From The Archives: International Space Station Ready For Flight

The first elements of the International Space Station (ISS) to be launched will be the Khrunichev/Boeing FGB spacecraft (top) shown undergoing checkout in Russia, and the Boeing Node 1 docking hub in checkout at the Kennedy Space Center.

We discover more about the June 1998 launch on page 42. In the article, our writer Craig Covault introduces the feature: "Conceived as the next logical step after the Apollo lunar program, the ISS has been a NASA objective for nearly three decades and a formal project since 1984. After 15 years of controversy, it is finally on the verge of flight. We uncover the assembly, technology, utilization, and international participation involved with the largest aerospace program in the world." 

We learn that the ISS spans 356 x 290 ft. There were more than 5,000 Boeing employees dedicated to the program, with another 5,000 subcontractor/supplier and NASA jobs directly or indirectly focused on the station. 

Read Boeing's Secret in our In Orbit column on page 21  where we divulge that Boeing has a lot more work underway on spacecraft than its $7 billion in contracts for the International Space Station. 

Read the full issue dated December 8, 1997 

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