Daily Archives: March 4, 2023

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SpaceX's Crew-6 astronaut mission arrived at the International Space Station (ISS) early Friday morning (March 3), but not without a little drama.

Crew-6'sDragoncapsule, named Endeavour, docked with the ISS's Harmony module at 1:40 a.m. EST (0640 GMT) on Friday, while the two spacecraft were flying off the coast of Somalia at an altitude of 261 miles (420 kilometers).

Crew-6 was positioned to dock about an hour earlier than that, but Endeavour stood down whileSpaceXtroubleshot a faulty sensor with one of the 12 hooks that helps the capsule connect to the ISS. Eventually, ground teams beamed up a software override that fixed the sensor problem, and Endeavour pulled off a successful rendezvous.

Read more: SpaceX's Crew-6 astronauts arrive at space station after hour-long delay

The astronauts of Crew-6 are undertaking their first day in space after launching on a SpaceX Falcon 9 early this morning (12:34 a.m. EST, 0634 GMT) towards the International Space Station.

Docking coverage will begin at 11:30 p.m. EST tonight (0430 GMT Saturday, March 3). Coverage is available here at Space.com, via NASA Television. Assuming the docking goes on time, these are the milestones to look for:

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will officially reattempt launch of the Crew-6 mission Thursday (March 2) at 12:34 a.m. EST (0534 GMT) and you can watch the event here at Space.com, courtesy of NASA Television. Weather conditions are 95% favorable for launch at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in coastal Florida.

"NASA's SpaceX Crew-6 mission is 'Go' for launch to the International Space Station following completion of a launch readiness review, weather briefing, and mission management meeting," agency officials wrote in a blog post Wednesday (March 1).

A launch attempt Monday (Feb. 27) to the International Space Station (ISS) had been called off 2.5 minutes before T-0 due to a ground-system issue, but NASA said the issue has been addressed.

SpaceX and NASA found a problem with ignition fluid, called triethylaluminum triethylboron or TEA-TEB, that sparks the oxidizer for the engines to turn on.

"During prelaunch, the TEA-TEB fluidwhich originates in a ground supply tank flows to the rocket's interface and back to a catch tank to remove gas from the ground plumbing," NASA officials wrote."During engine start, the fluid then flows to the engines for ignition.Flow into the catch tank is one of several parameters used to determine that the fluid has been properly bled into the system."

A clogged ground filter reducing the flow to a TEA-TEB catch tank caused the issue and that filter has been replaced. The TEA-TEB nitrogen line was also purged with nitrogen and everything has been cleared for launch.

Following launch, Crew-6 and its four astronauts are scheduled to dock with the Harmony module at the ISS at 1:17 a.m. EST (0617 GMT) on Friday (March 3). Hatch opening is expected at 3:27 a.m. EST and the welcome ceremony at 3:40 a.m. EST. Space.com will also carry these events, courtesy of NASA.

After a lengthy flight readiness review (FRR) on Tuesday (Feb. 21), NASA andSpaceXwill delay the Crew-6 liftoff by 24 hours.

Now a SpaceXFalcon 9rocket will launch Crew-6'sDragoncapsule Endeavour on Monday (Feb. 27) at 1:45 a.m. EST (0645 GMT). You can watch it live here at Space.com when the time comes.

Read more: SpaceX, NASA delay Crew-6 astronaut launch to Feb. 27

Russia has wrapped up its investigation of two leaky spacecraft and will launch its next Soyuz spacecraft in February after all. That mission is bound for the International Space Station(ISS) on Thursday (Feb. 23) from the Russia-runBaikonur Cosmodromein Kazakhstan Thursday at 7:24 p.m. EST (0024 GMT or 3:34 a.m. local time Friday, Feb. 24). NASA will start carrying coverage liveon NASA Television (opens in new tab)roughly 24 minutes beforehand, which we will run here at Space.com.

Roscosmos, Russia's federal space agency, determined Monday (Feb. 21) that it could launch Soyuz MS-23 after all in February, after announcing just days before that it would make the liftoff in March. You can read our story about the schedule changes and twin Soyuz and uncrewed Progress craft leak investigations at the ISS.

