CAPE CANAVERAL (AP) .- Humanity marked a pinnacle off the planet on Monday. The 15th anniversary of continuous residence of astronauts on the International Space Station
NASA and partners celebrated the world occasion, as well as the six men aboard the orbiting station. The crew of the US, Russia and Japan are planning a special dinner to 400 kilometers high.
The commander Scott Kelly, the station that carries a mission seven months a year, says the greatest benefit Lab is to contribute to the preparation of broader explorations in space.
“The space station is a bridge. Is a testbed for technologies that we need to develop and understand in order to have a successful trip to Mars, “he said at a news conference US astronaut Kjell Lindgren.
Since the first permanent crew installed the November 2, 2000, 220 people have passed through the space station representing 17 countries. United States is ahead by all space shuttle flights that were needed to deliver parts of the station; Russia is second, and Canada and Japan tied for third place. At least one American and a Russian have been on board at all times.
The NASA said it has served more than 26,500 meals. And the resort has grown from three to 13 modules since 2000. The current structure has a mass of more than 453 tons and both pressurized volume as a Boeing 747.
The most important experiment, said Commander Kelly, it is to keep humans alive in space. His one-year mission with Russian Mikhail Kornienko, scheduled to end in March, includes 400 experiments, many of them doctors. The Americans had never spent so much time in space; Russian yes, but it was decades ago in Mir.
The NASA puts the number of experiments on the space station more than 1,760. At the same time, there have been 189 spacewalks to build and maintain it since it began its construction in 1998; the number 190 will take place on Friday, when Kelly Lindgren and venture out for the second time in ten days.
The more age the space station, more maintenance will be required. NASA hopes to keep the complex running until 2024.
The NASA administrator, Charles Bolden, appointed milestone yesterday as “a remarkable moment in 5.478 days after.”
“This has taught us what is possible when tens of thousands of people from 15 countries working together to advance shared goals,” Bolden said in a statement.
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