▲The Kounotori 4, an unmanned cargo spacecraft launched by Japan, berthing.

▲An ISS crew member storing scientific samples for later analysis.

▲The ISS pictured in 2000. Its first component launched into orbit in 1998.

▲The ISS photographed in 2002 displaying more components.

▲CubeSats, a type of miniaturized satellite, are deployed into orbit.

▲A fish-eye view of the various scientific labs the ISS carries in space.

▲The ISS with its second set of solar arrays, delivered in 2006 by the NASA space shuttle Atlantis.

▲A pressurized connecting module known as "Unity" as photographed from the Space Shuttle Endeavour.

▲In 2009, the fourth and final set of solar panels had been installed. The ISS was slowly assembled over the course of a decade, through the help of various spaceflights and crews.

▲By 2005, the ISS, in low earth orbit, had undergone considerable expansion.

▲"Quest," the huge US Orbital Segment airlock.

▲The "Destiny" laboratory interior pictured in 2001. Also known as the US Lab, this is the primary research facility for United States payloads aboard the ISS.

▲By the early 2000s, the ISS was clearly taking shape.

▲The primary research facility known as "Columbus," as seen in 2008.

▲A crew member using the airlock on "Kibō," which has a sliding drawer for external experiments.

▲An incredible view of ISS astronauts at work high over New Zealand.

▲Cosmonaut Sergey Volkov operating a manual crane, his Soyuz spacecraft docked below him.

▲Russian solar arrays, backlit by sunset, dazzle in their brilliant luminosity.

▲The Permanent Multipurpose Module known as "Leonardo" is installed.

▲Room with a view: The ISS's extraordinary Cupola, the design of which has been compared to the Han Solo's Millennium Falcon from 'Star Wars.'

▲The computer age: a bank of laptops at the ready in the ISS's US lab.

▲Mike Hopkins, one of the US astronauts making a rare 2013 Christmas Eve spacewalk. It was only the second Christmas Eve spacewalk in NASA history.

▲Sunrise breaks over the Earth's horizon, as seen from the ISS.

▲"Harmony," also known as Node 2, is the second of the station's node modules, pictured in 2011.

▲The ISS floats in orbit in 2000 following its undocking from the space shuttle Atlantis.

▲Mission specialist Christer Fuglesang makes the second of three planned space walks during construction on the ISS in 2006.

▲The space shuttle Atlantis in Earth orbit seen over the Bahamas just before docking for the last time with the ISS in 2011.

▲Astronaut Andrew Feustel reenters the space station after completing a spacewalk in 2011.

▲Astronaut Scott Parazynski performs makeshift repairs to a US solar array, which damaged itself (top left) when unfolding.

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Space shuttle Endeavour, a Soyuz TMA-21, and Progress M-10M docked to the ISS—a picture of true international teamwork.

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Are you as intrigued as ever? Then browse the following gallery and take a closer look at this marvel of orbiting engineering.

▲Completing their 197 days in space on October 4, 2018, astronauts Andrew Feustel and Ricky Arnold and cosmonaut Oleg Artemyev took this photo of the International Space Station from their Soyuz spacecraft after undocking.

Life in orbit: the International Space Station

On November 2, 2000, the first residential crew arrived aboard the ISS

26/08/24 por StarsInsider

LIFESTYLE Travel

Launched in 1998, the International Space Station continues to fascinate us today. A prime example of a successful multinational collaborative effort, its five participating space agencies are NASA (United States), Roscosmos (Russia), JAXA (Japan), ESA (Europe), and CSA (Canada). Are you as intrigued as ever? Then browse the following gallery and take a closer look at this marvel of orbiting engineering.