It took decades to plan the International Space Station. Astronauts even did an in-space rehearsal rescue outside the space shuttle. They needed to know what to do in case of an emergency.
Building the ISS was like building a racecar as it zoomed around the track. The station orbits Earth once every 90 minutes. Each new section was brought up on a space shuttle or other spacecraft and then carefully attached. The builders had to be sure not to upset the station’s orbit.
The ISS is about the size of a football field, and it took 13 years to finish building it. It cost $100 billion to create the station.
