Expedition 48 Crew Portrait; Jeff Williams, Oleg Skripochka, Aleksei Ovchinin, Takuya Onishi, Anatoli Ivanishin, and Kate Rubins (NASA)
There’s no telling what people can accomplish once they agree to work together. The International Space Station (ISS), for example, is one of the most ambitious international collaborations ever attempted. It launched in 1998 and involved the U.S., Russia, Canada, Japan, and the participating countries of the European Space Agency.
The ISS—the largest ever constructed—was built in orbit, 250 miles above the Earth. So far, astronauts from more than 18 countries have visited the station, which functions as an international collaborative research laboratory for biology, physics, astronomy, meteorology, and more. Scientific research has run the gamut, from DNA sequencing to experiments that may lead to breakthroughs in medicine.
Join Cathy Lewis, curator of international space programs and spacesuits, at the Air and Space Museum, in a fascinating discussion of the multinational and bilateral agreements that led to an amazing engineering achievement.
After a decade and a half, ISS continues to be a beacon of scientific collaboration, even while national space programs differ dramatically. Drawing from her research, Lewis illuminates how the fascination with human spaceflight has permeated global cultures to different degrees, and what effects that has had on public art and attitude.
She also highlights some of the cutting-edge scientific work being conducted on board the ISS, and brings with her objects from the Air and Space museum’s collection that guests are welcome to touch and explore.
