Astronauts Devote 1000 Hours of EVA Time on ISS Construction

ISS construction took thirteen years and 1000 hours of EVA activity to complete.

The astronauts in these pictures are busy at work building the International Space Station’s Integrated Truss Structure. It forms the backbone of the ISS and provide attachment points for the solar arrays, radiators, unpressurized logistics carriers, and external payloads.

The first piece of the truss was brought into space in October 2000 on STS-92 and the entire structure wasn’t completed until March 2009, when the space shuttle Discovery brought the final piece to be added to the ISS construction during STS-119.

The entire truss structure is consists of 11 main pieces and is the length of the football field, including the end zones. It took eight separate missions to put all the pieces together.

I am in constant awe of the brave men and women who have worked so hard on the ISS construction to make this project a reality.