Space station

spacecraft designed to remain in space for an extended period with a crew

A space station is a artificial satellite in space that people can live at. All past and current space stations have been in low Earth orbit. Space stations can dock with other spacecraft. This allows transferring cargo and people. At present the International Space Station is the only space station in orbit. The first space station was Salyut 1. Prior stations were the seven Salyut stations, Skylab, Mir and the two Tiangong stations.[1] The Chinese Space Station is planned for the future.[2]

International Space Station

Space stations are used to learn about how being in space for a long time effects the human body. They also are a place for science experiments and research.[3] Space stations have been designed for more than one crew. Each crew member may stay aboard the station for weeks or months, and then is replaced by others. Some have spent more than one year at a time on a space station. This includes Vladimir Titov, Musa Manarov, Sergei Avdeyev and Valeriy Polyakov aboard Mir.[4]

List of successful stations change

The below list is of stations that made it to orbit and had at least one crew visit them. There have also been a few stations that have failed or were for testing. Those are not included on this list.

Name Country Launched Burned up
in atmosphere
Days in
orbit
Days
with people
on board
Crew
and visitors
(total)
Visiting
crewed
spacecraft
Visiting
uncrewed
spacecraft
Mass
kg
Salyut 1 Soviet Union 19 April 1971
11 October 1971
175 23 3 2 - 18,500
Skylab United States 14 May 1973
11 July 1979
2250 171 9 3 0 18,500
Salyut 3 Soviet Union 25 June 1974
24 January 1975
213 15 2 2 - 18,500
Salyut 4 Soviet Union 26 December 1974
3 February 1977
770 92 4 2 1 18,500
Salyut 5 Soviet Union 22 June 1976
8 August 1977
412 67 4 3 - 19,000
Salyut 6 Soviet Union 29 September 1977
29 July 1982
1764 683 33 18 15 19,824
Salyut 7 Soviet Union 19 April 1982
7 February 1991
3216 816 26 11 15 18,900
Mir Soviet Union, Russia 19 February 1986
23 March 2001
5512 4594 125 39 68 129,700
International Space Station United States, Russia, Members of the ESA, Canada, Japan 20 November 1998
Still in orbit
9260 8570 240[note 1] 103[note 2] 136[note 2] 925,335
Tiangong-1 China 29 September 2011
2 April 2018
2378 26 6 2 1 8,506
Tiangong-2 China 15 September 2016
19 July 2019
1038 26 2 1 1 8,506

Research and development of parts for space stations change

 
Prototype of LIFE habitat inside the Space Station Processing Facility (2021)

In 2024, international media showed a film clip of (intentionally or on purpose) putting too much pressure inside a LIFE (Large Integrated Flexible Environment) habitat [or a room designed for a future space station].[5][6]

Notes change

  1. Subject to increase while station is in orbit.
  2. 2.0 2.1 As of 28 April 2021. Subject to increase while station is in orbit.

References change

  1. "A history of space stations". Cable News Network. 23 November 1998. Archived from the original on 19 January 2013. Retrieved 25 May 2012.
  2. Xin, Ling (21 April 2021). "China Is Set to Launch First Module of Massive Space Station". Scientific American. Retrieved 26 April 2021.
  3. "Space Stations". Oracle Thinkquest. Archived from the original on 24 February 2014. Retrieved 20 February 2012.
  4. "A History of Manned Space Missions". National Earth Science Teachers Association. Retrieved 4 May 2012.
  5. https://tv.vg.no/video/284160/sprenger-romstasjon. VG.no. Retrieved 2024-01-30
  6. Savannah Mehrtens (December 14, 2022). "Sierra Space, Lockheed Martin create human habitats for missions beyond the moon". Denver Gazette.