In August 1993, NASA selected Boeing as prime contractor for the International Space Station, a permanent orbiting laboratory in space and the largest international space venture ever undertaken. With a "space footprint" the size of two football fields, the space station averages an altitude of 220 statute miles. The Boeing team is charged with design, development, physical and analytical integration, test, delivery, and launch of all U.S elements, including the living quarters, the laboratory module and an airlock. Aboard the Boeing-built U.S. laboratory Destiny, crew conduct scientific studies in the unique conditions of microgravity in the name of scientific research. This uninterrupted, long-term access to space allows researchers to rapidly acquire large amounts of information needed to validate new concepts and confirm previously unobserved phenomena. Investigators make multiple experiment runs in succession, obtaining statistically significant results in a manner of weeks -- even days -- instead of years.