Table of Contents

International Space Station

What does the ISS look like now?

This video (QuickTime - 1082 KB) was shot in May 2010 by the crew of the Space Shuttle Atlantis during mission STS-132 (with the opening footage of the Shuttle taken by the crew
inside the Space Station).
(Credit: NASA)

Along with the United States, Russia, Europe and Japan, Canada is a partner in the International Space Station (ISS), a unique, orbiting research laboratory. Since the first module of the Station was launched in 1998, the Station has circled the globe 16 times per day at 28 000 km/h at an altitude of about 370 km, covering a distance equivalent to the Moon and back daily. Once complete, the Station will be as long as a Canadian football field, and will have as much living space as a five-bedroom house.

Canada's contribution to the ISS is the Mobile Servicing System (MSS)—a sophisticated robotics suite that assembled the Station in space, module by module. Developed for the Canadian Space Agency by MDA of Brampton, Ontario, the MSS is comprised of:

• Canadarm2, a 17-metre long robotic arm
• Dextre, the Station's two-armed robotic "handyman" and
• The Mobile Base is a moveable work platform and storage facility.

Canada's investment gives Canadian scientists access to the ISS to conduct research for the benefit of Canadians.