km to just 160 km above the surface of the Earth. The ISS is a collaborative effort by multiple space agencies around the world. The countries involved in the funding of the stations includes Europe, Japan, Canada, Russia and the United States. The respective space agencies of these countries are ESA, JAXA, CSA, Roscosmos, NASA. The modularity and size of components of the research station were dictated by the use of the space shuttle as the primary launch vehicle. The components also needed to be durable and maintainable. In the earlier years the development of the ISS in the 1990s, different countries brought different philosophies and approaches to the construction, design and transportation of research stations. Russian engineers emphasized automated use and remote control in their designs. The United States, Japanese and European nations were guided by four, consistent main principles: accessibility, maintainability, modularity and reconfigurability. This affected the construction of interior hardware racks which were built to be replaceable. It also took into account the preferences of the crew members who largely indicated that the interior design of the station would be constructed with distinct floors, ceiling and walls. The ISS is set to be retired around the end of the 2020s. The only other occupied space station in low Earth orbit is the Chinese space station, Tiangong. Tiangong was launched in 2021 and follows its predecessors Tiangong-1 and Tiangong-2 which were first launched in 2011 and 2016 respectively. This space station was the largest spacecraft built by China, weighing 22.5 tons or 49604.01 pounds. Antarctic research stations Antarctica has around 50 research stations and from around 1000 to 5000 people who reside in those stations around the year. The continent itself is a polar desert which consists of uninhabitable ice-filled environment. It is governed by around 30 countries facilitated through the Antarctic Treaty System (ATS). Since 1959 when this treaty was enacted, 42 countries have become signatories to it and have established research stations in Antarctica. Research stations in Antarctica operate on a seasonal basis in accordance with its Summer and Winter. This is as temperatures have a large variation between the two seasons with temperature exceeding +10 °C in Summer and dropping to under −40 °C in Winter in the coastal parts of the continent. Most operations are carried out in the Summer where temperatures are lower. The majority of research stations in Antarctica are located in