Meanwhile, the SpaceX Crew-6 crew of four astronauts will arrive at NASA's Kennedy Space Center today (Feb. 21) ahead of their expected launch on Sunday (Feb. 26). Learn how to watch live here and to stay connected to all the activities and news conferences, which we will run live here at Space.com through the week.

NASA astronaut Nicole Mann and Japan's Koichi Wakata completed the second International Space Station spacewalk of 2023 on Thursday (Feb. 2) at 2:26 p.m. EST (1926 GMT), according to a NASA update (opens in new tab).

Their televised spacewalk took six hours and 41 minutes and the spacewalkers finished their major task, "which was to complete the construction of a mounting platform," NASA officials wrote in a blog post. The duo also moved a foot restraint to get ahead on another spacewalk and put out cables to install a new set of International Space Station Roll-Out Solar Arrays (iROSAs) to boost power.

Our preview story has more details about their plans for the day and how it fits into space station operations, and our wrap talks about how the spacewalk went.

NASA astronaut Nicole Mann and Japan's Koichi Wakata are starting the second spacewalk of 2023 today (Thursday, Feb. 2), and you can watch coverage live here.

The twoInternational Space Station(ISS) astronauts have switched theirspacesuitsto battery power and the station hatch is open, according to a NASA update (opens in new tab) at 8 a.m. EST (1300 GMT). They'll exit the station's Quest airlock shortly thereafter, starting a roughly seven-hourspacewalk.

Watch the extravehicular activity live here at Space.com, courtesy of NASA, ordirectly via the agency (opens in new tab).

Read more: Watch 2 astronauts perform 2nd spacewalk of 2023 today

Expedition 68 crewmates Nicole Mann of NASA and Koichi Wakata of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) completed their 7 hour and 21 minute extravehicular activity (EVA) on Friday (Jan. 20).

It was the latest in a series of EVAs to augment the orbiting complex's power channels with newInternational Space StationRoll-Out Solar Arrays (iROSAs), but a "sticky" foothold and a stubborn strut held up operations. A few of the tasks will be ported on to a later spacewalk, NASA determined.

Full story: Spacewalking astronauts hit snags installing new solar array mount outside space station

NASA's Nicole Mann and Koichi Wakata of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agencyare outside theInternational Space Station(ISS) for an expected 6.5-hour-longspacewalk. Watch it live here at Space.com, courtesy of NASA, ordirectly via the agency (opens in new tab).

Mann and Wakata "will work on the far end of the station'sstarboard truss structurein their EMUs [extravehicular mobility units, or spacesuits] and install a modification kit enabling the future installation of a roll-out solar array," NASA officials wrote in ablog post on Thursday (opens in new tab).

Preview story: Watch 2 astronauts perform 1st spacewalk of 2023 at space station today

NASA's live NASA TV coverage of the Soyuz spacecraft coolant leak on the International Space Station has ended, with NASA sharing updates via its website and social channels throughout the night.

Meanwhile, Russian flight controllers at Roscosmos's Mission Control Center continue to study telemetry and data from the Soyuz MS-22 to understand the health of the spacecraft.

"Experts in Moscow are going to be taking a look at their systems and responding to the leak according to their procedures and polices," NASA space station flight director Emily Nelson said during live NASA TV commentary. "Once they have a good understanding of the final status of the Soyuz tonight, we will then jointly make a decision about where to go forward from here."

NASA spokesperson Rob Navias said NASA will provide an update Thursday morning on the latest news from Roscosmos over the leak.

Russian cosmonaut Anna Kikina is using the space station's European Robotic Arm to inspect the Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft as flight controllers on Earth study telemetry and other data from the spacecraft.

Flight controllers with Russia's Roscosmos and NASA are weighing options on what to do about the Soyuz spacecraft, which serves as a return ship and lifeboat for three members of the station's 7-person crew.

Russia's space agency Roscosmos has called off a spacewalk by two cosmonauts at the International Space Station today after an apparent coolant leak on a Soyuz MS-22 crew capsule spewed coolant around its docking port on the orbiting lab.

