Interesting facts about the ISS

The International Space Station, or simply the ISS, is evidence of the development of our science. This complex object, made up of a great many details, has been spinning around the Earth for many years with an insane speed, and thanks to it we managed to learn so much to the cosmos that surrounds us.

The International Space Station is the most expensive object ever built by mankind.

Onboard the ISS there are simulators, so that the cosmonauts can maintain their muscles in tone.

The ISS consists of fourteen docked modules.

All the energy necessary for the work of the ISS gets from the Sun, collecting it with the help of solar panels.

After the US finally decommissioned the shuttles, the ISS’s orbit was raised in order to save fuel for regular adjustments. Previously, it was lower, since the height that the shuttles could reach was limited.

Five modules of the ISS were built by Russia, seven by the United States. One module was built by Japan and the European Union.

The weight of the International Space Station is more than 417 tons.

The internal volume of the ISS is about a thousand cubic meters of space.

The MKS sheath partially protects the cosmonauts from solar radiation, but only partially.

ISS rotates in orbit at an altitude of 415-420 kilometers. This value is not constant, because due to friction on the upper layers of the atmosphere, the station gradually loses altitude, and it has to be corrected.

Sometimes the ISS has to change course to avoid collision with space debris.

The speed with which the ISS moves in its orbit is striking – it is 27,700 kilometers per hour, plus or minus.

ISS is a space station, which was visited by the largest number of people. By the way, it was the ISS that flew the world’s first space tourists.

ISS can be seen from the ground with an unaided eye.

The construction and operation of the ISS has already spent more than $ 150 billion.

The ISS is the third brightest object in the night sky after the Moon and Venus.

Astronauts aboard the ISS can observe sunrises and sunsets every 45 minutes.

The composition of the equipment of Russian cosmonauts flying to the ISS includes personal weapons. This is necessary in order to protect yourself from the attack of wild animals, if after landing from the station the landing of the descent module will take place in a deserted area.

One day, in 2001, a network pizzeria organized the delivery of its pizza to the ISS. Shipping cost the company a million dollars, but it served as an excellent advertisement.

Registering on the NASA website, you can receive notifications on your mobile phone every time you fly over the ISS.

Onboard the ISS there are so-called “oxygen candles”. After ignition, one such “candle” gives off an amount of oxygen sufficient for one person for about a day.

Onboard the ISS, the “Disk of Immortality” is stored – an information store carrying encrypted DNA of outstanding people like Stephen Hawking.

Separate sources of drinking water are installed in Russian and American ISS modules. This is due to the fact that Russia and the United States use various systems for water purification in such systems, and if they are mixed, the equipment can break down.

Fifteen countries have joined the creation and maintenance of the ISS.

The permanent crew of the ISS consists of six people.