency Roscosmos announced its decision to approve using the International Space Station until 2024. Moscow plans to suspend international use of the station in 10 years and use parts of the ISS Russian segment to construct its own orbital system.

USA also announced its plans to jointly use the ISS for more 10 years. Last year, US suspended cooperation with Russia in the space sphere because of the situation around Ukraine. The only exception was the ISS project, which American specialists consider to be a unique platform for scientific experiments and observations.

The ISS programme is a joint project among five participating space agencies: NASA, Roscosmos, JAXA, ESA, and CSA. The ownership and use of the space station is established by intergovernmental treaties and agreements. The station has been continuously occupied for more than 14 years since the arrival of Expedition 1 on 2 November 2000. 

The International Space Station from various angles - in photo gallery by TASS.

© 2015 TASS

 

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NASA Hopes to Continue Cooperation on ISS Until 2024

© Photo: Russian Federal Space Agency

 

 

07:24 26.02.2015(updated 07:51 26.02.2015)

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NASA says it is ready to continue to cooperate with its International Space Station partners, including Russia, for at least nine more years.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) – NASA is ready to continue to cooperate with its International Space Station (ISS) partners, including Russia, for at least nine more years, the space agency has said in a statement.

"The Obama administration is committed to extending operation of the International Space Station to at least 2024," NASA said in the statement obtained by RIA Novosti on Thursday, adding that it welcomes "continued cooperation" from its ISS partners in support of this extension and looks forward to working with them on the ISS "until at least 2024".

According to NASA, the ISS is providing "a unique environment" for research and space operations that will be necessary for conducting human missions deeper into space. The space station will also contribute significantly to the expansion of commercial activity in low-Earth orbit, NASA added.

On Tuesday, Russia's Federal Space Agency Roscosmos announced that Russia will continue to use the ISS until around 2024 and will then build its own orbital outpost using the existing ISS modules. According to NASA, the ISS currently comprises more than a dozen modules, including five Russian ones.

Russia's plan to build a new high-altitude space outpost was confirmed last December by Roscosmos head Oleg Ostapenko, who said that the new Russian space station could also serve as a base for the country's lunar program.

© 2015 Sputnik All rights reserved. 

 

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