People living aboard space stations are called upon to perform a wide variety of tasks, including conducting scientific experiments impossible to perform on Earth, installing new space station modules and components, and even shooting television commercials and conducting other public relations work. Because space stations can support only a few people at a time, everyone aboard must learn aspects of all the jobs that need to be done. Scientists, construction workers, photographers, filmmakers, and even actors— space station residents can claim to be all of these and more.

Science in Orbit

The unique conditions aboard a space station— weightlessness among them—make it an ideal place to carry out certain scientific experiments. These experiments include growing plants and tending to laboratory animals to see how these organisms behave in weightlessness.

Astronauts also conduct experiments on themselves and measure their own physiological...