NASA’s 20th International Space Station anniversary

November 2, 2000 marks a special day in space exploration history for the arrival of Expedition 1 to the NASA Space Station. NASA celebrated the 20th anniversary of the Space Station with a special podcast from the home of NASA’s astronauts and Mission Control Center at the Johnson Space Center in Houston.

The anniversary podcast was hosted by Gary Jordan with the International Space Station program manager of the Johnson Space Center, Joel Montalbano, to celebrate “20 Continuous Years” of the Space Station. Today marks the 20th year of continuous space occupation of the International Space Station, Expedition 1.

On Nov. 2, 2000, Expedition 1 arrived at the @Space_Station. Our orbiting laboratory has been continuously inhabited ever since: over 240 humans from 19 countries have visited, carrying out over 3,000 @ISS_Research investigations: https://t.co/M79yOYokLt #SpaceStation20th pic.twitter.com/eDyMEszK2t

— NASA (@NASA) November 2, 2020

After 20 years of continuous occupation, the International Space Station is nearly the size of a football field with more than 240 individuals from 19 countries visiting the Space Station. Over the course of 20 years, more than 230 spacewalks were conducted for upgrades, maintenance, and assembly.

The Space Station provides a laboratory for space exploration and conducted over 3,000 scientific investigations that improve life on Earth. Montalbano reflects on some of the highlights and achievements over the last 20 years working along with astronauts from around the world.

(Photo: NASA)

Along with scientists, commercial companies can conduct research abroad at the International Space Station as of 2005 with 50% of NASA’s resources dedicated to the National Lab. NASA is working with commercial researchers primarily for developing materials and 3D printing.

You can check out the “Houston We Have A Podcast” here.