I.S.S. Hits Milestone, but Still Incomplete

Recently I found a site with an update on the International Space Station entitled The International Space Station So Far: Five Years of Service, But Incomplete by Tarig Malik a staff writer at Space.com. It was quite interesting. The slated retirement of the shuttle fleet could cause problems with completing the massive construction as NASA plans to retire their fleet of shuttles in 2010. The completion of the international project requires quite a few more shuttle missions.

Canada's major contribution is the 'Canada arm2,' and is currently flying with the International Space Station. However, there is still one component left to go up, hopefully it will fly soon, no details on when it is scheduled to fly as of yet. But the Canada arm2 is a major work horse for assembling the station, it has been flying since April 19, 2001, and has been used for installing the stations 'Quest' airlock.

Currently the International Space Station is awaiting the delivery of the 'Columbus' module, which is the European Space Agencies contribution to the Station. Also the Japanese 'Kibo' Lab is still awaiting launch. The most recent addition to the station was the U.S. 'Harmony Node 2,' which is necessary for installing the 'Columbus' module and the Japanese 'Kibo' module.

Hopefully there will be more news on the assembly of the International Space Station, as it is imperative to future endeavors into space. We will need a place to stage flights to the moon and Mars. I'm sure that NASAs homepage will have more. When I find more, I will post more, till then, Peace!