• Question: How much did it take to build the International Space Station? and How much people did it take to build it?

    Asked by Aido to Aisling, Colin, Laurence, Ned, Niamh on 29 Feb 2016.
    • Photo: Ned Dwyer

      Ned Dwyer answered on 29 Feb 2016:

      I don´t really know but I imagine it cost hundreds of millions of Euros. When you build something where people are going to live, you have to make sure it is super safe and secure. Many differnt countries contributed to building it, so the cost was spread among many nations. I´m sure it took loads of people to build it. And I am sure most of them were engineers. You had people involved in teh original concept, in the design, in building a prototype, testing every little component, building the real thing, building the rockets to transport it to space and then constructing it once it arrived in space. It´s an enormous project.

    • Photo: Aisling Shannon

      Aisling Shannon answered on 1 Mar 2016:

      I think it is probably more like billions. At ESA the most recent part of our involvement was ATV, Automated Transfer Vehicle, which would be loaded with 6.6 tonnes worth of supplies for the ISS. It would launched and docked to the space station for 6 months and then after the 6 months, undocked and flown back down to Earth. Each ATV burnt up in the atmosphere as was planned.
      They are always working on it, you hear about the spacewalks, where the astronauts go outside to fix some part or other. So not only were there a lot of people who built the parts on Earth that were flown up, but also, the astronauts built it in space (with help from a Robotic Arm built by ESA http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Human_Spaceflight/International_Space_Station/European_Robotic_Arm)

    • Photo: Laurence O'Rourke

      Laurence O'Rourke answered on 3 Mar 2016:

      I would say without having to google it about 20 billion euro, maybe more.

      Many thousands of people spread throughout the globe who have helped even in the tiniest way to build a small component which is then flying in space.

      But you have to remember that all the money spent on space is not thrown into “space” but in fact is used to pay people’s salaries to build satellites, test satellites, build rockets, launch rockets, control satellites, process the data on ground, deliver it to people who can then take advantage of it. Rosetta is a 1.1 billion euro mission – sounds like a lot of money – this money has been given to ESA by the member states and delivered back to the same countries through contracts for the companies working there.

    • Photo: Colin Shirran

      Colin Shirran answered on 8 Mar 2016:

      I’m not sure I can add much more to this that the others haven’t already said. However I do think it is important to say or repeat how impressive it was and how it is a big shinning (literally at the right at night) example of how far international co-operation can get us.

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