Excerpts from the Letter from our Center Director Astronaut Dr. Ellen Ochoa on the 15th Anniversary of ISS

This letter below went to all JSC Employees - when Maria my daughter was in the womb I was working on the ISS Redesign Team in Crystal City, VA. under the future ISS Commander Shepherd - 7 days a week of reviews and wow... see below! 

Today marks the 15 year anniversary of continuous human presence aboard the International Space Station.  On Nov. 2, 2000, Commander Bill Shepherd and Russians Sergei Krikalev and Yuri Gidzenko opened the hatch of their Soyuz and floated into a bare-bones space station.  Since then, it has grown to larger than a six-bedroom house with solar panels that generate as much as 90 kilowatts of power to support the six crew who live and work there and the 52 computers that run constantly.

It takes a remarkable and dedicated team to keep a home and laboratory -- 250 miles off the Earth -- safe and operating. Congratulations to all who work, or have worked, supporting the International Space Station! Whether you are a flight controller on console, an engineer who makes sure the spacecraft is safe and sound, or an administrative assistant juggling travel plans to the many countries in our international partnership, I hope you recognize the important role you have played.

Thanks to your work, crew members have conducted more than 1,700 different investigations to advance science, research and technology development and have taken more than 1 million images of Earth.  To learn more, visit the new 15^th anniversary website.  Plus, NASA is using the hashtag #15YearsOnStation in social media to share the story. There also are several opportunities to Spot the Station this week in Houston and around the world. Please take a moment to visit the site and then share with your family and friends.

Ellen