International Space Station

The first elements of the International Space Station now have been in orbit for 20 years. Assembly of the largest spacecraft ever built was a global, cooperative effort and started with the STS-88 space shuttle mission launched Dec. 4, 1998.

Kennedy Space Center Director Bob Cabana, a former space shuttle astronaut, commanded the flight that began one of history’s landmark engineering achievements. The orbiting outpost now serves as a unique laboratory where teams from around the world are performing scientific research only possible in the microgravity environment of space.

In the photo at left, a large-format IMAX camera shows the view from the space shuttle Endeavour’s cargo bay as the crew of STS-88 began construction of the space station. In the image on the right, mission specialist Nancy Currie uses Endeavour’s Canadarm remote manipulator system to grapple the Russian Zarya module and join it to the U.S.- built Unity node connecting modules in the shuttle’s cargo bay.

Photo credit: NASA