International Space Station

International Space Station
A rearward view of the International Space Station backdropped by the limb of the Earth. In view are the station's four large, gold-coloured solar array wings, two on either side of the station, mounted to a central truss structure. Further along the truss are six large, white radiators, three next to each pair of arrays. In between the solar arrays and radiators is a cluster of pressurised modules arranged in an elongated T shape, also attached to the truss. A set of blue solar arrays are mounted to the module at the aft end of the cluster.
ISS of STS-132
The flags of the participating countries: United States, United Kingdom, France, Denmark, Spain, Italy, The Netherlands, Sweden, Canada, Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, Brazil, Japan, Norway, and Russia.
Station statistics
SATCAT no.25544
Call signAlpha, Station
CrewFully crewed: 3-6
Currently aboard: 7
(Expedition68)
Launch20 November 1998 (1998-11-20)
Launch pad
Mass≈ 419,725 kg (925,335 lb)[1]
Length72.8 m (239 ft)
Width108.5 m (356 ft)
Height≈ 20 m (66 ft)
nadir–zenith, arrays forward–aft
(27 November 2009)[needs update]
Pressurised volume931.57 m3 (32,898 cu ft)[2]
(28 May 2016)
Atmospheric pressure101.3 kPa (29.9 inHg; 1.0 atm)
Perigee408 km (253.5 mi) AMSL[3]
Apogee410 km (254.8 mi) AMSL[3]
Orbital inclination51.64°[3]
Orbital speed7.66 km/s[3]
(27,600 km/h; 17,100 mph)
Orbital period92.68 minutes[3]
Orbits per day15.54[3]
Orbit epoch14 May 2019 13:09:29  UTC[3]
Days in orbit25 years, 7 months, 26 days
(16 July 2024)
Days occupied23 years, 8 months, 14 days
(16 July 2024)
No. of orbits116,178 as of May 2019[3]
Orbital decay2 km/month
Statistics as of 9 March 2011
(unless noted otherwise)
References: [1][3][4][5][6]
Configuration
The components of the ISS in an exploded diagram, with modules on-orbit highlighted in orange, and those still awaiting launch in blue or pink
Station elements as of July 2021
(exploded view)

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 areas of the world: 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.

  1. 1.0 1.1 Garcia, Mark (9 May 2018). "About the Space Station: Facts and Figures". NASA. Retrieved 21 June 2018.
  2. "Space to Ground: Friending the ISS: 06/03/2016". YouTube.com. NASA. 3 June 2016.
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.8 Peat, Chris (28 September 2018). "ISS – Orbit". Heavens-Above. Retrieved 28 September 2018.
  4. Cite error: The named reference OnOrbit was used but no text was provided for refs named (see the help page).
  5. "STS-132 Press Kit". NASA. 7 May 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 December 2018. Retrieved 19 June 2010.
  6. "STS-133 FD 04 Execute Package". NASA. 27 February 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 December 2018. Retrieved 27 February 2011.

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