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
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