International Space Station (1993–present)
What has been the largest number of people on the ISS at once?
NASA
NASA Scientific research on the International Space Station ISS A/S Scientific research on the International Space Station Variable Specific Impulse Magnetoplasma Rocket
NASA-International_Space_Station_(1993–present) Scientific_research_on_the_International_Space_Station-Contract_Activities ISS_A/S-History Scientific_research_on_the_International_Space_Station-Human_Life_Research Variable_Specific_Impulse_Magnetoplasma_Rocket-Testing_on_the_space_station
International Space Station (1993–present). The International Space Station (ISS) combines NASA's "Space Station Freedom" project with the Soviet/Russian "Mir-2" station, the European "Columbus" station, and the Japanese Kibō laboratory module. NASA originally planned in the 1980s to develop "Freedom" alone, but US budget constraints led to the merger of these projects into a single multi-national program in 1993, managed by NASA, the Russian Federal Space Agency (RKA), the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), the European Space Agency (ESA), and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA). The station consists of pressurized modules, external trusses, solar arrays and other components, which have been launched by Russian Proton and Soyuz rockets, and the US Space Shuttles. It is currently being assembled in Low Earth Orbit. The on-orbit assembly began in 1998, the completion of the US Orbital Segment occurred in 2011 and the completion of the Russian Orbital Segment is expected by 2016. The ownership and use of the space station is established in intergovernmental treaties and agreements which divide the station into two areas and allow Russia to retain full ownership of the Russian Orbital Segment (with the exception of Zarya), with the US Orbital Segment allocated between the other international partners. Long duration missions to the ISS are referred to as ISS Expeditions. Expedition crew members typically spend approximately six months on the ISS. The initial expedition crew size was three, temporarily decreased to two following the Columbia disaster. Since May 2009, expedition crew size has been six crew members. Crew size is expected to be increased to seven, the number the ISS was designed for, once the Commercial Crew Program becomes operational. The ISS has been continuously occupied for the past , having exceeded the previous record held by Mir; and has been visited by astronauts and cosmonauts from 15 different nations. The station can be seen from the Earth with the naked eye and, , is the largest artificial satellite in Earth orbit with a mass and volume greater than that of any previous space station. The Soyuz spacecraft delivers crew members, stays docked for their half-year long missions and then returns them home. Several uncrewed cargo spacecraft service the ISS, they are the Russian Progress spacecraft which has done so since 2000, the European Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) since 2008, the Japanese H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV) since 2009, the American Dragon spacecraft since 2012 and the American Cygnus spacecraft since 2013. The Space Shuttle, before its retirement, was also used for cargo transfer and would often switch out expedition crew members, although it did not have the capability to remain docked for the duration of their stay. Until another US manned spacecraft is ready, crew members will travel to and from the International Space Station exclusively aboard the Soyuz. The highest number of people occupying the ISS has been thirteen; this occurred three times during the late Shuttle ISS assembly missions. The ISS program is expected to continue until at least 2020 but may be extended until 2028 or possibly beyond that.
  GTS (ISS Experiment)  GTS-2 (ISS Experiment)  Vzglyad (ISS Experiment)  Biosfera (ISS Experiment)  LEGO (ISS Experiment)  Popular Mechanics (ISS Experiment)  MPAC & SEED (ISS Experiment)  HDTV (ISS Experiment)  Starmail (ISS Experiment)  GCF-JAXA (ISS Experiment)  ROKVISS (ISS Experiment)  Neurocog (ISS Experiment)  Cardiocog (ISS Experiment)  Neurocog-3 (ISS Experiment)  3DPC (ISS Experiment)  3DPC-2 (ISS Experiment)  SCN (ISS Experiment)  Cardiocog-4 (ISS Experiment)  NOA (ISS Experiment)  IMMUNO (ISS Experiment)  Golf (ISS Experiment)  Myocite (ISS Experiment)  Stroma (ISS Experiment)  Amphybody (ISS Experiment)  Tubul (ISS Experiment)  MIA (ISS Experiment)  NKA (ISS Experiment)  Bioculture (ISS Experiment)  Altcriss (ISS Experiment)  Cult (ISS Experiment)  Sample-LDM (ISS Experiment)  AT-SPACE (ISS Experiment)  BIOKIN 4 (ISS Experiment)  PKINASE (ISS Experiment)  EXPOSE-R (ISS Experiment)  Pille-Simonyi-2 (ISS Experiment)  Sample (ISS Experiment)  
