No need to worry - NASA to the Rescue

[Arc]

By the time the ice caps melt, the oil dries up and global warming does its thing, we will have options. NASA is working on it as we speak. A few FAQs from the International Space Station website. The place has been permanently inhabited since 2000!

Can you imagine that someday Mother Earth could be an "ancient ruins" tourist stop?

When did assembly start and how long will it take to complete the station?
The construction of the International Space Station began with the launch of the first element, the Russian Zarya Control Module, on Nov. 20, 1998. In accordance with our Vision for Space Exploration, completion of ISS is scheduled for 2010.


How big will the station be when it is complete?
When the International Space Station is complete, it will have a mass of almost 453.6 metric tons (1 million pounds), be larger than a five-bedroom house and measure 110 meters (361 feet) end-to-end.
When did people start living on the station? The first crew -- Commander Bill Shepherd, a U.S. astronaut; Soyuz Commander Yuri Gidzenko, a Russian cosmonaut, and Flight Engineer Sergei Krikalev, a Russian cosmonaut -- was launched on a Russian Soyuz spacecraft to begin permanent human habitation of the station in October 2000. From that point on, it has been permanently staffed. For more information, please see the Flight 2R Information page.

[HFWR]

Originally Posted by Arc

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How big will the station be when it is complete?
When the International Space Station is complete, it will have a mass of almost 453.6 metric tons (1 million pounds), be larger than a five-bedroom house and measure 110 meters (361 feet) end-to-end.

A McMansion in space...

[Rivrider]

When the space station was first proposed, they talked about all sorts of things that could only be done in space. Certain types of manufacturing that could only be done in zero gravity.

Does anyone know what they are actually doing up there?