A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE ISS

10 MILESTONES FROM THE SPACE STATION’S 20 YEARS

20 November 1998

The first ISS module, Zarya, is launched on a Russian Proton rocket from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

4 December 1998

Unity, the first US-built component of the ISS, is launched aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour.

7 December 1998

Astronauts Jerry Ross and James Newman make the first spacewalk outside the ISS, connecting computer and electrical cables between the Unity and Zarya modules.

2 November 2000

Astronaut Bill Shepherd and cosmonauts Yuri Gidzenko and Sergei Krikalev become the first crew to stay on board. The ISS has been continuously occupied ever since.

10 February 2001

The Destiny laboratory module is attached to the rest of the station and continues to be the primary US science lab to this day.

10 March 2001

Astronaut Susan Helms becomes the first female crewmember. Peggy Whitson becomes the first female commander of the ISS in October 2007.

11 February 2008

The European Space Agency’s Columbus module is attached to the station. Costing €1.4bn, this is the first permanent European research lab in space.

12 May 2013

Commander Chris Hadfield gives a rendition of David Bowie’s Space Oddity during his final stay on the ISS, turning him into a worldwide celebrity.

15 December 2015

Major Tim Peake becomes the first British astronaut to board the ISS, staying for six months.

2 March 2016

Astronaut Scott Kelly and cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko return to Earth after a 340-day stay, the longest in the space station’s history.