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[AstroNut325]

It really feels like a blink of an eye but it has been 15 years since the first resident crew came on-board.

Some tidbits from the Space.com piece:

On Nov. 2, 2000, at 5:23 a.m. EST (1023 GMT), astronaut Bill Shepherd and cosmonauts Sergei Krikalev and Yuri Gidzenko entered the station to become its first resident crew. Up to that point, Shepherd had logged just 18 days in space on three short space shuttle missions. Now, he was beginning a four and a half month stay on the orbiting outpost.

For the first three months of their 137 days on the station, communicationwith the ground were intermittent, meaning that Shepherd, as commander, had control.

"Our comm links for the first two-thirds of our expedition were extremely sparse," Shepherd said. "So the crew had to operate much more on their own than I believe they do today and what had been our previous experience. I think you have to go back to Mercury and Gemini to really get a crew environment that was that separated from its ground control."

For those wondering what benefits we are getting with the ISS: Link

NASA is really starting to understand the internet-goers of the modern day! How you might ask? They have created the history of the ISS in GIF form: Link

And for the people who need infographics:

For those curious, yes you can see the ISS with the naked eye without a telescope from Earth. How? Simply use this: Link

And if you want to see a live feed from the ISS looking at Earth: Link

Station me in LEO if old.

 

[Kyougar]

Happy Birthday

 

[John Kowalski]

still not age of consent