Space station science under microscope

Nasa

400km ABOVE: The International Space Station photographed from the shuttle Endeavour.

After the White House decided recently to prolong the life of the International Space Station until 2024, the US' top science official declared that the four-year extension would help Nasa get a big return on its US$100 billion (NZ$120b) investment.

The station is "proving to be an amazingly flexible laboratory," said John Holdren, chief science adviser to President Barack Obama.

Yet despite his endorsement, critics ranging from space bloggers to official Nasa watchdogs say the agency still has work to do before the station reaches its scientific potential.

"The old adage is that if you build it, they will come," said Keith Cowing, a former Nasa space station payload manager who runs the popular website Nasa Watch.

"Well, it's there, but Nasa has a lot of catching up to do in terms of fully utilising the capability of the space station."

Billed as the "largest spacecraft ever built," the football-field-sized observatory began in 1998 with the launch of a bus-sized module from Russia. Since then, the station's two major partners - the US and Russia - have steadily added pieces and equipment, along with contributions from Japan, Canada and Europe.

Astronauts have lived there continuously since 2000, but as recently as 2008 crew members were spending only about three hours a week on science.

Now Nasa officials say it's up to about 50 hours a week, due largely to the crew size doubling from three to six members in 2009. But about 15 per cent of the US racks for experiments onboard the station sat empty as of December 31, and in a report issued last July, Nasa's internal watchdog raised questions about the "real world" benefit of station science.

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Space station science under microscope