New images of the International Space Station reveal that it is still a jewel - Ars Technica

The International Space Station is now more than two decades old.

And while primary construction of the orbiting laboratory ended a little more than a decade ago, before the retirement of NASA's space shuttle, the station has continued to evolve with smaller modules and an ever-changing array of visiting spacecraft.

In many ways, the International Space Station offers a hopeful vision for what our future in space could hold.

Hundreds of people have now lived on the station, providing biological information that will inform future spacecraft and exploration missions.

The space station, therefore, offers humanity a pathway toward cooperation and sustainability in spaceflight.

The United States must still forge agreements with its international partners to keep the station flying for this decade, and there may be some heavy lifting to bring Russia along.

But the space station, as these photos show, is definitely worth flying as long as it remains capable of doing so.