kosmos: International Space Station

Evidence: 100 • authority: 72

The International Space Station (ISS) is a space station in low Earth orbit (LEO). It is the product of the International Space Station program and is operated by five partner space agencies: NASA (United States), Roscosmos (Russia), ESA (Europe), JAXA (Japan), and CSA (Canada). It is the first space station built, maintained and crewed through international cooperation and the largest human spacecraft ever constructed. It is an orbital research station, where scientific experiments in microgravity are conducted and the space environment is studied. Since 2 November 2000, it has hosted the longest continuous human presence in space. Alongside China's Tiangong, it is one of two currently ope…

Evidence: 79 • authority: 72

A space station (or orbital station) is a spacecraft which remains in orbit and hosts humans for extended periods of time. It is therefore an artificial satellite featuring habitation facilities. The purpose of maintaining a space station varies depending on the program. Most often space stations have been research stations, but they have also served military or commercial uses, such as hosting space tourists. Space stations have been hosting the only continuous presence of humans in space. The first space station was Salyut 1 (1971), which hosted the first crew of the ill-fated Soyuz 11. Consecutively space stations have been operated since Skylab (1973) and occupied since 1987 with the Sa…

Evidence: 66 • authority: 72

The Tiangong space station (Chinese: 天宫; pinyin: Tiāngōng; lit. 'Heavenly Palace'), officially the China Space Station (CSS) in English, is China's first permanently crewed space station, in low Earth orbit since 2021. Operated by the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA), it is China's third space station, under the Tiangong subprogram of the China Manned Space Program. A space laboratory, it hosts experiments on bioastronautics, microgravity, materials science and space technology. Crews of three travel aboard the Shenzhou spacecraft for missions of about six months, with temporary crew sizes of six during handovers. Cargo missions use the Tianzhou spacecraft. It is one of two operational spac…

Evidence: 66 • authority: 92

Lunar base agent-based modeling - A benchmark for simulating crewed space missions.. Space exploration has progressed significantly since the mid-20th century, and recent technological advancements, along with the emergence of commercial space travel, have led to substantial leaps in planning for future space missions. The largest planned upcoming mission is the Artemis program, supported by NASA and the international Artemis Accords, which aims to create the first permanent human presence on the Moon and in deep space (the Moon to Mars architecture). Although human psychology and team science have been crucial for the success of past space missions, from the Apollo program and Skylab to th…

Evidence: 52 • authority: 80

Beyond the International Space Station: A Path to Commercial Viability in Low Earth Orbit Through Collaboration Between Crewed and Uncrewed Platforms

Evidence: 52 • authority: 88

Development of the Thermal Control System for a Commercial Crewed Space Station – Starlab. The Starlab commercial space station is intended be one of the first commercially built and operated stations. Designing a Thermal Control System for a crew of up to 8 astronauts and 30+ kilowatts of energy during a continuously habitable mission in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) uncovers many challenges that are not immediately obvious. The Thermal Control System (TCS) of the Starlab station is decomposed into two main subsystems: the Passive TCS (PTCS) composed of heater lines, multi-layer insulations and high temperature thermal protection to ensure all systems can operate in the space environment and the A…

Evidence: 52 • authority: 80

Alternative futures for crewed space cooperation after the international space station

Evidence: 52 • authority: 92

Longitudinal analysis of stowaway microorganisms aboard modules and cargo spacecraft of the Chinese Space Station.. Background Although microbial contamination in crewed spacecraft is well studied, quantitative assessment of microorganisms from spacecraft structures and cargo remains overlooked. Here, we investigate 165 microbial samples collected from five critical environments of China Space Station (CSS) missions undertaken in 2016-2024: ground assembly, cargo loading, crewed simulation cabin, test cabin, and on-orbit. The investigation aims to elucidate the impact of cargo- and cabin-derived microorganisms on the CSS microbial community while characterizing the station's unique microbia…

Evidence: 45 • authority: 80

Peer Review #2 of "Growth of 48 built environment bacterial isolates on board the International Space Station (ISS) (v0.1)"

Evidence: 45 • authority: 92

Surgery for interplanetary space missions.. As human spaceflight expands beyond low Earth orbit, the ability to deliver advanced surgical care in space becomes critical. Current medical provisions on board the International Space Station (ISS) are geared towards treating low-risk conditions, with a 'stabilize-and-evacuate' principle for more complex cases-an approach that is not viable for extended missions to the Moon and Mars. This review summarizes research conducted around space surgery, with a particular focus on surgical robotics. Experiments in parabolic flight and analogue environments demonstrate that, provided the operator, patient, and instruments are restrained, surgical skill i…

Evidence: 45 • authority: 72

The International Space Station program is the space program of the International Space Station. It is tied together by a complex set of legal, political and financial agreements between the fifteen nations involved in the project, governing ownership of the various components, rights to crewing and utilisation, and responsibilities for crew rotation and resupply of the station. It was conceived in September 1993 by the United States and Russia after 1980s plans for separate American (Freedom) and Soviet (Mir-2) space stations failed due to budgetary reasons. These agreements tie together the five space agencies and their respective International Space Station programs and govern how they i…

Evidence: — • authority: 92

Lab-on-chip technologies for space research - current trends and prospects.. The in-depth analysis concerning application of microfluidic instruments for space biology research is presented. The article focuses on recently investigated key scientific fields, i.e., lab-on-chips applied to the biomedical studies performed in the (1) International Space Station and (2) CubeSat nanosatellites. The paper presents also the lab-on-chip devices that were fabricated with a view to future space biology research and to those that to date have been solely been tested under Earth laboratory conditions and/or simulated microgravity environments. NASA and ESA conceptual mission plans for future are also m…