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One of the icons and essentials of modern space science is the orbiting lab. Hovering above Earth, this habitable island in the sky is the closest we have come to a working space colony, and the first bulkhead in humanity's certain voyage to the stars. A low-gravity zone suspended in vacuum, the space station allows astronauts to study the impact of space life less than 300 miles from Earth. Its special conditions will enable engineers and physicists to create stronger, lighter materials and more efficient forms of energy, and empower bioscientists to grow artificial tissue especially suitable for transplant. In the ultimate example of "trickle down," pundits predict, research in space should transform life on Earth.

For more than a decade, of course, the conduit between the vision and the reality has been the Mir --the Russian space lab whose recent troubles have included computer breakdown, crew illness and exhaustion, and loss of energy, light, and air. While the Mir and its valiant crew struggle to stay aloft, however, its replacement is readied on the planet below.

That replacement -- the next stage in humanity's presence in space -- is the International Space Station, or ISS. Beginning in the summer of 1998, the fledgling station will be assembled in orbit, piece by piece, through a sequence of rocket flights, dockings, and space walks. By 1999, three astronauts will inhabit the station that can house as many as seven.

The most extraordinary aspect of the station, space watchers say, is the international collaboration at its base. Fifteen nations, including the US, Russia, Great Britain, Canada,Japan, and 11 member countries of the European Space Agency" have coalesced to contribute the money and technical prowess required for this major leap into space. (For a complete list of partners, check the NASA site.) The largest multinational scientific effort in history, the International Space Station should serve as a model for global cooperation in the future. Indeed, after years of cold war, many see the station as the first step toward a "global space" that will abolish the competitive attitude of the past.

"Perhaps the best reason for building the station is simply to prove we can, and that so many nations can work in harmony on a common project," comments Piers Bizony, space commentator and author of a recent book on the International Space Station, Island in the Sky. "If the station provides a truly successful example of global collaboration to inspire future generations, then the $20 billion --yes, that is the cost!-- will have been very profitably spent."

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Pictures courtesy of NASA