ISS Story: From Zarya’s 1998 Launch to Planned De-Orbit

The International Space Station began on 20 November 1998, when a Russian Proton rocket lifted its first module, Zarya, into orbit. One astronaut recalls hosting his crew at home to watch it on TV, and knowing that his own mission would launch two weeks later.

A partnership born in the 1990s

The project grew from a particular moment. The Soviet Union had broken up, the idea of a successor to Mir was in the air, and the Americans also wanted to build a station. One interviewee sums up the deal: Russia had decades of experience with rockets and space stations, while the Americans had the money. The modules were made in Russia, the US and Europe. Before the ISS, several missions had been carried out aboard Mir.

Entering side by side

Shuttle Endeavour carried the first American element. When the crew opened the hatch, the shuttle commander and a Russian colleague entered together, because, as he put it, an international station called for an international crew. He was the first American in and Sergei the first Russian, but they went in side by side, and the crew went into the second module the same way. The shuttle commander, Bob Cabana, wrote the first entry in the station's log book, which began with the idea that great things come from small beginnings.

Life aboard

The Cupola gives a 360° view around and 180° onto Earth. One astronaut recalls her crew arriving just after the crew before them had attached it and removed its covers, so they could float in and look down on Earth. Another describes learning to control her body in weightlessness, at first bumping into things and other crew members.

Spacewalks and suits

After 220 previous ISS spacewalks, NASA completed its first using only female astronauts. Earlier, Christina Koch and Jessica Meir had a spacewalk cancelled at short notice because they had nothing to wear: the suits were designed for medium to extra-large male bodies, which also left out smaller men. New suits are being changed to account for diverse body sizes.

Crises and politics

A Russian Soyuz carrying Nick Hague and a Russian cosmonaut aborted its launch, and both landed unharmed in Kazakhstan. In another episode, a commander found himself leading a crew of three and realized the mission might last longer than anticipated; the crew said they would stay as long as it took to protect the station. He kept spirits up with costumes, including a Darth Vader outfit.

On 24 February, the crew flew over Europe and saw the country of Ukraine dark except for Kyiv, blacked out to avoid revealing targets for Russian air strikes. The commander said the astronauts and Russian colleagues had been given completely different information. Yellow flight suits worn by cosmonauts, the documentary says, were chosen a year before launch, so their color was coincidence. Russian credit cards were blocked from Western services under sanctions, including Spotify, so the Western crew let Russian colleagues use their logins.

The end of the station

The ISS was supposed to end in 2024, but the US government agreed to operate it until 2030, with controlled de-orbiting planned for 2031. The station has a mass of around 420 tons, and as things stand it would have to be brought down whole rather than in parts. Plans include a vehicle that pushes it out of orbit so it burns up over a location, probably the South Pacific, where Mir also came down; a few metal parts would crash into the sea. Private companies want smaller, cheaper stations, and NASA is flying private astronaut missions and has contracted commercial station development.