ISS celebrates its 25th anniversary today: How to watch live
NASA is gearing up to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the International Space Station (ISS) today. To celebrate the occasion, there will be a space-to-Earth call held with the seven astronauts currently aboard the space station. You can watch the event live via NASA's app, YouTube channel, and website at 12:25pm EST (10:55pm IST). The ISS has been in operation since December 6, 1998, when the Russian Zarya and US Unity modules first docked.
Expedition 70 crew represents all major ISS partners
Crew onboard the ISS—part of Expedition 70—includes commander Andreas Mogensen from European Space Agency, Satoshi Furukawa from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, and two NASA astronauts Jasmin Moghbeli and Loral O'Hara. There are also three Russian cosmonauts, namely Konstantin Borisov, Oleg Kononenko, and Nikolai Chub. They will engage in a live conversation with Bob Cabana, NASA Associate Administrator, and Joel Montalbano, Space Station Programme Manager. Cabana was the first American to enter ISS.
ISS's journey from two-room origins to a six-bedroom complex
Over its 25-year history, the ISS has grown from a two-room structure to a six-bedroom complex that has welcomed 273 individuals from 21 countries. The space station has seen nearly 270 spacewalks for maintenance or assembling components, with 198 from the US and 71 on the Russian side. Crews typically conduct hundreds of experiments during missions that can last anywhere from six months to a year. To date, over 3,300 studies have been performed on the orbiting lab.
Changes in vehicles serving the ISS over the years
The vehicles used to service the ISS have also evolved significantly. Initially, the space shuttle and Russian Soyuz were used for crew transportation, while government cargo vehicles from Russia, Japan, and Europe provided supplies. Nowadays, private SpaceX Dragon and Northrop Grumman cargo ships resupply the space station. US companies have two spacecraft to transport astronauts: SpaceX's Crew Dragon and Boeing's Starliner, which will fly in 2024. Axiom Space also operates independent private missions to the ISS for commercial purposes.
Key milestones
The ISS has made strides in promoting diversity in space in the last five years, celebrating milestones like the first all-woman spacewalk in 2019 and the first long-duration missions by a black man and woman. Recently, a NASA astronaut returned after a record 371-day stay in space. Most ISS partners have committed to extending their partnership until at least 2030. NASA plans to fund several private space stations to maintain a presence in low Earth orbit in the coming decade.