The leak was first detected at 7:45 p.m. EST (0045 Dec. 15 GMT) as cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitri Petelin were preparing to exit the space station for a 7-hour spacewalk outside the station. The Soyuz spacecraft launched to the space station on Sept. 21 to deliver the two cosmonauts and NASA astronaut Frank Rubio to the space station and was due to return to Earth size months later.

"The cause of this leak [is] not known at this time," NASA spokesperson Rob Navias said during live commentary. "Russian specialists are continuing to look at the data and discussing what may have triggered the leak."

This is a developing story and we'll share updates as they are available.

SpaceX-delivered science is being unloaded right now in space. The roboticDragon spacecraftdocked with the International Space Station Sunday (Nov. 27) around 7:39 a.m. EST (1239 GMT) over the Pacific Ocean.

"We're excited to unpack and get to work," NASA astronaut Josh Cassada radioed Mission Control from the station after the successful docking.

Dragon has about 7,700 pounds(3,500 kilograms) of cargo. The manifest includes two newInternational Space StationRoll Out Solar Arrays (iROSAs) to boost power on the solar wings. Scientific experiments were also prominent, including a study to grow dwarf cherry tomatoes and another to do microgravity research with 3D-cultured heart tissue (opens in new tab).

Read more: SpaceX Dragon cargo ship docks at space station to deliver solar arrays, seeds and more

Astronauts and cosmonauts at the International Space Station completed two spacewalks this week amid a lot of other station activities in November.

On Thursday (Nov. 17), Expedition 68 commander Sergey Prokopyev and flight engineer Dmitry Petelin, from Russian federal space corporationRoscosmos, finished a 6 hour, 25 minute EVA (extravehicular activity) to prepare an airlock and radiator to transfer between space station modules.

On Tuesday (Nov. 15), Expedition 68 NASA astronauts Josh Cassada and Frank Rubio worked together on Tuesday (Nov. 15) added hardware to support two more upgraded solar arrays during a 7 hour and 11 minute EVA.

It's been a busy few weeks for the space station, as the crew also received a Northrop Grumman Cygnus spacecraft on Nov. 9, which reached the ISS safely despite a solar array problem. And at least one U.S. astronaut, Josh Cassada, voted from space during the 2022 midterm election.

NASA and Houston-based companyAxiom Spacewill send Saudi astronauts aboard Ax-2, fully filling out the four seats for theSpaceXmission,according to SpaceNews (opens in new tab). The group will fly to the International Space Station following the first-ever private effort,Ax-1, that launched and landed in April.

Read more: SpaceX will fly 2 Saudi astronauts to space station on private Axiom Space mission

It's been nearly a year since a Russian anti-satellite test took place on Nov. 15, 2021, which has caused swarms of debris to threaten the International Space Station numerous times already. That happened once again earlier this week.

On Monday (Oct. 24) at 8:25 p.m. EDT (0025 GMT on Oct. 25), the ISS team fired thrusters on Progress 81, a Russian cargo ship attached to the station, to boost the station's orbit and avoid the debris fragment, NASA officials stated (opens in new tab).

Read more: International Space Station dodges space debris from Russian anti-satellite test

Expedition 67 commander Samantha Cristoforetti had a cosplay strategy in orbit. The Italian astronaut, despite having seen "about 15 movies", is a fan of the classic 1968 space opera film "2001: A Space Odyssey."

A visit to a thrift store, and consultations with SpaceX and fellow space station residents,, helped on her long-standing quest to build up teamwork in orbit, while replicating an iconic scene from the film during which a flight attendant hangs upside down in a hatch.

"That is not something that I would buy for myself, normally," the European Space Agency astronaut told Space.com of her costume during a post-flight press conference with other SpaceX Crew-4 members on Thursday (Oct. 20). "But it seemed to fit perfectly for that need."

Read more: This space station astronaut's '2001' cosplay in orbit began with Velcro and thrift store duds (video)

The Crew-4 astronauts are all out of their SpaceX spacecraft as they start recovery back on Earth: NASA's Kjell Lindgren, Bob Hines and Jessica Watkins along with the European Space Agency's Samantha Cristoforetti. You can read more about the successful International Space Station mission, which lasted 5.5 months, in our wrap story on the mission.

