1.  After the “Space Race” to the moon was over, both Russia and the USA put space stations in orbit around our planet. Space Stations Skylab-US Space Station 1973-1974  The first US space station was the Sky Lab launched on May 14, 1973. Although it stayed in orbit until 1979, it was only used for manned missions for less than a year.

2.  From 1986 to 2001, the Russian Mir space station was the largest satellite ever built. Space Stations A) Longest continuous occupation at 3, 644 days (10 years) B) Longest duration is space for one person (437 days) Mir-USSR Space Station Manned 1989-1999 Many records were set on Mir.

3.  The first Russian space station, the Salyut-2 was launched on May 28, 1973. Space Stations  Although it only lasted two weeks due to damage from debris in orbit, the Salyut program was very successful, and it lead to the development of the Mir space station. Salyut-2 USSR Space Station 1973  F.Y.I. - In Russian, the word Salyut means “Salute.”

4. Space Stations  Russian successfully manned six Salyut space stations.  In 1986 the final Salyut space station was the Salyut-7. Salyut-2 USSR Space Station 1986

5.  To reduce costs and to share results, a group of nations decided to work together to build the ISS. International Space Station  The 5 main nations: USA, Russia, Canada, Japan, and Brazil. (About 15 other nations are also involved.) The International Space Station-ISS (1998 to present) Space Shuttle

6.  ISS is the largest space station ever built  It is as large as a football field (see picture below)  6 to 10 people can live there and conduct experiments for months at a time The International Space Station-ISS (1998 to present)

7. Space Stations  Currently China is not part of the ISS space station effort.  In 2011, China placed their own space station in orbit called the Tiangong-1. (This name means “Heavenly Palace” Tiangong-1 China’s Space Station 2011

8. Let’s watch a Brainpop video about the ISS  Click on this link and log in: Brainpop websiteBrainpop website Science Brainpop Video SPI 0807.T/E.2 (Eng Des Process) US.88 (Space Race)