The International Space Station ( ISS )

The International Space Station ( ISS ) is a space station , or a habitable artificial satellite , in low Earth orbit . Its first component launched into orbit in 1998, the last pressurised module was fitted in 2011, and the station is expected to operate until 2028. Development and assembly of the station continues, with components scheduled for launch in 2018 and 2019. The ISS is the largest human-made body in low Earth orbit and can often be seen with the naked eye from Earth. The ISS consists of pressurised modules, external trusses, solar arrays , and other components. ISS components have been launched by Russian Proton and Soyuz rockets, and American Space Shuttles .

The ISS Space Sky Laser is a Class IV high-power laser light projection system primarily used at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Center (KSCVC). It was used to project an extreme 0.1 of divergence 532Nm (Neon Green) high power 200+ Watt laser beam at the ISS (International Space Station) for KSCVC view tracking on December, 26-31st 2014.

The first Space Laser Light Projection was used for 12 hours continuously just prior to launching a Delta IV heavy rocket launch with Orion EFT-1 Mars deep space capsule into space on December, 5th 2014. The ISS Space Sky Laser was filmed by many news media. They stipulated that the colour green from the laser signified "Go" for launch and that the laser beam was a send-off to the Orion EFT-1 capsule to the planet Mars, even though it was an unmanned test flight. The laser is the only type of visible light high-power laser ever used at the Kennedy Space Center. It was developed by Tribal Existance Productions Worldwide (TEP Worldwide) and was certified by NASA's radiation protection officer Randall Scott CLSO and Ino Medic Health Physics Department of NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration). It remains on file for approved use with governmental, scientific and education uses with the operational design guidance from Tribal Existance Productions Worldwide.

In December 2017, the Laser became the subject of attention due to its supposed encounter with an alien spacecraft. This conspiracy theory, supposedly substantiated by video evidence, claimed that an unidentified spacecraft fired intermittent lasers at the ISS Space Sky Laser. The account was explained as a lens flare or reflections from the ISS itself.

The FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) reported that many civilian commercial airliners viewed this event hundreds of miles away from the Space Center.

space station

A space station , also known as an orbital station or an orbital space station , is a
spacecraft capable of supporting crewmembers, which is designed to remain in
space (most commonly as an artificial satellite in low Earth orbit ) for an extended period of time and for other spacecraft to dock. A space station is distinguished from other spacecraft used for human spaceflight by lack of major propulsion or landing systems. Instead, other vehicles transport people and cargo to and from the station. As of April 2018, two space stations are in Earth orbit: the International Space Station (operational and permanently inhabited), and China's Tiangong-2 (operational but not permanently inhabited). Previous stations include the Almaz and Salyut series , Skylab ,
Mir , and most recently Tiangong-1 .
Today's space stations are research platforms, used to study the effects of long-term space flight on the human body as well as to provide platforms for greater number and length of scientific studies than available on other space vehicles. Each crew member stays aboard the station for weeks or months, but rarely more than a year. Since the ill-fated flight of Soyuz 11 to Salyut 1 , all human spaceflight duration records have been set aboard space stations. The duration record for a single spaceflight is 437.7 days, set by
Valeriy Polyakov aboard Mir from 1994 to 1995. As of 2016, four cosmonauts have completed single missions of over a year, all aboard Mir . Space stations have also been used for both military and civilian purposes. The last military-use space station was Salyut 5 , which was used by the Almaz program of the Soviet Union in 1976 and 1977.