Research on the ISS has helped scientists learn about a wide range of subjects, from human health to black holes, he added.
Scientific discoveries made there provide benefits for humanity and enable future space exploration.
Four international space agencies have laboratories on the ISS—NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA), the Japan Aerospace and Exploration Agency (JAXA), and Roscosmos, Russia’s space agency.
Close to 3,000 scientific investigations have been conducted on the ISS, resulting in more than 1,800 scientific journal papers published.
In 2005, Congress passed a law designating the ISS as a national laboratory, enabling non-NASA research, including student projects, to be conducted there.