Space flight, 2000

Article By:

Weil, Jonathan F. Retired, Senior Staff Editor, McGraw Hill

Blumel, David Senior Staff Editor, McGraw Hill

Last reviewed:2002

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1036/1097-8542.YB021285

The year 2000 was marked by milestones for some major programs in the field of space flight, and the conclusion of other programs that had made outstanding contributions over the past decade. In the future, the millennial year may be remembered for the beginning of the era of permanent human habitation in space, when the International Space Station was occupied by a resident flight crew. As the International Space Station progressed toward research capability, the Russian space station Mir, in orbit since 1986, was visited by a crew for the last time. Also completing its mission was the Compton Gamma-Ray Observatory, which was deorbited in June after 9 years of groundbreaking observations. A new era began in x-ray astronomy, as the Chandra X-ray Observatory, orbited by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), carried out its first full year of observations and was joined by the European Space Agency's XMM-Newton observatory. Together they coordinated observations of objects out to the edge of the visible universe.

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