The ISS_Primary School no 16

Students from Primary School no 16 in WrocławPOLAND

THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION

HUMAN IN SPACE

eTwinning project

The International Space Station began operating in 1998, when the first of the 16 main modules were launched into orbit and connected to build a base. The ISS, as its name suggests, is owned by several space agencies from the US, Europe, Japan, Russia and Canada.

The ISS It consists of 16 main modules (eventually 17) and allows for six permanent crew members (three until 2009). Station modules connected in orbit. This concept was adopted from the Soviet Mir station. About 70 countries may contribute to the construction and operation of the ISS. The first module (Russian Zaria) was launched into orbit in 1998, and the expansion ended 5 years ago. Throughout the history of the ISS, it has hosted over 200 astronauts from 15 countries (in 2009, there were 13 people at the station at the same time). The station consists of modules for the functioning of which are the responsibility of various space agencies. For example, Tranquility is one of NASA's 3 modules, Columbus is an ESA supervised research module, and Kibō is a Japanese laboratory.

The International Space Station is currently the largest artificial object in orbit on Earth. It weighs 455 tons and is 110m x 100m x 30m. It orbits the Earth at an altitude of about 400 km.

The first permanent crew settled there in 2000. The space that astronauts have at their disposal, which we explored thanks to the video above, is comparable to the space inside a Boeing 747.

Russian astronauts will leave the station in 2024, which will mean the withdrawal of support for the project, the cost of which was increasing due to numerous technical problems. Experts say this is close to a practical end to the overall activities of the ISS.

The end of the ISS?

NASA has prepared an interesting video that takes us to the interior of the International Space Station for several minutes. The film is best watched with the lights off, with headphones on and the image enlarged to the full screen. Watching the movie, we visit all the most important compartments of the Space Station, from time to time we are informed by appropriate graphics where we are.

Despite its advanced age, the ISS is still a place of interesting projects. Some of them, such as the inflatable Bigelow Aerospace module, or the annual mission of two crewmen (Scott Kelly from NASA and Mikhail Kornienko from Roscosmos) are to help plan Martian missions.

Everyday life on the ISS

In Polish

Life on station

Running in Space!

How do you shower in space? Astronaut's guide to bathing in orbit

Thank you!