BARRIERS

The United States and Soviet Union Were Competition

Photo Credit: Businessinsider.com

TECHNOLOGY: A second barrier was technology. The different countries varied in rocket type, tools used in space, and a variety of differing spacesuits for the astronauts. They were not made to be interchangeable. Equipment that would allow humans to stay in space for extended periods of time had yet to be developed as most of the trips to space, prior to the ISS, lasted only days.

ISS Configured Expanded View of Components

Photo Credit: Nasa

COMMUNICATION: The International Space Station (ISS), as the largest human-made structure in space, was a hammer to many barriers, both political and scientific across the continents. The first barrier to overcome, was communication between countries that had never cooperated, and in fact, were in competition with each other. 

FUNDING: The third barrier was the price of such a monumental project. Originally, the Space Station was estimated to cost 10 billion dollars, but overshot by 90 billion dollars US. Approximately 3-4 billion dollars is spent each year to maintain it.

Header: ISS Canadarm Sunrise.

Photo Credit: NASA