7 facts about the International Space Station

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

Did you know that the mass of the International Space Station is about 418 tons?

1. Many people believe that there is no gravity in space. This is not entirely true. The International Space Station is 350 km above the Earth. Therefore, the acceleration of gravity in this case (remember the school curriculum in physics) is only 10% less than on the surface of the Earth. If the station did not move at its own speed, then, indeed, it would immediately fall on the heads of earthlings. However, the ISS develops a tremendous speed, which, together with the force of gravity, gives the total movement in orbit.

2. The ISS makes one revolution around the Earth every 90 minutes. As a result, astronauts aboard the International Space Station observe a peculiar sunrise and sunset 16 times a day and 5,840 times a year. There are many amazing pictures taken from the station on the network.

3. Sheikh Muzafar Shukor was the first Malaysian astronaut … When planning his maiden flight, Shukor faced a very unusual problem. The fact is that this astronaut is a Muslim, which means that he needs to pray five times a day. In addition, the flight coincided with the month of Ramadan, when Muslims practice fasting from dawn to dusk.

Remember when we mentioned that on the ISS, sunrise and sunset happen every 90 minutes? This meant that Shukor would have problems, because the time of prayer in Islam is determined by the position of the Sun in the sky. Muslims also need to turn to God while sitting in the direction of Mecca, whose position relative to the ISS changes every second. As a result, the council of 150 clergy allowed Shukor to deviate slightly from the existing rules, but the case is nevertheless very funny.

4. Obviously, there is no washing machine on board the ISS. But how astronauts solve the problem with clothes? One of the options is to travel to the ISS with enough supplies to carry enough clothing for the entire mission. But it costs $ 5,000- $ 10,000 for every 500 grams of cargo, and such expenses are unreasonably high.

Astronauts cannot return their dirty laundry back to Earth because there is not enough space on the lander. Therefore, unmanned spacecraft that can make one-way trips are periodically sent to the ISS. As soon as the spacecraft docks at the station, the cosmonauts unload the received supplies and fill the voids with debris and dirty clothes. The spacecraft and everything in it burn up in the sky over the Pacific Ocean.

5. As you know, a person loses muscle and bone massif in space long enough. Therefore, all astronauts are prescribed to train every day for at least two hours. The training equipment on the ISS is very different from the typical equipment found in a fitness club.

Since the astronauts on board are in zero gravity, specialized simulators have been developed for training.

6. By the way, the astronauts have weapons … It is designed to defend against wild animals after landing on Earth. The weapons are not stored on the ISS itself, but on the descent vehicle.

7. ISS is the most expensive project throughout the history of mankind. The joint efforts of the USA, Canada, Japan, Russia, Belgium, Brazil, Germany, Denmark, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, France, Switzerland and Sweden invested $ 150,000,000,000 in the construction and maintenance of the station.