Science on the International Space Station
NASA's International Space Station implementation plan outlines research areas for which the ISS provides facilities and summarizes its unique research assets as follows:
In addition to its six dedicated laboratory modules, the ISS provides external truss and exposed facility sites to accommodate a broad range of attached payloads for technology, Earth science, and space science experiments. We expect at least a decade of routine research operations aboard the ISS. When this time is multiplied by the number of astronauts on board, the ISS will provide well over 25,000 "crew-days" in orbit.
This uninterrupted, long-term access to space will allow researchers to rapidly acquire the large sets of data necessary to validate new concepts and confirm previously unobserved phenomena. Investigators will be able to make multiple experiment runs in succession, obtaining statistically significant results in a manner of weeks -- even days -- instead of years.
Whether it is improving industrial processes, increasing fundamental knowledge, looking after our health, enabling exploration, or researching tomorrow's products today, ISS research will generate tangible returns as it improves our lives on Earth and in space.
The major research disciplines for which ISS laboratories are designed are: