ISS: The first module to fly was Zarya on November 20, 1998. The Americans were impressed by the temperature and vibration requirements Zarya had to survive: they weren’t for space, but for the railway from Moscow to Baikonur… The module suffered a computer problem, but Chief Engineer Nazarov rewrote part of the program in 90 dramatic minutes and fixed the problem. He received a medal, a bonus, and four years of back pay. Shuttle flights immediately began docking Zarya. The second was the American module Unity, carried into orbit by the shuttle Endeavour (December 6, 1998). On December 10, Robert Cabana and Sergei Krikalev entered the ISS together and turned on the lights. The Zvezda module followed. On October 31, 2000, the first permanent crew was launched. (It was also blessed by an Orthodox priest, a sign of the new Russia, or perhaps the very old one…).
