What Is International Space Station ?

International Space Station is the spacecraft that is launched in the orbit of earth and it is known as the second home of the space crews and astronauts. It is the largest human made structure that ever put in space. International Space station orbits with the average speed of 17,500 mph that means that it completes orbit around earth in 90 minutes.

Launching The Space Station

International Space Station is a cooperative project by multiple nations including United States, Russia, Japan, Europe and Canada. Space agencies from these countries joined together make this mega project happen and countries put all the resources and technology. Five participating Space agencies for International Space Station are NASA, Roscosmos, JAXA, ESA and CSA. The first piece of space station was launched in November 1998. The first piece was a control module named Zarya and it was from Russia. About two weeks later of its launch Anther space shuttle was launched in earth orbit with United States unity code. The crew then attached both pieces in the space and unites Zarya with unity Code. For the first two years the station was added with pieces to make everything perfect for humans stay. The space station is built in a way that it can survive in space and harsh rays, High Heat, no gravity and air pressure. The station was then equipped with techniques and things humans must need for survival such as oxygen and water supply. The first crew reached at the station in November 2, 2000. It is been improved and more pieces being added into the space station and the construction completed in 2011. The ownership of the international Space station is established by the intergovernmental treaties and agreements. Space station is also a laboratory for conducting researches and making new discoveries. The very first purpose of sending a space station was purely to explore nearby destinations such as moon and Mars and whole outer space and solar system. Space station record footages of earth from space and it’s a huge milestone of Human reach in space. Astronauts in the space station conduct researches and experiments to know how human body changes in microgravity and how our muscles, bones, blood circulatory system, cardiovascular system and nervous system undergo changes in those conditions. There are some experiments on plants to learn more about how their growth is going to effect in space and what are the possibilities for them to survive. There are also experiments on rodents to understand the loss of muscles and bone mass in micro gravity conditions.

Life At Space Station

Astronauts are sent to the international space station with space mission for average six-month period of time for most of the space travellers. Astronauts can bring their phones, favorite books and all possible things to entertain themselves. The first space tweet was sent by an astronaut named Mike Massimino in May 2009. Due to the advancement of technology astronaut can share videos and tweets with the people on earth. Many videos from international space station have been uploaded on YouTube that cure the curiosity of people about life in Space. Fortunately International space station had Wi-Fi now and astronauts aboard can communicate and share their moments. Space station can be seen from earth without even the telescope and you can even track the location from NASA official website. There is a forced air convection Oven in space station that is used to heat the frozen and preserved foods. It takes almost 20 to 30 minutes for that oven to heat. Astronaut used the trays that had containers to hold food. Astronaut can also bake in space and the first space baking is the iconic chocolate chip cookie. The food is delivered to the space station every 90 days and it kept deep refrigerated. Many space agencies sent traditional foods for the crew to enjoy their taste of home. Astronauts can have fruits, nuts, peanut butter, chicken, beef, brownies, mashed potatoes, cheese and many other basic food items. Drinks like coffee, grape juice and apple juice are also available at space station. The food in space station comes in easily disposable packages and there is no concept of dish washing in space. Foods like bread, fish, salt pepper, soda and ice cream isn’t allowed on space to avoid the spread of crumbs and to assure the health of astronaut. Alcohol is strictly prohibited in space. Astronauts can brush their teeth normally but they have to squeeze water droplets over their brush to clean it with towel. Astronauts use rinse less shampoo and liquid shampoo for showring . The excessive water then evaporates and recycled for again usage. They had toilets at the space station where they have to be carefully use the funnel to avoid leaking. Nearly all the water astronaut use at space station either for drinking or showering comes from their urine and sweat that undergoes electrolysis, it is a process to recycle them into clean water because the storage and water supply is impossible in space. Astronauts also wear maximum Absorbency garment that is an adult sized diaper with extra absorption material to absorb both feces and urine. They are only worn at the time of lift off, landing and for the spacewalks where they have to go out from space station for repairing purposes. Space station had sleeping compartments and sleeping bags and astronauts can sleep in them after strapping their bodies with bags so they won’t float around. There is microgravity in space station with no ups and downs so astronauts can sleep facing any direction they want. Any kind of sexual activity is strongly prohibited by NASA. Female astronauts are tested regularly before space launch so there is no chance of pregnancy in space. The experiments of reproduction in animals are going on space station such as in fruit flies and fishes to study how embryo will grow in space. Astronaut’s health always kept first priority by NASA and they are tested for any kind of medical issue before spaceflight. Only healthy and immune astronauts are sent to space to avoid any kind of sickness and serious medical conditions. But if any astronaut gets sick aboard then medical staff astronauts can take care of it. Space walks are rare occasion when astronauts went outside of the space station with their white space suit and a strong rope called Tether. Tether is a strong cable that prevents astronauts from going away from space station. A space walk can be 7 to 8 hours long where astronaut performs all the tasks on the list. There is enough water supply in the built in water tank in spacesuit for the spacewalk duration. Astronaut wore proper maximum absorbent garment because they can’t urinate in space. Space station had huge solar panels that generate electricity from sunlight. The total area of space station including these large solar arrays is equal to any U.S football field. These solar arrays provide enough power to space station for the experiments, usage of space appliances and power to orbit at proper speed. Space station is one of the most important contributions in the field of space science and technology that make it easier for humans to reach in space and even live there. Space station is huge achievement of humans and the first step to explore the mysteries of Universe.