What the International Space Station teaches us about our future in space

The blackness of space and Earth's horizon provide the backdrop for this image of the docked Soyuz 13 (foreground) and the Progress 22 resupply vehicle. Astronauts photographed the Soyuz from a window on the International Space Station while space shuttle Discovery was docked with the station.

Astronaut Robert Curbeam works on the port overheard solar array wing on the International Space Station's P6 truss. Construction and repairs are an ongoing process on the ISS. At completion, the space station will be larger than a typical five-bedroom house.

Discovery mission specialists Robert Curbeam (left) and Christer Fuglesang work on ISS construction during a spacewalk in 2006. Visiting astronauts typically live and work at the station for about six months before heading home.

This view of the International Space Station over a blue-and-white Earth was taken shortly after the space shuttle Atlantis undocked from the orbital outpost on September 17, 2006. During its six days on the space station, the Atlantis crew installed a pair of 73-metre (240-foot) solar wings, attached to a 17.5-tonne section of truss with batteries, electronics, and a giant rotating joint. The new solar arrays were designed to double the station's onboard power.

A crew member aboard the space shuttle Endeavour snapped this image of the Pirs docking compartment of the International Space Station. The compartment has two primary functions: it serves as a docking port for transport and cargo vehicles and as an airlock for spacewalking astronauts.

The turquoise waters of Miami, Florida, gleam underneath the International Space Station as it floats some 240 miles (390 kilometres) above the Earth's surface. The orbiting lab has hosted a rotating international crew since November 2000.

The International Space Station has been under construction since November 1998. In that year the first piece of its structure, the Zarya Control Module, was launched into orbit with a Russian Proton rocket. Today the station features more space than the average three-bedroom house—and it's still growing.

When renovations or repairs are needed on the International Space Station, it's up to astronauts to do the job. Before donning a special pressurised suit and heading out on a spacewalk, though, they must first spend over two hours decompressing in order to avoid the bends. Once their spacesuits are on, the astronauts must spend another hour breathing pure oxygen before they can step outside.