ISS space lab timeline

A space lab is born ©NewScientist |1998 28 January: The 15 governments involved in the ISS sign a treaty of cooperation Twelve years and $150 billion in the making, the International Space Station is finally complete and ready to reach its research potential |1998 20 November: Zarya, the first ISS module, is launched |2001 30 April: Dennis Tito, the first space tourist, arrives at the ISS ISS partners are assessing extending the station's life to 2028 |2003 1 February: Columbia is destroyed on re-entry to Earth's atmosphere. Space shuttle flights halted for more than 2 years 2020 ISS operations planned to stop 2015 Russian OKA-T free- flying lab due to launch 2008 3 April: ESA's uncrewed Jules Verne cargo craft docks with the ISS 2012 25 May: SpaceX's Dragon capsule, the first commercial space vehicle, docks with the ISS 2009 29 May: Station crew increased to six 2010 1 Febuary: NASA announces plan to operate the ISS to 2020 2012 24 March: Fragments of Russian satellite pass close to the ISS. Crew enter their Soyuz lifeboats 2011 1 March: The Leonardo module docks with the ISS, completing INASA's portion of the station 2011 13 July: NASA selects non-profit group CASIS |to help run research labs on the ISs 2011 27 October: Cosmonaut Sergey Volkov submits a Iresearch paper to the journal EPL from the ISS The ISS is 72 x108 metres, roughly the same size as a soccer pitch, and weighs 450 tonnes It completes 15.7 orbits of Earth per day 205 people of 15 nationalities have visited the ISS