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The International Space Station is the doorway to the future of mankind and the world as it is known.
The scientific and medical discoveries that will be made on the station could create billions of dollars
annually. A plan like this, arranged to benefit the whole world economy, should sound like a good idea to
every person, but some believe that the ISS is too risky, too ineffective, or too costly to create. Whether or
not the space station is worth the money, time, and effort, one thing is clear, everyone is interested in this
virtual floating laboratory and what assets or liabilities it will bring. The future of scientific
experimentation and exploration may be located, not on earth, but on the man made island called the
International Space Station.
Of all the factors that go into building a space station, construction of the massive object is the most
tedious objective. During the building of the ISS, tensions have run high several times when deadlines
were missed or funds were not available. This space station is the most expansive mission the world has
ever encountered. The International Space Station will be a fifteen country mission. When finished, it
will boast over an acre of solar panels for heating and energy, have a volume roughly sizable to two jumbo
jets, and contain four times the electrical power of the Russian space station, Mir. It will take
approximately forty-five flights over the next five years to assemble the one hundred pieces of the station
while circling the orbit of the earth (Goldin 11). This floating station, the size of a large football stadium,
which is traveling at over 17,500 miles per hour around the earth, will have a minimum life expectancy of
only ten years, although scientists hope for a much longer time. The station is so large that it will
sometimes be visible by the naked eye during the night (Chang 12). Many people agree with the idea of
some sort of space laboratory, but wonder why it has to cost so many tax dollars. Some estimates for the
station confirm that the cost has been underestimated by billions of dollars. Late last year Boeing beat out
several other competitors for the prestigious position of main contractor. NASA agreed to sign a 5.6
billion dollar contract with Boeing to build many of the essential parts of the space station. Russia is also
placing trust in this airplane superpower. They signed a 180 million dollar contract to build the Functional
Cargo Block, the unit that will provide power to stabilize the station (Bizony 87).
The International Space Station may provide many scientific discoveries, but everyone will pay for it.
This project will become the most expensive project in space since the 1969 mission of Apollo 13 to the
moon. The total estimated cost will be over twenty billion dollars (8).
On the International Space Station, there will be a large variety of experiments ranging from
improvements of industry to medical advances. The largest portion of time will be devoted to scientific
experimentation and discovery. The ISS will create advances that will assist scientists to better understand
the mysteries of the physical, chemical, and biological world. Without gravity they may conceive the
technological discoveries that will boost all economies (Goldin 11). One thing the astronauts will use in
their pursuit of knowledge is remote telescience. It is an advanced technology that allows scientists on the
ground to monitor the progress of the experiments on the station. This will keep people on Earth up to
date on the data collection that is occurring in space. Telescience will use interactive data and video links
to make the connection as realistic as possible (Science Facilities 7). The populous sometimes asks
what the station will do scientifically. The International Space Station will try to answer questions that
have bothered deep thinkers for years. The affect of no gravity on living things, any mental and physical
affect on humans in space, and the growth of better materials in space that will create better products on
Earth will all be explored in hopes of becoming better understood. Hopefully, scientists will be able to
answer these questions and many more on the International Space Station (Chang 12).
NASA has confirmed that microgravity, the almost weightless condition of space, is one of the
largest factors in the experiments that will occur aboard the International Space Station. The affects of
gravity and microgravity on animals, plants, cells, and microorganisms will be studied on the station.
Artificial gravity can be adapted from 0.01 G, almost entirely weightless, to 2G, twice the earths gravity,
to fit the experiment (Science Facilities 1). Gravitational biology is a major research topic dealing with
microgravity. It is the study of gravitys influence on living things such as plants and animals. This will
help astronauts conclude definitely what will happen to humans on long trips and stays on Mars (6).
The Optical Window is a special window that will monitor natural events with cameras, sensors, and other
devices. The window will be able to track such disasters as oil spills, hurricanes, and forest fires (3).
The ISS is our best effort to date to provide a laboratory environment where combustion can be
fully understood. Combustion will help to better understand air pollution, global environmental heating,
propulsion, and hazardous waste incineration (Industrial Processes 3). The new experiments on
combustion could save the United States millions of dollars annually because it controls the heating of
homes, powering of cars, and the production of a large range of synthetic materials (4). Real combustion
cannot take place on Earth. So combustion will be studied in space. On the ground gravity feeds flames
with oxygen and takes away heat. The space stations combustion facility will do research on gas, liquid,
and solid fuels which already yields eighty-five percent of the worlds energy production (Science
Facilities 4). Combustion is the release of chemical energy. Combustion research on the station will lead
to less pollution in the industries and the production of advanced materials which will have very large
payoffs for the economy (2).
