This
is a digital artist's concept of the International
Space Station. It is to be powered by
an acre of solar panels and weigh almost 500 tons. The pressurized volume
of the station will be equivalent to the space inside two jumbo jets.
Station modules are being provided by the U.S., Russia, Europe and Japan.
Canada is providing a mechanical arm and "Canada hand." 16 countries
are co-operating to provide a state-of-the-art complex of laboratories
in the weightless environment of Earth orbit. The first piece of the station
was launched in June 1998. (Courtesy of NASA)