When Canadian astronaut Julie Payette made her first trip to the International Space Station in 1999, the orbital laboratory was empty and she remembers having to turn on the lights.
"This was such an exciting time because we were only the second crew ever to go to the space station," she told CTV News Channel.
"It was very small at the time, made up of two modules that had been put together in space just a couple months before."
Payette, 52, was the mission specialist on the space shuttle Discovery, which performed the first manual docking to the ISS.
The mission was charged with bringing up a third module and other cargo to the station.
"It was really just the beginning of an enormous adventure and all the assembly and construction was still to come," said Payette.
The ISS is now home to a relatively sprawling 13 rooms, and Monday marks its 15th anniversary of continuous residency.
"I can't believe it went so fast," said Payette.
The Montreal native made her second trip to the space station in 2009, this time as mission specialist aboard the space shuttle Endeavour.
Payette recalled being shocked about just how much progress had been made in 10 years.
"I arrived to an enormous complex the size of a football field and people on board, so it was a completely different experience and we've made it, clearly," she said.
At the time, fellow Canadian Robert Thirsk was serving as a flight engineer about the ISS, making it the first time two Canadians were in space simultaneously.
Payette was the first Canadian to visit the ISS, but she certainly wasn't the last to leave an enduring legacy with the project.
Following closely in her footsteps was the aforementioned Thirsk, Dafydd Williams, Marc Garneau, Steve MacLean and former commander of the space station, Chris Hadfield.
Since the first permanent crew settled in on Nov. 2, 2000, about 220 people from 17 different countries have lived on the station.
The United States leads the pack with the most crew members, Russia places second, and Canada and Japan are tied for third.
In addition to Canada's contribution to crew, the Canadian Space Agency's crown jewel is the Mobile Servicing System -- a robotics suite behind the never-ending assembly and disassembly of the station.
The suite contains the iconic 17-metre Canadarm2, its previous manifestation was associated with the space shuttle missions, and Dexter, the station's two-armed robotic handyman.
Payette said that even though future generations will look at Monday's achievement as "very ordinary," humanity is still "at its infancy of what we can do."
"We clearly have not been in space for a long time, it has only been 50 years since the first person went to space -- Yuri Gagarin in 1961," she said.
"However, now we can say that we are not only terrestrial but lower-earth orbit individuals as well."
She added that humanity's 15-year run aboard the ISS is also a testament to what can be achieved when countries across the world work together in harmony.
"It is one of the first times in humanity that nations -- rich nations, mind you -- like the United States, Canada, Japan, the European countries and Russia put their resources, their brains and their efforts together to put together an experimental complex and it's been space for 15 years," said Payette.
NASA hopes to keep the complex operational until 2024.
Following a $350 million commitment to the project this summer, it appears as though Canada's two astronauts, David Saint-Jacques and Jeremy Hansen, will make two final trips to the station before it's shut down.
With files from The Associated Press