1901 ISS was founded in Copenhagen, Denmark as a small security company with 20 night watchmen named Kjøbenhavn-Frederiksberg Nattevagt (Copenhagen-Frederiksberg Night Watch)1934 ISS entered the cleaning business with the establishment of Det Danske Rengørings Selskab A/S (The Danish Cleaning Company) as an independent subsidiary of the security company1946 The first geographical expansion outside Denmark: Swedish subsidiary established1968 The company adopted the ISS name1973 Overseas expansion started1975 Group revenue reached DKK 1 billion1977 ISS shares listed on the Copenhagen Stock Exchange1989 The total number of employees in the Group reached 100,0001997 Strategy “aim2002“ was launched. This strategy focused on Multi Services – selling a number of services to the same customer1999 ISS acquired Abilis, the second largest European provider of cleaning and specialised services, in a DKK 3.6 billion acquisition, the Group’s largest ever. Abilis had about 50,000 employees and annual revenues of DKK 5.2 billion in 1998. The total number of employees in the Group reached 200,0002000 A new five-year strategy “create2005“ was launched, introducing the Facility Services concept2003 ISS’ first major pan-European Integrated Facility Services contract signed2005 A new strategy was introduced aiming at a continuous transformation of ISS towards an Integrated Facility Services company. ISS A/S was acquired by funds advised by EQT Partners and Goldman Sachs Capital Partners, and de-listed from the Copenhagen Stock Exchange. The total number of employees in the Group reached 300,0002006 Group revenue passed DKK 50 billion. ISS made the second-largest acquisition in company history, when acquiring the outstanding 51% of the shares in Tempo Services Ltd. in Australia2007 Group revenue passed DKK 60 billion. ISS entered the US market through the acquisition of Sanitors Inc. The total number of employees in the Group reached 400,0002008 Introduction of ISS’s strategy plan “The ISS Way”, which is built on four strategic cornerstones: customer focus, people management, the IFS strategy and a multi-local approach. ISS’s largest ever international Integrated Facility Services contract was signed2010 Group revenue passed DKK 70 billion. The total number of employees in the Group reached 500,000 2011 British security company G4S announces it will acquire ISS in a deal worth £5.2 billion. The deal is later shelved, owing to shareholder unrest 2012 Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan (Teachers') and KIRKBI Invest A/S make EUR 500 million investment in ISS 2013 ISS is named world’s best outsourcing company as the International Association of Outsourcing Professionals ranks ISS as the #1 on its annual list of the world’s best outsourcing service providers – The Global Outsourcing 100 2014 ISS lists on the OMX Nasdaq Copenhagen Stock Exchange in Denmark’s biggest IPO in two decades  
  Sprut-MBI (ISS Experiment)  Parodont (ISS Experiment)  Cardio-ODNT (ISS Experiment)   Mass Transfer (ISS Experiment)  Prognos (ISS Experiment)  Brados (ISS Experiment)   Farma (ISS Experiment)  Poligen (ISS Experiment)   Diurez (ISS Experiment)  Biotest (ISS Experiment)  Biotest-1 (ISS Experiment)   Profilaktika (ISS Experiment)   Pulse (ISS Experiment)   BIMS (ISS Experiment)   Biorisk (ISS Experiment)   Rastenia-2 (ISS Experiment)   Pilot (ISS Experiment)   Intercellular Interaction (ISS Experiment)   Gematologia (ISS Experiment)   Plasmida (ISS Experiment)   Statokonia (ISS Experiment)   Regeneratsia (ISS Experiment)   Akvarium (ISS Experiment)   Sonokard (ISS Experiment)   Vzaimodeystviye (ISS Experiment)   Dykhanie (ISS Experiment)   Pneumocard (ISS Experiment)   Rastenia (ISS Experiment)   Tipologia (ISS Experiment)   
On December 8, 2008, Ad Astra signed an agreement with NASA to arrange the placement and testing of a flight version of the VASIMR, the VF-200, on the International Space Station (ISS). , its launch is anticipated to be in 2015; the Antares rocket has been reported as the "top contender" for the launch vehicle. Since the available power from the ISS is less than 200 kW, the ISS VASIMR will include a trickle-charged battery system allowing for 15 min pulses of thrust. Testing of the engine on ISS is valuable because it orbits at a relatively low altitude and experiences fairly high levels of atmospheric drag, making periodic boosts of altitude necessary. Currently, altitude reboosting by chemical rockets fulfills this requirement. The VASIMR test on the ISS may lead to a capability of maintaining the ISS or a similar space station in a stable orbit at 1/20th of the approximately $210 million/year present estimated cost. 