International Space Station (ISS) October 7, 2015
Description: The International Space Station (ISS) is the largest object in low Earth orbit.
The project involves five space agencies: the United States' NASA, Russia's Roscosmos, Japan's JAXA, Europe's ESA, and Canada's CSA.
The ownership and use of the space station is established by intergovernmental treaties and agreements. The station serves as a microgravity and space environment research laboratory in which scientific research is conducted in astrobiology, astronomy, meteorology, physics, and other fields.
The ISS is suited for testing the spacecraft systems and equipment required for possible future long-duration missions to the Moon and Mars.
The station is divided into two sections: the Russian Orbital Segment (ROS) is operated by Russia, while the United States Orbital Segment (USOS) is run by the United States as well as other countries.
The Russian segment includes six habitable modules. The US segment includes seven habitable modules, whose support services are distributed 76.6% for NASA, 12.8% for JAXA, 8.3% for ESA and 2.3% for CSA.
The length along the major axis of the pressurized sections is 218 ft (66 m), and the total habitable volume of these sections is 13,696 cu ft (387.8 m3).
It orbits the Earth every 92.9 minutes.
ISS October 15, 2015
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