International Space Station facts for kids

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International Space Station
Station statistics
The International Space Station on 23 May 2010 as seen from STS-132


COSPAR ID	1998-067A
SATCAT №	25544
Call sign	Alpha, Station
Crew	Fully crewed: 6 Currently aboard: 3 (Expedition 60)
Launch	20 November 1998; 26 years ago (1998-11-20)
Launch pad	Baikonur 1/5 and 81/23 Kennedy LC-39 and CCAFS SLC-41 (future)
Mass	≈ 419,725 kg (925,335 lb)
Length	72.8 m (239 ft)
Width	108.5 m (356 ft)
Height	≈ 20 m (66 ft) nadir–zenith, arrays forward–aft (27 November 2009)
Pressurised volume	931.57 m³ (32,898 cu ft) (28 May 2016)
Atmospheric pressure	101.3 kPa (29.9 inHg; 1.0 atm)
Perigee	408 km (253.5 mi) AMSL
Apogee	410 km (254.8 mi) AMSL
Orbital inclination	51.64°
Orbital speed	7.66 km/s (27,600 km/h; 17,100 mph)
Orbital period	92.68 minutes
Orbits per day	15.54
Orbit epoch	14 May 2019 13:09:29 UTC
Days in orbit	26 years, 1 month, 10 days (30 December 2024)
Days occupied	24 years, 1 month, 28 days (30 December 2024)
No. of orbits	116,178 as of May 2019^[update]
Orbital decay	2 km/month
Statistics as of 9 March 2011 (unless noted otherwise)
Configuration
Station elements as of June 2017^[update]

The International Space Station (ISS) is a space station, a very large satellite that people can live in for several months at a time. It was put together in Low Earth orbit up until 2011, but other bits have been added since then. The last part, a Bigelow module was added in 2016. The station is a joint project among several countries: the United States, Russia, Europe, Japan, and Canada. Other nations such as Brazil, Italy, and China also work with the ISS through cooperation with other countries.

Building the ISS began in 1998, when Russian and American space modules were joined together.

Origin
Manufacturing
Assembly
Life in space
Images for kids
See also

Origin

In the early 1980s, NASA planned Space Station Freedom as a counterpart to the Soviet Salyut and Mir space stations. It never left the drawing board and, with the end of the Soviet Union and the Cold War, it was cancelled. The end of the Space race prompted the U.S. administration officials to start negotiations with international partners Europe, Russia, Japan and Canada in the early 1990s in order to build a truly international space station. This project was first announced in 1993 and was called Space Station Alpha. It was planned to combine the proposed space stations of all participating space agencies: NASA's Space Station Freedom, Russia's Mir-2 (the successor to the Mir Space Station, the core of which is now Zvezda) and ESA's Columbus that was planned to be a stand-alone spacelab.

Manufacturing

The ISS components was manufactured in various factories all over the world, and were all shipped into the Space Station Processing Facility at Kennedy Space Center for last stages of manufacturing, machine assembly and launch processing. The components are made from stainless steel, titanium, aluminum and copper.

Assembly

The assembly of the International Space Station is a great event in space architecture. Russian modules launched and docked by their rockets. All other pieces were delivered by the Space Shuttle. As of 5 June 2011 (2011 -06-05)^[update], they had added 159 components during more than 1,000 hours of astronaut work in space. Many of the modules that launched on the Space Shuttle were tested on the ground at the Space Station Processing Facility to find and correct problems before launch.

The first section, the Zarya Functional Cargo Block, was put in orbit in November 1998 on a Russian Proton rocket. Two further pieces (the Unity Module and Zvezda service module) were added before the first crew, Expedition 1, was sent. Expedition 1 docked to the ISS on 1 November 2000, and consisted of U.S. astronaut William Shepherd and two Russian cosmonauts, Yuri Gidzenko and Sergey Krikalev.

Life in space

Bedtime

People living in the space station have to get used to all kinds of changes from life on Earth. It takes them only 90 minutes to orbit (go around) the earth, so the sun looks as if it is rising and setting 16 times a day. This can be confusing, especially when one is trying to decide when they should go to bed. The astronauts try to keep a 24-hour-schedule anyway. At bedtime, they have to sleep in sleeping bags that are stuck to the wall. They have to strap themselves inside so they will not float away while sleeping.

Zero gravity

In orbit there is no G-Force (this is called free fall or zero gravity). To help prepare astronauts experience zero gravity, NASA trainers put the astronauts in water. Because water makes one float, this is a little like experiencing no gravity. However, in water they can push against the water and move around. In zero gravity, there is nothing to push against, so they just float in the air. Another way of training is going in a plane and making the plane fall to earth very quickly. This lets people experience zero gravity for a very short time. This training can make people quite sick at first.

