[imagesource: NASA]

It has been 20 years since the first humans took up residence on the International Space Station (ISS).

It’s a 460-ton, permanently crewed platform orbiting Earth, which is about four times as large as the Russian space station Mir, and five times as large as the U.S. Skylab.

The ISS took 10 years and more than 30 missions to assemble. It is the result of unprecedented scientific and engineering collaboration among five space agencies representing 15 countries.

Here’s how it all came together:

It has to date played host to 241 crew including astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley, who docked the SpaceX Dragon crew capsule earlier this year

This marked the first time in history that a commercial aerospace company had carried humans into Earth’s orbit.

Bob and Doug remained on the ISS for four months, while every element of the mission was analysed, so that the way could be paved for future missions.

The Guardian looked into what it must have been like for Bob and Doug, as well as all of the other astronauts and cosmonauts who live there.

The ISS is zero-gravity. Spots of “gravity” exist throughout the station in the form of footholds, straps, clips and velcro dots to secure people to stop them from floating away. This makes everyday tasks, like washing, really difficult.

In the Russian modules, surfaces facing towards Earth (“down”) are coloured olive-green while walls and surfaces facing away from Earth (“up”) are beige. This helps crew to orient themselves.

Colour is really important onboard. At Skylab, for example, astronauts would break the monotony of the interior colour scheme by staring at coloured cards.

In films, space stations are usually sleek and clean. The reality is very different.

The ISS is smelly, noisy, messy, and awash in shed skin cells and crumbs. It’s like a terrible share house, except you can’t leave, you have to work all the time and no one gets a good night’s sleep.

The astronauts and cosmonauts have built a “micro-society in a mini world” which they decorate to make it cosier, covering every inch of exposed wall with personal items.

Food plays a huge role in bonding. Rituals of sharing food, celebrating holidays and birthdays, help form camaraderie between crew of different national and cultural backgrounds.

While the station remains one of the few places where international cooperation persists between countries, there are conflicts.

In 2009, toilets briefly became a source of international conflict when decisions on the ground meant Russian crew were forbidden to use the US toilets and exercise equipment.

The toilets recently broke again, but it looks like everyone managed to make it through this time without starting a war.

The ISS has shaped the space culture of the 20th and 21st centuries.

As we prepare for missions to Mars and the Moon, with the potential to set up habitats in space, the ISS has provided us with invaluable insight into what it’s like to live up there.

Check it out for yourself with European Space Agency astronaut Luca Parmitano and NASA astronaut Drew Morgan:

[source:guardian]