International Space Station: Know its Launch, Facts & Size

The branch of Physics that deals with the study of Space science and technology is called Astronomical Physics. Space stations are one of the major key elements that help us to study space more closely. As the name itself suggests, space stations are stations that are constructed near space. These are also termed as Orbital Station as they act like a satellite capable of supporting human life in space for a particular period of time. The International Space Station (ISS) can be referred to as a floating science laboratory at around 400 Kms from the surface of the earth.

In this article, we are going to discuss more about the International Space Station and some more interesting facts related to it.

International Space Station

The International Space Station can be referred to as a habitable artificial satellite cum one of the largest science laboratories capable of providing experimental conditions which are not possible on the Earth’s surface like a microgravity environment.

International Space Station is a multinational collaborative project operated by five partner agencies, namely the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), the European Space Agency (ESA), the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), USA and the Space State agency “ROSCOSMOS”, Russia. Each of these partner members is held responsible for managing and controlling it.

The International Space Station consists of many parts, each of them called a Module. The start and first module in the construction of the space station were launched in November 1998 with the help of a Russian rocket. After that more pieces were added in the same with the aim of expansion. After adding all the necessary modules, the first crew arrived in November 2000 after it started construction. The full version was completed in the year 2011. After that many minor or major repairs have been done to date.

The main and sole purpose of the space stations is to enable long-term deep exploration of space and technology and aims to provide better assistance to the research programs going on, on Earth. The International Space Station will likewise act as the doorway to new frontiers in human space investigation, where we can figure out how to reside and operate ‘off the planet’. It will consider the investigation of long-term impacts of weightlessness on the human body and as a need might arise to be made to current strategies before space explorers are shipped off Mars and then somewhere else. Likewise, it will also consider basic examination in liquids, combustion, life, emotionally supportive networks and the radiation environment, which is required for future human space investigations.

International Space Station Facts

We are going to discuss some amazing facts about the International Space Station that can blow up your mind.

• The people on the space station experience that time runs slowly for them. This concept is according to the very famous theory, that is Special theory of relativity proposed by Sir Albert Einstein in the year 1905. It states that when something moves really fast, it experiences a slower time for itself and this phenomenon is called Time dilation. This change can’t be felt easily as the speed should be comparable to that of the speed of light and that is not possible to experience in present circumstances. The space station is also very slow when compared to the incredible speed of light but fast enough to measure the time dilation effect.
• Space station is built and operated by five space agencies and 15 countries in total.
• Space station has till now hosted around 250 astronauts from around 19 countries throughout the globe. At any point in time, the space station has a crew consisting of seven people onboard.
• The ISS also consists of Robot crew members.
• The ISS is the largest artificial spacecraft ever constructed about the size of a football ground and it weighs around 4,20,000 kgs approximately the weight of 320 cars altogether.
• The astronauts at the ISS have to drink their own filtered urine.
• You can easily observe a space station with your naked eyes in a clear sky as it is the third most visible thing in the night sky (after the moon and Venus) but the ISS can’t figure you out because of its large distance.
• ISS is one of the fastest moving things ever constructed. The speed of rotation is around 17,500 miles per hour which leads to the astronauts on the station orbit around the Earth every 90 minutes. Due to this, they experience sunrise and sunset 16 times in a day of 24 hrs.
• The presently functioning space station will be in operation till 2030 as the work on creating other stations in the orbit close to the Earth is in progress. After 2030 the plans for the presently operating space station are unclear.
• Astronauts aboard the station have to do a regular workout of around 2 hrs on a daily basis to keep their muscles in shape while they are spending time on the Station.

International Space Station Size

 

The dimension of the ISS is about 109 m in length and 75 m in width. Its size is equivalent to the size of a full-length football ground. It is so big in size that in spite of being so far from the surface of the Earth, people can easily see it in the sky with their naked eyes only.

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