The International Space Station is the topic I have decided to investigate

The ISS in orbit above Earth

The International Space Station (ISS) is an excellent example of global cooperation. The building of the ISS was taken on by a variety of countries. Each node or laboratory was constructed by a different country, or through the cooperation of two countries. Then, they are usually taken into space on one of the American space shuttles. A few of them though, were taken up by Russian rockets. Most modules are made by NASA in the United States, but they have also been made by Russia, Japan, Italy, and other countries in Europe under the direction of the European Space Agency. In all, the ISS is primarily operated by 15 different countries, mostly from North America and Europe.

The Canadarm2 is an example that shows international cooperation aboard the ISS

The Canadarm2 (yes that's how it's spelled) was built by Canada, of course, for the International Space Station. It is used to assist the astronauts (or cosmonauts if they're Russian) in space walks around the outside of the station and is used to remotely move payloads around the outside of the station from the inside. The Canadarm2 has seven different joints and has the ability to handle loads of about 116,000 kilograms, which is the weight of the Space Shuttle. Canada also constructed Canadarms for all of the U.S. Space Shuttles. Something interesting about the Canadarm2 is that it has the ability to move to other predetermined locations around the outside of the station, unlike the Canadarm in the Space Shuttles that have one end permanently fixed. This allows it to have a greater range of motion to complete tasks in many different areas of the station.

Space Shuttle Atlantis docked with the ISS

If you look at the larger picture of the above image through the link provided, you will notice the Canadarm, the U.S. made Space Shuttle Atlantis, and the European Space Agency(ESA) module to the right. The module the Shuttle is docked to is European made with the aid of the United States. The module on the left of the docking module is the Japanese made experimentation module. It took many different trips to compile all of the modules together to form the ISS. Each one was taken up by a separate Space Shuttle and pieced together by the astronauts with the aid of the Canadarm.

The different components of the ISS separated by country

The ISS contains about 70 major components and several hundred minor components in all. The components were build in cooperation with the five main space agencies- NASA, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), the Russian Federal Space Agency (RKA), the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), and the European Space Agency (ESA). The ISS contains six laboratories, two American, one European, one Japanese, and two Russian that are shared among all users of the ISS. There are also two Russian Crew Return Vehicles (CRVs), each holding three people each, that serve as a means of escape in case any problems should arise on the station. All of the parts of the ISS were constructed with the cooperation of the five major space agencies in order that all parts be compatible.




A group portrait of the Shuttle mission STS-131 crew (in light blue) and the crew of the ISS

The crews of each space station mission also show international cooperation. This picture is a good example. Of the group there were, 8 Americans, 3 Russians, and 2 Japanese astronauts. There has always been at least one American and one Russian ISS crew members aboard the station in its lifetime. Also, there are always at least two members aboard the station at all times. The use of the International Space Station has brought together many different countries to be able to study the mysteries of space and collaborate on scientific research.