International Space Station Russian space station called OPSEK. The ISS is the ninth space station to be inhabited by crews, following the Soviet and later Russian "Salyut", "Almaz", and "Mir" stations as well as "Skylab" from the US. The station has been continuously occupied for since the arrival of Expedition 1 on 2 November 2000. This is the longest continuous human presence in low Earth orbit, having surpassed the previous record of held by "Mir". It has been visited by astronauts, cosmonauts and space tourists from 17 different nations. After the American Space Shuttle programme ended in 2011, Soyuz rockets became the only
The Throne of Saturn (novel) make the burn to take them out of orbit and leave Trasker to die. The two astronauts shoot each other; Halleck is killed, and Weickert ejects his body into space. Leaving Balkis' body on the surface, Trasker rejoins Weickert in orbit and rams the Soviet ship, sending it spinning into a fatal solar orbit. Trasker gets himself and the severely wounded Weickert back to the American space station in Earth orbit. Back on Earth, a congressional investigation into Planetary Fleet One is launched. The President urges Trasker to downplay the Soviet role in the tragedy to avoid international tension, implying