The SpaceX Crew-4 splashed down successfully near Jacksonville, Florida at 4:55 p.m. EDT (2055 GMT).

The SpaceX Crew-4 has jettisoned the "trunk", an unpressurized cargo hold that also supports Crew Dragon during space operations. The International Space Station crew of four remains on track for splashdown near Jacksonville, Florida at 4:55 p.m. EDT (2055 GMT). You can watch live at Space.com, courtesy of NASA Television.

SpaceX's Crew-4 successfully finished a normal "prop waste" burn on the journey home to get rid of excess propellant ahead of re-entry. They finished the seven-minute engine burn at 2:44 p.m. EDT (1844 GMT) and remain on track to splash down near Jacksonville, Florida at 4:55 p.m. EDT (2055 GMT).

The SpaceX Crew-4 undocked from the International Space Station at 12:05 p.m. EDT (1605 GMT) and prepared for a set of departure burns ahead of splashdown. Nominal splashdown is expected later today around 4:55 p.m. EDT (2055 GMT) near Jacksonville, Florida. You can watch live here at Space.com, courtesy of NASA Television.

Crew-4 will delay their undocking from the International Space Station about 30 minutes to 12:05 p.m. EDT (1605 GMT) to "check the hatch alignment" on their SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft, according to NASA Television.

NASA has not yet disclosed if the splashdown time will change, except to say there is a one-hour window for undocking and the timing now falls in the middle of that window. Splashdown is expected at roughly 4:55 p.m. EDT (2055 GMT). Live coverage is ongoing here at Space.com, courtesy of NASA Television.

SpaceX Crew-4 has closed the hatch to the International Space Station ahead of an expected undocking at 11:35 a.m. EDT (1535 GMT) for splashdown later today. Watch live here at Space.com, courtesy of NASA Television.

The astronauts of Crew-4 are scheduled to close the hatch to their SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft at 9:30 a.m. EDT (1330 GMT) as they prepare to depart the International Space Station for a splashdown later today. You can watch live here at Space.com, courtesy of NASA Television.

Crew-4's undocking will be delayed to no earlier than Friday (Oct. 14) at 11:35 a.m. EDT (1535 GMT), officials announced on NASA Television today (Oct. 13) due to poor weather conditions in Florida. Splashdown is also delayed from an expected timing of today. You can watch the events live here at Space.com, courtesy of NASA Television.

Tricky weather conditions at the splashdown site forced a delay in Crew-4's departure from the International Space Station. Crew-4'sDragoncapsule,named Freedom, is scheduled to undock from the orbiting lab Thursday at 10:05 a.m. EDT (1405 GMT), NASA officials said in ablog post (opens in new tab)Wednesday (Oct. 13). This is a delay from Wednesday evening due to weather. You can watch coverage live at Space.com, courtesy of NASA TV and SpaceX.

During departure remarks and the change-of-command ceremony earlier today, Expedition 68 commander Samantha Cristoforetti thanked her "space ninja" crew for support during the two weeks she commanded the orbiting complex. "I just want to say what a privilege it's been to serve as a commander for this short period of time short but intense," Cristoforetti, the first European female to command ISS, said during the broadcast.

At10:05 a.m. EDT (1405 GMT), the four Crew-4 astronauts will give some farewell remarks. And one of them European Space Agency astronautSamantha Cristoforetti, the current ISS commander will hand the reins of the orbiting lab over to Russian cosmonaut Sergey Prokopyev during a change-of-command ceremony around that same time.

Crew-4'sDragoncapsule,named Freedom, is scheduled to undock from the orbiting lab Wednesday at 7:05 p.m. EDT (2305 GMT), NASA officials said in an emailed statement on Tuesday evening (Oct. 11). You can watch it live here at Space.com, courtesy of NASA, ordirectly via the space agency (opens in new tab).

Read more: Watch SpaceX Crew-4 mission depart space station today (Oct. 12)

The SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft safely delivered Crew-5 to the International Space Station. The hatches between Endurance and the ISS opened around 6:45 p.m. EDT (2245 GMT) on Thursday (Oct. 7), and the Crew-5 astronauts NASA's Nicole Mann and Josh Cassada, Japan's Koichi Wakata andcosmonaut Anna Kikinacame aboard roughly 10 minutes later.

