This image is an artist's conception of how the ISS will look when it is completed in 2003. The Station will be powered by almost an acre of of solar panels and will weigh almost 1 million pounds!
Click on image for full size
Image courtesy of NASA

International Space Station - Hopefully Coming Soon!
News story originally written on September 16, 1998

Well, the good news is that the first part of the International Space Station (ISS) is still on schedule for launch this November. The second U.S.-built module named Unity will launch in December.

Ready for the bad news? The module of the ISS where the crew will live which is being built by the Russia Space Agency is still not complete. Spokesman Sergei Gorbunov said, "Financial delays are the reason."

The first crew of the ISS probably won't be in place until sometime in 2000. At this point, all we can do is wait and see.

The ISS draws on the resources and expertise of 16 countries. It remains the largest international scientific endeavor.

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