Purpose
According to the original Memorandum of Understanding between NASA and RSA, the International Space Station was intended to be a laboratory, observatory and factory in space. It was also planned to provide transportation, maintenance, and act as a staging base for possible future missions to the Moon, Mars and asteroids. In the 2010 United States National Space Policy, the ISS was given additional roles of serving commercial, diplomatic, and educational purposes.
Read more about this topic: International Space Station
Famous quotes containing the word purpose:
“To found a great empire for the sole purpose of raising up a people of customers, may at first sight appear a project fit only for a nation of shopkeepers. It is, however, a project altogether unfit for a nation of shopkeepers, but extremely fit for a nation that is governed by shopkeepers.”
—Adam Smith (1723–1790)
“Thus one can observe that those who proclaim piety as their goal and purpose usually turn into hypocrites.”
—Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe (1749–1832)