Read more: SpaceX's Crew-5 astronaut mission arrives at the International Space Station

NASA cameras on theInternational Space Stationshowed live views of Hurricane Ian as the storm surge reached Florida's coast Wednesday (Sept. 28), near Cayo Costa, according to the National Hurricane Center.

"Hurricane Ian has made landfall as an extremely dangerous hurricane near Cayo Costa, Florida with maximum sustained winds at 150 mph,"NHC officials wrote (opens in new tab) in an update on Twitter at 3:05 p.m. EDT (1905 GMT).

Full story: 'Extremely dangerous' Hurricane Ian makes landfall in Florida as NASA watches from space (video)

Italian astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti took command of the International Space Station and Expedition 68 in a ceremony today (Sept. 28) livestreamed from orbit.

The expedition officially begins when previous ISS commander Oleg Artemyev and fellow cosmonauts Denis Matveev and Sergei Korsakov depart the orbiting lab early Thursday (Sept. 29) aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft.

Cristoforetti is thefifth European commander (opens in new tab) of the ISS, following Frank De Winne, Alexander Gerst, Luca Parmitano and Thomas Pesquet, according to the European Space Agency (ESA).

Artemyev struck notes of peace during the changeover ceremony, closing an expedition that had taken place in its entirety during the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine that started in February. "War will end everywhere," he said at one point.

"In spite of everything, in spite of all the storms on Earth, we continue our international cooperation, and thank God that there are smart people who do not stop such a thread of peace," Artemyev added in Russian. (This translation was provided by Google from an automated transcript of his speech.)

Full story: European woman takes command of International Space Station for 1st time

SpaceXand NASA will push back theCrew-5flight to the International Space Station to Oct. 4 at the least, a day later than planned.

The mission is scheduled to launch from Pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida. But Hurricane Ian, which may be 'catastrophic' to Florida as some officials termed it, has delayed the launch; the new target date is uncertain.

"Mission teams will continue to monitor the impacts of Ian on the Space Coast and NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida and could adjust the launch date again, as necessary," NASA officialswrote in an update (opens in new tab) Tuesday (Sept. 27).

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International Space Station: Live updates | Space

International Space Station (ISS), space station assembled in low Earth orbit largely by the United States and Russia, with assistance and components from a multinational consortium.

The project, which began as an American effort, was long delayed by funding and technical problems. Originally called Freedom in the 1980s by U.S. Pres. Ronald Reagan, who authorized the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to build it within 10 years, it was redesigned in the 1990s to reduce costs and expand international involvement, at which time it was renamed. In 1993 the United States and Russia agreed to merge their separate space station plans into a single facility, integrating their respective modules and incorporating contributions from the European Space Agency (ESA) and Japan.

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Assembly of the International Space Station (ISS) began with the launches of the Russian control module Zarya on November 20, 1998, and the U.S.-built Unity connecting node the following month, which were linked in orbit by U.S. space shuttle astronauts. In mid-2000 the Russian-built module Zvezda, a habitat and control centre, was added, and on November 2 of that year the ISS received its first resident crew, comprising Russian cosmonauts Sergey Krikalev and Yuri Gidzenko and American astronaut William Shepherd, who flew up in a Soyuz spacecraft. The ISS has been continuously occupied since then. A NASA microgravity laboratory called Destiny and other elements were subsequently joined to the station, with the overall plan calling for the assembly, over a period of several years, of a complex of laboratories and habitats crossed by a long truss supporting four units that held large solar-power arrays and thermal radiators. Aside from the United States and Russia, station construction involved Canada, Japan, and 11 ESA members. Russian modules were carried into space by Russian expendable launch vehicles, after which they automatically rendezvoused with and docked to the ISS. Other elements were ferried up by space shuttle and assembled in orbit during space walks. During ISS construction, both shuttles and Russian Soyuz spacecraft transported people to and from the station, and a Soyuz remained docked to the ISS at all times as a lifeboat.

