NASA Administrator Statement On 10th Anniversary Of Crews Aboard The International Space Station
WASHINGTON -- On Nov. 2, 2000, the first crew arrived aboard the
International Space Station to live and work aboard the orbiting
laboratory. The following is a statement from NASA Administrator
Charles on the 10th anniversary:
"Today, we celebrate ten years of humans living and working
continuously aboard the International Space Station. This global
milestone is tremendously significant, both for NASA and our
partners. It recognizes the success of an amazing feat of engineering
and a magnificent leap forward in the story of human achievement. I
congratulate the entire station team and the thousands of people
worldwide who have helped us reach this anniversary.
"Since Bill Shepherd, Yuri Gidzenko and Sergei Krikalev first boarded
the station as the Expedition 1 crew, more than 196 people have
visited the complex, and by the exact time of the anniversary this
morning, the station will have completed 57,361 orbits of the Earth,
traveling some 1.5 billion miles.
"More than 600 different research and technology development
experiments have been conducted on the station, many of which are
producing advances in medicine, recycling systems and a fundamental
understanding of the universe. On Oct. 25, the station set a record
for being the longest continuously inhabited spacecraft. On that day,
the space station eclipsed the previous record of 3,644 days set by
the Russian Mir Space Station. The station is our toehold in space,
and it will be an essential part of our work to send humans on
missions beyond low Earth orbit in the future.
"With passage of the NASA Authorization bill, we will now be able to
extend the life of the station to at least 2020. Representatives of
the five international agencies that built and operate the outpost
have also agreed on this in principle. Indeed, one of the station's
greatest legacies is the international partnerships we have forged to
create something awe-inspiring that benefits people all over the
world. Partnerships with other nations will be essential to the
global exploration enterprise of the future, and with each new day,
NASA and its partners are pushing the envelope of human achievement
in space into uncharted territory.
"On board the station right now are six talented and courageous
travelers representing NASA and our Russian partners. Tomorrow, the
crew of STS-133 is expected to lift off on its way to the
International Space Station aboard the last flight of shuttle
Discovery. As we enter the station's second decade, our path forward
will take us deeper into space and expand humanity's potential
farther. The lessons we learn on the station will carry us to Mars
and beyond. I want to give a heartfelt thank you to the six crew
members on orbit and all the teams over the years that have helped us
get to this milestone day."
To see the administrator's discussion with the station's Expedition 25
crew Tuesday morning, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/
For more information about NASA and agency programs, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov
For more information on the station, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/station
Source: NASA