In zero gravity, the astronauts do not use their legs very much, so they need to get lots of exercise to keep them from becoming too weak. Without gravity, astronauts can get big upper bodies and skinny legs. This is called chicken-leg syndrome. Astronauts must exercise hard, every day, to remain healthy.

Eating in space style is difficult. Water and other liquids do not flow down in space, so if any were spilled in the space station, it would float around everywhere. Liquids can ruin electronic equipment, so astronauts have to be very careful in space. They drink by sucking water out of a bag, or from a tube stuck to the wall. They cannot put their food on plates because it would just float right off, so they put it in pouches and eat from the pouches. The food they eat is usually dried, because any crumbs can ruin the equipment.
Sometimes fresh fruits and vegetables are sent up to the astronauts, but it is very expensive and hard to send it, so they have to bring plenty of food with them.

Bathroom

Actually, in space, the bathroom should probably be called the restroom instead, because one really can not take baths there. Instead, astronauts use squirt guns to take a shower. One person squirts himself with a gun while other people stand outside with a water vacuum to get rid of all the water that floats out of the shower. This is quite hard, so astronauts usually just take a "sponge bath" with a wet cloth.
Toilets can be another problem. Toilets are supposed to use gravity to work. When one flush the toilet, gravity makes the water go down. Since the astronauts on the ISS do not feel any gravity, the toilet must be attached to the astronauts and gently suck away all their waste.

Images for kids

ISS crew member storing samples
A comparison between the combustion of a candle on Earth (left) and in a free fall environment, such as that found on the ISS (right)
A 3D plan of the Russia-based MARS-500 complex, used for conducting ground-based experiments that complement ISS-based preparations for a human mission to Mars
Original Jules Verne manuscripts displayed by crew inside the Jules Verne ATV
ISS module Node 2 manufacturing and processing in the Space Station Processing Facility
Animation of the assembly of the International Space Station
The ISS was slowly assembled over more than a decade of spaceflights and crews.
An iconic view of the completed station as seen from Shuttle Atlantis during STS-132, 23 May 2010
Zarya as seen by Space Shuttle Endeavour during STS-88
MLM outfittings on Rassvet
A wide-angle view of the new module (behind Rassvet) attached to the ROS as seen from the cupola
Modified passive forward port for experiment airlock near the nadir end of Nauka
Progression of the expansion of BEAM
NanoRacks Bishop airlock module installed on the ISS
1637984492234 Progress MS 17 undocking and Nauka nadir temporary docking adapter Removal
Nauka and Prichal docked to ISS
ISS Truss Components breakdown showing Trusses and all ORUs in situ
Construction of the Integrated Truss Structure over New Zealand.
The cancelled Habitation module under construction at Michoud in 1997
ISS External Active Thermal Control System (EATCS) diagram
The communications systems used by the ISS * Luch and the Space Shuttle are not in use as of 2020
Dragon and Cygnus cargo vessels were docked at the ISS together for the first time in April 2016.
Japan's Kounotori 4 berthing
Commercial Crew Program vehicles Starliner and Dragon
Rendering of the ISS Visiting Vehicle Launches, Arrivals and Departures. Live link at nasa.gov.
The Progress M-14M resupply vehicle approaching the ISS in 2012. More than 50 unpiloted Progress spacecraft have delivered supplies during the lifetime of the station.
Space Shuttle Endeavour, ATV-2, Soyuz TMA-21, and Progress M-10M docked to the ISS, as seen from the departing Soyuz TMA-20
Spare parts are called ORUs; some are externally stored on pallets called ELCs and ESPs.
While anchored on the end of the OBSS during STS-120, astronaut Scott Parazynski performs makeshift repairs to a US solar array that damaged itself when unfolding.
Mike Hopkins during a spacewalk
Engineer Gregory Chamitoff peering out of a window
STS-122 mission specialists working on robotic equipment in the US lab
The crews of Expedition 20 and STS-127 enjoy a meal inside Unity.
Main dining desk in Node 1
Orbits of the ISS, shown in April 2013
The ISS and HTV photographed from Earth by Ralf Vandebergh
Composite of six photos of the ISS transiting the gibbous Moon
A Commemorative Plaque honouring Space Station Intergovernmental Agreement signed on 28 January 1998
Many ISS resupply spacecraft have already undergone atmospheric re-entry, such as Jules Verne ATV
Technical blueprint of components.
The ISS exterior and steelwork taken on 8 November 2021, from the departing SpaceX Crew-2 capsule.
Diagram structure of International Space Station after installation of solar arrays (as of September 2021).
Skytrack long duration exposure of the ISS
The ISS on its first pass of the night passing nearly overhead shortly after sunset in June 2014
The ISS passing north on its third pass of the night near local midnight in June 2014
The ISS passing west on its fifth pass of the night before sunrise in June 2014