Today's International Space Station

The International Space Station (ISS) is an off-planet center of international technological and scientific collaboration.  It has been in continual use for more than 20 years, enabling its national collaborators to undertake two main areas of study, which are Earth observations and a variety of scientific phenomena associated with the absence of the force of gravity.  The development of ISS is a story of national interests beginning with the Second World War and the German development of a new form of warfare with the Vengence-2 rocket.  This talk will cover the events and personalities which led to powerful national rocket programs in Russia and the United States as part of the Cold War. The Russian program was based on incremental growth of capabilities leading to plans for a large, never-built space station, while the United States opted for the development of the Space Shuttle as a means of transport to a low Earth orbiting space station. In the end, both nations collaborated with four other nations to create today's International Space Station.