This digital artist's concept shows the International Space Station after all assembly is completed in 2003. The completed station will be powered by almost an acre of solar panels and have a mass of almost 1 million pounds. The pressurized volume of the station will be roughly equivalent to the space inside two jumbo jets. Station modules will be provided by the U.S., Russia, Europe and Japan. Canada will provide a mechanical arm and "Canada hand." In total, 16 countries are cooperating to provide a state-of-the-art complex of laboratories in the weightless environment of Earth orbit. The first piece of the station is scheduled to launch in November 1998, beginning a challenging five-year, 45-flight sequence of assembly in orbit.
The Earth below the station in this view reflects the glint of sunlight.