December 17, 2002
Somewhere in the sky tonight, a star is being born in a cloud of gas and dust, beginning a journey that will last billions of years.
Beefing Up the International Space Station
Birthday · December 17, 2002
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APOD published December 17, 2002. Full image credits are on the original APOD entry below. A publication-date match, not a photo taken on your date. Independent of NASA.
The International Space Station (ISS) will be the largest human-made object ever to orbit the Earth. The station is so large that it could not be launched all at once -- it is being built piecemeal with large sections added continually by flights of the Space Shuttle. To function, the ISS needs trusses to keep it rigid and to route electricity and liquid coolants. These trusses are huge, extending over 15 meters long, and with masses over 10,000 kilograms. Pictured above at the end of last month, astronaut Michael Lopez-Alegria works to install the Port-One Truss. On the right is the end of Canadarm2, the robotic remote control arm of the ISS.