International Space Station

Continuing on from the United States' Skylab? and Russia's Mir?, the International Space Station, led by the United States, represents a permanent human presence in space. The station is located in orbit around the Earth at an altitude of approximately (??) kilometres, a type of orbit usually termed [low earth orbit]?.

It is serviced primarily by the Space Shuttle, and Soyuz? and Progress? units. It is still being built, but is home to a great deal of experimentation already.

At present, the station has a crew of three, mostly from Russia, and the United States, but occasionally some of the other partners in the project.

Official site: http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/station/