International Space Station program ocean was found to be possible only with Russia's assistance. At the time ISS was launched, the Russian Space Agency had experience from de-orbiting the Salyut 4, 5, 6, and 7 space stations, while NASA's first intentional controlled de-orbit of a satellite (the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory) would not occur for another two years. NASA currently has no spacecraft capable of de-orbiting the ISS at the time of decommissioning. Skylab, the only space station built and launched entirely by the US, decayed from orbit slowly over 5 years, and no attempt was made to de-orbit the station using a deorbital
Center for the Advancement of Science in Space the ISS or partner with the ISSNL to develop new research platforms in space. In addition, the National Lab supports approximately three-dozen privately owned technology companies that provide services to researchers on the Station. This web of researchers and technology companies work together with the staff at the ISSNL to convert terrestrial research into experiments that can be performed in low earth orbit, and to develop and validate new technologies for use on the Station. This model has served the research community well and the ISSNL fully utilizes its 50% allocation of ISS resources. Over the past five years, the