The International Space station is a modular, microgravity and space research laboratory currently in Low Earth Orbit at an altitude of 409km, jointly run by NASA, ESA, ROSCOMOS, JAXA and CSA operating for the past 20 years.
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The Station
Specs
- Pressurized Module Length: 239.4 feet (73 meters)
- Truss Length: 357.5 feet (109 meters)
- Solar Array Length: 115 feet (35 meters)
- Mass: 925,335 pounds (419,725 kilograms)
- Habitable Volume: 13,696 cubic feet (388 cubic meters) not including visiting vehicles
- Pressurized Volume: 32,333 cubic feet (916 cubic meters)
- With BEAM expanded: 32,898 cubic feet (932 cubic meters)
- Power Generation: 8 solar arrays provide 75 to 90 kilowatts of power
- Lines of Computer Code: approximately 1.5 million
The ISS is the ninth space station to be inhabited by crews, following the Soviet and later Russian Salyut, Almaz, and Mir stations and the U.S. Skylab. It is the largest artificial object in space and the largest satellite in low Earth orbit, regularly visible to the naked eye from Earth's surface. It maintains an orbit with an average altitude of 400 kilometres (250 mi) by means of reboost manoeuvres using the engines of the Zvezda Service Module or visiting spacecraft. The ISS circles the Earth in roughly 93 minutes, completing 15.5 orbits per day.
The station is divided into two sections: the Russian Orbital Segment (ROS), operated by Russia; and the United States Orbital Segment (USOS), which is shared by many nations. Roscosmos has endorsed the continued operation of ROS through 2024,[18] having previously proposed using elements of the segment to construct a new Russian space station called OPSEK. Development and assembly of the station continues, with several major new Russian elements scheduled for launch starting in 2020. As of December 2018, the station is expected to operate until 2030.
As of September 2019, 239 astronauts, cosmonauts, and space tourists from 19 different nations have visited the space station, many of them multiple times. This includes 151 Americans, 47 Russians, 9 Japanese, 8 Canadians, 5 Italians, and others.
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ISS in 3D
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The View from ISS right now.
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Where is ISS Right Now?
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Will I get to see ISS?
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Who is at the station?
Who Is Currently In Space?
There are currently 10 people in space.
Sunita Williams since 5 June 2024 (Boeing Crew Flight Test) (153 days, 12 hours, 18 minutes, 25 seconds)
Barry Wilmore since 5 June 2024 (Boeing Crew Flight Test) (153 days, 12 hours, 18 minutes, 25 seconds)
Aleksei Ovchinin since 11 September 2024 (Soyuz MS-26) (55 days, 10 hours, 47 minutes, 28 seconds)
Donald Pettit since 11 September 2024 (Soyuz MS-26) (55 days, 10 hours, 47 minutes, 28 seconds)
Ivan Vagner since 11 September 2024 (Soyuz MS-26) (55 days, 10 hours, 47 minutes, 28 seconds)
Aleksandr Gorbunov since 28 September 2024 (SpaceX Crew 9) (38 days, 9 hours, 53 minutes, 19 seconds)
Tyler Hague since 28 September 2024 (SpaceX Crew 9) (38 days, 9 hours, 53 minutes, 19 seconds)
Cai Xu-zhe since 29 October 2024 (Shenzhou 19) (7 days, 6 hours, 43 minutes, 9 seconds)
Song Ling-dong since 29 October 2024 (Shenzhou 19) (7 days, 6 hours, 43 minutes, 9 seconds)
Wang Hao-ze since 29 October 2024 (Shenzhou 19) (7 days, 6 hours, 43 minutes, 9 seconds)The current date and time is: 6 November 2024 03:10:40 (UTC)
Page last modified: 03 July 2022 23:14:39.
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Tweets from ISS