The space station era, intimately related to the shuttle era, was first mooted during President Ronald Reagan's State of the Union address in January 1984.
Originally dubbed 'Freedom', over the years it became the International Space Station, encompassing 15 partners, including the Russian Federal Space Agency, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, the Canadian Space Agency and the member nations of the European Space Agency.
The first elements of the space station were launched in 1998, and permanent habitation began when the Expedition 1 crew arrived on November 2, 2000. The facility orbits Earth nearly 16 times every day, at an inclination of 51 degrees. A total of 10 main pressurized modules are currently scheduled to be part of the ISS by its completion date in 2010.
Image: The International Space Station photographed from space shuttle Discovery (STS-114).
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