Since the computer age began, microchips have become smaller and more efficient every year.
On the International Space Station, The multinational crew will spend one half of its time working on
science. Many experiments will deal with improving the microchip and the silicon that makes it up
(DiChristina 77).
Finding cures for many medical problems is one hope for the space station. One of the most
important missions of the station will be to search for cures to earthly diseases. The International Space
Station will provide information that might lead to cures for AIDS, Cancer, Diabetes, Emphysema, and
Osteoporosis (Lawler 50). Scientists will find this mission an ideal spot to study the human biology
without the restraints of gravity. A cure for Cancer might be found in space. In orbit, Cancer cells grow
in solid clumps because gravity does not flatten them. Therefore the space station will be the best effort
yet to search for treatments because they can be studied three dimensionally (Bizony 120). Some think
that protein crystals are the answer to many cures. They are associated with every disease on Earth. If
they can be understood deadly diseases may be curable (DiChristina 77).
Aging has always been a large concern for many people on Earth. Soon that may not be as large
of a problem. Research from previous shuttle missions and Mir have shown that some of the processes
that occur in a person when they get older are the same processes that also affect the astronauts on a
mission in space. Problems such as weakening of the heart, muscles, and bones, disturbed sleep patterns,
abnormal immune system, and problems balancing affect both groups the same ways. Therefore, some
aspects of aging may be curable if scientists can find a connection between the two (Our health 1).
NASA is trying to learn more about the affects of weightlessness on their astronauts during long
missions. They plan to use the International Space Station as one means to do so. On the space station,
scientists will discover ways to predict the effects of weightlessness on travelers to Mars (7). It has
already been 1earned that living in space for any extended period of time is not good on a persons health.
Scientists plan to explore why and will study the effects of prolonged weightlessness on the human body
and mind (Bizony 113). Developers working for NASA are creating some of the most technologically
advanced machines ever made which are specially formulated for experimentation on the International
Space Station. It would be very hazardous and not practical for NASA to return an ill or hurt member of
the station back to the United States. Therefore, NASA is improving computer systems that will be able to
diagnose and help treat any injury that may occur while on the station. These machines, along with
medically trained astronauts, will create a very small need for return missions to Earth due to health
considerations (Our health 3). To deliver the best medicine possible, the space station will be equipped
with virtual reality and medical monitoring systems like those found in hospitals. Cyber surgery, a type of
virtual reality, will be used in the extreme cases of a medical emergency (4).
The human body will be thoroughly studied while in space to conclude if there are any long term affects
on the body during space travel. The experiments will be broken into three basic categories: bones,
tissues, and cells. The space station will have a special laboratory called the Bioreactor which will
reproduce human tissues and cells. The Bioreactor will be able to create Cancerous cell tissue called
tumors from a few individual cancer cells. Some think that while in space, the space station will find
healthier alternatives to a cure for Cancer other than the very harmful chemotherapy. Scientists plan to
make healthy tissue outside the body in a space laboratory and then transfer the tissue into a body with
damaged tissue. This is possible because in space cells are not crushed by the pressure of gravity. They
grow three dimensionally like those which occur naturally in the body (Our health 5). Besides cures for
cancer, how to fight bone loss will be considered. Bone loss is one of the major reasons astronauts cannot
stay in space for extended periods of time. Once bone loss can be controlled, NASA will be capable of
bringing all men and women back in perfect health (Chang 13).
I view the space shuttle program as a stepping stone to the ultimate program that will
guarantee prolonged efforts in microgravity... Ultimately our hope is to be able to
crystallize proteins in microgravity, conduct all x-ray data collection experiments in space
and transmit the data to Earth for processing. This can only be done in a space station
(Our health 9).
One of the reasons the International Space Station is so important is because it offers the chance for
experiments to be done at all times during the year instead of making scientists wait for weeks, months, or
even years to get their experiments tested. The space station will mean that industry will become more
involved in the space research which will benefit both areas into the future (6). On the space station, real
industrial improvement will be a reality. Semiconductors have already been grown that are of a record
quality. They have all been created as a thin film by the Wakeshield Facility. It creates a vacuum larger
than one ever created on Earth. This leads to improvements in the computer industry. The improvements
could mean billions of dollars for industry (Industrial processes 7). Oil refinement provides the United
States will over 90 billion dollars revenue annually. Zeolights, which are used in the refinement process of
petroleum products, are being enhanced dramatically in space. This could create a 400 million dollar
increase in the United States economy (7).
