On this day in 1971, the first ever space station, the Russian-built Salyut 1, was launched into orbit. It remained at an altitude of over 120,000 miles for almost 6 months before it was brought in for re-entry, and burned up in the atmosphere. During its time in space, it played host to two visiting spacecraft; one which failed its attempt to dock and promptly returned home, and another successful attempt which later experienced problems during its re-entry, resulting in the unfortunate death of all three crewmembers.
Today, the International Space Station flies above our heads, 250,000 miles above the ground on which we stand. Just over 12 years old, the ISS is the product of a collaborative effort between the world's greatest space programs, an embodiment of the quality of engineering that the human race is capable of.
No doubt, one day - perhaps, very soon - we will see the ISS meet the same fate as its predecessor, and be permanently retired to make way for the next generation of orbital space stations. I cannot wait to see what the bright minds of our generation come up with; I rest assured it will be something even more amazing than we've yet seen.
Today, the International Space Station flies above our heads, 250,000 miles above the ground on which we stand. Just over 12 years old, the ISS is the product of a collaborative effort between the world's greatest space programs, an embodiment of the quality of engineering that the human race is capable of.
No doubt, one day - perhaps, very soon - we will see the ISS meet the same fate as its predecessor, and be permanently retired to make way for the next generation of orbital space stations. I cannot wait to see what the bright minds of our generation come up with; I rest assured it will be something even more amazing than we've yet seen.
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