Presently the ISS is a unique permanently manned complex in near-earth orbit; in this complex the orbital structures developed by the project partners operate as a single whole.

The International infrastructure of the orbital and ground space facilities providing the Station operation and performance of different program tasks onboard the Station had passed certification for many years.

Aboard the ISS the capability for a long-term operation and a comfortable stay of the crew up to 6 persons has been implemented with a high degree of safety, first, at the expense of two Russian manned vehicles Soyuz TMA available within the Station.

The increasing technical and scientific potential of the ISS allows to use it as a space laboratory to conduct the basic and applied research and develop new technologies and also an observatory permanently available in orbit for the Earth, Solar system and Universe observations.

With the new modules integrated into the Station its capabilities allow to provide the International permanently manned space port in near-earth orbit for accommodation, assembly, preparation and shipment of different special-purpose space vehicles and complexes including large space structures and systems to fulfill the tasks in adjacent and deep space.

The basis for the successful implementation of the ISS project is the use of the world leaders experience in manned cosmonautics, scientific - technical and production potential of all partners and participants, their close cooperation and mutual assistance, especially clearly revealed when the critical situations occurred which hindered the performance of the most important program tasks.

The Russian party contribution to the project provided by RSC Energia - prime contractor for the development and operation of the Russian Segment of the Station - together with cooperation of the branch enterprises and organizations and the Russian Academy of Sciences is acknowledged by all partners.

The Russia responsibility for further continuation of the manned flight of the International Space Station especially increased because of the planned retirement of flights under the Shuttle program when a task to rotate the station crews and provide the main cargo traffic of its logistics support was assigned to space vehicles produced by RSC Energia.

We express our thanks to all Russian and foreign participants in the ISS activities for the responsible and creative attitude to meeting the commitments with regard to the project and business cooperation which are a pledge of safety assurance of the station flight and new achievements in moving forward along the way outlined.

We congratulate all partners and participants in the activities under the International Space Station project on this memorable date, wish You all good health, well-being and further fruitful steps for the joint space activities and space development in the interests of the Earth civilization.

Quick Facts:
Activities for the ISS development were started upon signing The Joint Statement on Space Cooperation by Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Viktor Chernomyrdin and U.S. Vice-President Al Gore on September 2, 1993, which envisaged the development of the Station consisting of two integrated segments (the Russian and the American) gradually built up of separate modules in orbit.

In the Statement S.P. Korolev Rocket and Space Corporation Energia role was determined as leading for the Russian Segment of the International Space Station and the Boeing Company was in charge of the American Segment. In 1994 Canada, Japan and the European Space Agency countries stated on their participation in the ISS project; a total of 16 countries take part in the project.

+ The ISS first crew consists of the following Russian cosmonauts: S. Krikalev, Yu. Gidzenko and NASA astronaut W. Shepherd. Presently the Station mass is about 380 t, the volume of habitable modules is 440 m3.

+ For 10 years of the manned flight of the International Space Station the following was performed: flights of 64 Russian space vehicles for the crew delivery and logistics support (24 manned Soyuz and 40 cargo Progress vehicles), 34 U.S. Orbiters, European cargo vehicle ATV and Japanese cargo vehicle HTV.

+ Russian manned vehicle Soyuz TMA is the basic rescue aid of the ISS crew in case of the emergency situations onboard the Station requiring the urgent return of the crew to the ground.

+ Currently the following members of the prime crew (the ISS-25/26) work onboard the Station: Russian cosmonauts F. Yurchikhin, A. Kaleri, O. Skripochka and U.S. astronauts D. Wheelock (the ISS-25 commander), Sh. Walker and S. Kelly.

+ For 10 years a total of 297 cosmonauts and astronauts - representatives of 16 countries of the world worked onboard the ISS; their total flight time within the Station exceeded 13.3 thou. days including the women's flight time of about 1.7 thou. days.

+ For comparison - on the Mir complex the total flight time was 12 thou. days respectively (in the permanently manned mode it was about 4.5 thou. days).

Source: S.P. Korolev Rocket And Space Corporation

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