Research on ISS: what the heck are we doing up there?!

This paper is a non-scientific introduction to research currently being performed on the International Space Station (ISS). During these early days of ISS research falls into four distinct categories: materials research in reduced gravity, research into the effects of the space environment on living things, viewing the earth from space, and technology development. The materials research includes protein crystal growth, colloid studies, coarsening, experiments, and zeolite crystal growth and separation experiments. Research into the effects of space on living things covers a wide range of efforts, including the effects of space on human body and the human mind, cell biology and plant growth. Experiments involving viewing earth from space include Crew Earth Observations and a remote sensing experiment for middle school students. The technology development experiment currently underway is assessing the long-term effects of space on exposed materials. Each category of experiments, and many cases the individual experiments themselves, are described using public domain still and full-motion video.