Can Any one tell me what is going on with the space station? and who is really getting any benefit out it?

Answer 1

"Other than some research on long term weightlessness, I have never heard of any grand research or commercial microgravity labs that everyone bragged about. It seems to be an expensive white elephant again."

Research on long term weightlessness is interesting, but it's only a small part of the research being done at the ISS. At the moment the ISS has one microgravity lab called Destiny. The experiments performed here concern materials and medicine.

During the coming year, a few more labs will be launched, such as the European Columbus lab and the Japanese Experiment Module. They will make more fundamental research possible.

It should be clear that the ISS is still being built. At the moment there is a permanent crew of three astronauts/cosmonauts who basically oversee the construction and perform some experiments if there is some time left. However once construction is completed (around 2010) the crew numbers will increase and more research will be done.

Finally I agree with eggman: everyone is benefitting from the space station. Not only is space exploration a noble endeavour in itself, the experiments performed in microgravity also give us fundamental insight into processes that happen here on Earth.

Edit: I was just watching an ISS construction spacewalk live from the helmet cam of one of the astronauts. During the spacewalk the ISS came over The Netherlands and I saw it flying overhead while I was watching the spacewalk. That's worth a few billion dollars, if you ask me ;)

Answer 2

You are talking about Space Available. You will have to go through Base Operations at the closest AF base. Its not very reliable though because they only take certain routes so its hard to get to the state you want. Also you can end up there and then if the flight you are supposed to come back on either gets cancelled or gets selected for a new mission and they can get you on then you will be screwed and have to pay for a plan ticket. I dont trust it cause anything can happen. I have been in for almost 5 years and have never flown with it.

Answer 3

My boyfriend says the space station is preparing to host Blue Oyster Cult as the first band to give a live concert from space. The deal is through Russia, and it will be a PPV.

Answer 4

It's spinning around the earth, and all of mankind and all our future generations are benefiting from it in ways we aren't even aware of yet. The exploration of space is mankind's most noble adventure, the future of our species depends on it. There is nothing more important in the universe than getting off this rock, but we start with baby steps. Be patient!

Answer 5

Other than some research on long term weightlessness, I have never heard of any grand research or commercial microgravity labs that everyone bragged about. It seems to be an expensive white elephant again.