Much of the early research work by ISS astronauts was to focus on long-term life-sciences and material-sciences investigations in the weightless environment. After the breakup of the space shuttle orbiter Columbia in February 2003, the shuttle fleet was grounded, which effectively halted expansion of the station. Meanwhile, the crew was reduced from three to two, and their role was restricted mainly to caretaker status, limiting the amount of science that could be done. Crews flew up to and returned from the ISS in Soyuz spacecraft, and the station was serviced by automated Progress ferries.

After the shuttle resumed regular flights in 2006, the ISS crew size was increased to three. Construction resumed in September of that year, with the addition of a pair of solar wings and a thermal radiator. The European-built American node, Harmony, was placed on the end of Destiny in October 2007. Harmony has a docking port for the space shuttle and connecting ports for a European laboratory, Columbus, and a Japanese laboratory, Kibo. In February 2008 Columbus was mounted on Harmonys starboard side. Columbus was Europes first long-duration crewed space laboratory and contained experiments in such fields as biology and fluid dynamics. In the following month an improved variant of the Ariane V rocket launched Europes heaviest spacecraft, the Jules Verne Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV), which carried 7,700 kg (17,000 pounds) of supplies to the ISS. Also in March shuttle astronauts brought the Canadian robot, Dextre, which was so sophisticated that it would be able to perform tasks that previously would have required astronauts to make space walks, and the first part of Kibo. In June 2008 the main part of Kibo was installed.

The ISS became fully operational in May 2009 when it began hosting a six-person crew; this required two Soyuz lifeboats to be docked with the ISS at all times. The six-person crew typically consisted of three Russians, two Americans, and one astronaut from either Japan, Canada, or the ESA. An external platform was attached to the far end of Kibo in July, and a Russian docking port and airlock, Poisk, was attached to the Zvezda module in November. A third node, Tranquility, was installed in 2010, and mounted on this was a cupola, whose robotic workstation and many windows enabled astronauts to supervise external operations.

After completion of the ISS, the shuttle was retired from service in 2011. Thereafter the ISS was serviced by Russias Progress, Europes ATV, Japans H-II Transfer Vehicle, and two commercial cargo vehicles, SpaceXs Dragon and Orbital Sciences Corporations Cygnus. A new American crew capsule, SpaceXs Crew Dragon, had its first flight to the ISS in 2020, and the Boeing Companys CST-100 Starliner was scheduled to have its first crewed test flight in 2023. Prior to Crew Dragon, all astronauts used Soyuz spacecraft to reach the ISS. Crew Dragon carried four astronauts to the station, and the ISS was then able to accommodate a crew of seven. A Russian science module, Nauka, was added to the station in 2021.

More than 200 astronauts from 20 different countries have visited the ISS. Astronauts typically stay on the ISS for about six months. The return of a Soyuz to Earth marks the end of an ISS Expedition, and the command of the ISS is transferred to another astronaut.

However, a few astronauts have spent much longer times on the ISS. On a special mission called A Year in Space, Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Korniyenko and American astronaut Scott Kelly spent 340 days in orbit from March 2015 to March 2016. Kellys flight was the longest by an American. (Since Kellys brother, Mark, was his identical twin, as well as a former astronaut himself, scientists were able to use Mark as a baseline for how the long spaceflight had changed Scott.) In 2017 Russia temporarily cut the number of its ISS crew from three to two, and American astronaut Peggy Whitson extended her mission to 289 days so the station would have a full crew of six. Whitson had been to the ISS on two previous flights and in total spent nearly 666 days in space, a record for an American and a woman. Whitsons record was surpassed by American astronaut Christina Koch, who spent 328 days, the longest spaceflight by a woman, on the ISS from March 2019 to February 2020. During that time Koch and American astronaut Jessica Meir performed the first all-female space walk. Russian cosmonaut Pyotr Dubrov and American astronaut Mark Vande Hei stayed on the station for 355 days from April 2021 to March 2022. Vande Hei broke Kellys record for longest American spaceflight.

The United States, ESA, Japan, and Canada have not definitively decided when the program will end, but in 2021 the Joe Biden administration indicated that the program would receive U.S. support through 2030. Russia announced that it would withdraw from the project at the end of 2024 and begin work on its own orbital space station.

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International Space Station | Facts, Missions, & History