What an absolutely BRILLIANT idea! Think about it. Space
agencies in the United States, Europe, Canada and Japan worked
together for years planning an orbiting laboratory in space.
After the fall of the iron curtain, Russia — a former adversary
— joined the partnership. Unprecedented. Our Cold War rival now
our friend? Our quest to move beyond the boundaries of Earth’s
atmosphere lifted us high above political, cultural and language
barriers that divide us on the surface of this planet. 15
nations came together IN PEACE to design, build, launch, and
assemble our orbiting outpost — 22o miles overhead 24/7 orbiting
every 90 minutes at 17,500 mph. Here is a portrait of senior
government officials from our international partner countries
who came to Washington D.C. on Jan. 29, 1998 to establish the
framework of cooperation upon with the partnership was formed —
representatives of Russia, Japan, Canada, and participating
countries of the European Space Agency (ESA), including Belgium,
Denmark, France, Germany, Ita