This digital artist's concept shows the International Space Station after all assembly is completed in 2005. Orbiting at more than 200 miles above the Earth, the Space Station is quickly growing into one of the brightest permanent fixtures in the night sky.

When construction is complete, estimates suggest the 470-ton "city in space" will be brighter than the planet Venus. The completed station will be powered by almost an acre of solar panels. The pressurized volume of the station will be roughly equivalent to the space inside two jumbo jets.

In total, 16 countries are cooperating to provide a state-of-the-art complex of laboratories in the weightless environment of Earth orbit. It is the largest international space construction effort in history. The Earth below the station in this view reflects the glint of sunlight.