All industry will be effected because space does not have the limitations of Earth. Due to
microgravity, crystal production is not hindered. Ergo, scientists can concentrate on the phenomenon of
solidification, crystal growth, fluid flow, and combustion like they have never been able to before which
translates into large profits for all countries involved in construction and care of the International Space
Station (8). Microgravity is very unique. It will be the factor that affects and inspires the production of
many of the products that have not even been dreamed of yet by inventors and scientists. By delving into
the practical uses of microgravity, it is easy to see that many new alloys, ceramics, glasses, polymers, and
semiconductors can be improved, redesigned, or created (Industrial Processes 1). When viewing the
whole spectrum of the space station, many scientists have agreed that microgravity is the most important
factor. It could create treatments for previously incurable diseases, better materials and alloys for industry,
and more efficient forms of fuel and petroleum products. Microgravity is an important factor because
compared to the gravity on earth, space has one-millionth the force pressing down on objects. This
accounts for the willingness of people to spend billions of dollar on experiments that can only be
performed in one place, the International Space Station (DiChristina 77).
Besides increasing the worth of the economy, the International Space Station will also help earth
science research. The Optical Window will help study the daily buildup and positions of the clouds. This
may help to predict droughts and therefore prepare vegetation. Also available will be key information
about our atmosphere.
To test in the greatest detail some of the fundamental laws that govern our physical world,
it is often necessary to go beyond the surface of the Earth...Thus, NASA and its academic,
industrial, and international partners will use the microgravity environment of the ISS to
conduct fundamental scientific studies that have as their goal to contribute to the worlds
supply of knowledge, which will one day enable the technology of future generations
(Fundamental Knowledge 6)
Many people consider the International Space Station a excellent chance for improvement of medical,
technological, and industrial processes, but there are a few skeptics who are unsure of any benefit at all.
These people have questioned the purposes and objectives of the scientists who believe it is a service.
Many state that there is no substantial evidence to prove that the International Space Station will fulfill any
of the aspirations people have pressed upon it. Others point to the fact that it may only be able to remain
in space for ten years which is not long enough to do anything that is very conclusive. Still, others contend
that the International Space Station is a small price to pay for the usefulness it will provide in the future.
The mixed reviews have left nothing but confusion in their path. No matter what anyone says or thinks,
only time will tell. Since the Cold War, Russia has fallen from the status of superpower, and its space
program has become almost non-existent. Since Russia first joined the International Space Station team,
the Russians have been continually behind schedule but always promising the job is almost finished. They
have frequently run out of funds which had to be given to them by the United States and other partners,
and several times they threatened to drop out of the project all together. Russia is only the United States
first problem. Although it is called the International Space Station and is considered a multinational
project, it is obvious that United States dollars are supporting most of the sagging project (89). The cost is
one of the most debated topics on the subject. Once having a price as low as eight to fifteen billion
dollars, the cost has since skyrocketed to the exorbitant amount of over 96 billion dollars by the end of the
project in 2006. The International Space Station is already over a decade late, and the price is soaring
into the billions of dollars over the original price tag. Some are beginning to wonder if the International
Space Station is a floating white elephant. Boeing admitted it has underestimated the potential cost by as
much as 800 million dollars just for its contract alone (88).
On the other hand, some people believe it is worth the price. For nine dollars less than the
average American pays for snack or junk food yearly, NASA can build the International Space Station
which could become a scientific pinnacle from which the benefits would be felt for years (Abatemarco 9).
Some critics wonder whether any scientific progress that the space station will make will create a high
enough profit to make up for the gigantic cost of the station. Some scientists are concerned that the space
station will have no redeeming qualities whatsoever. Most of the functions of the space station have
disappeared. NASA is mortgaging its future for the next twenty years (Kluger 90). Some even disagree
on whether microgravity is a valid determinant. Not everyone thinks that research on microgravity will be
the least beneficial. Some say that it is one of the least important factors you can have (DiChristina 76).
In the end it is debatable whether the International Space Station will give us enough scientific information
to make the planning, cost, and maintenance worthwhile. One of the main topic to be researched, protein
crystals are fragile and with a single bump, which happens a lot in space, the project is ruined (Kluger 91).
There is no information of yet that is going to tell anyone the outcome of the experiments on the
International Space Station. It is a complex machine that may create fantastic results or become a large
waste of time and effort, but until the world tries, it will never know which might be the most
disappointing thing of all. For now, all anyone has is hope for a brighter future, and the chance that the
International Space Station may bring them a step closer to that reality. The orbiting laboratory serves as
a symbol of our future. A future that embodies the dreams of our children and that promises untold
discoveries for the next millennium. One that fulfills our innate human nature to explore. And one that
benefits all people of all nations. (Goldin 11) The International Space Station is the beginning. It is the
beginning of a world that is working towards a better understanding of everything around it.
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