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The International Space Station (ISS) is an internationally developed research facility that is being assembled in low Earth orbit. On-orbit construction of the station began in 1998 and is scheduled for completion by 2011. The station is expected to remain in operation until at least 2015, and likely 2020. With a greater mass than that of any previous space station, the ISS can be seen from the Earth with the naked eye, and, as of 2010, is the largest artificial satellite orbiting the Earth. The ISS serves as a research laboratory that has a microgravity environment in which crews conduct experiments in biology, human biology, physics, astronomy and meteorology. The station has a unique environment for the testing of the spacecraft systems that will be required for missions to the Moon and Mars. The ISS is operated by Expedition crews, and has been continuously staffed since 2 November 2000, meaning the ISS programme has maintained an uninterrupted human presence in space for the past 9 years and 128 days, which is approaching the current record, set aboard Mir, of 9 years and 257 days. As of 1 December 2009), the crew of Expedition 22 is aboard. The ISS is a synthesis of several space station projects that includes the American Freedom, the Soviet/Russian Mir-2, the European Columbus and the Japanese Kibō. Budget constraints led to the merger of these projects into a single multi-national programme. The ISS project began in 1994 with the Shuttle-Mir programme, and the first module of the station, Zarya, was launched in 1998 by Russia. Assembly continues, as pressurised modules, external trusses and other components are launched by American space shuttles, Russian Proton rockets and Russian Soyuz rockets. As of November 2009, the station consisted of 11 pressurised modules and an extensive integrated truss structure (ITS). Power is provided by 16 solar arrays mounted on the external truss, in addition to four smaller arrays on the Russian modules. The station is maintained at an orbit between 278 km (173 mi) and 460 km (286 mi) altitude, and travels at an average speed of 27,724 km/h (17,227 mph), completing 15.7 orbits per day. Operated as a joint project between the five participant space agencies, the station's sections are controlled by mission control centres on the ground operated by the American National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the Russian Federal Space Agency (RKA), the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), and the European Space Agency (ESA). The ownership and use of the space station is established in intergovernmental treaties and agreements that allow the Russian Federation to retain full ownership of its own modules, with the remainder of the station allocated between the other international partners. The cost of the station has been estimated by ESA as €100 billion over 30 years, and, although estimates range from 35 billion dollars to 160 billion dollars, the ISS is believed to be the most expensive object ever constructed. The financing, research capabilities and technical design of the ISS programme have been criticised because of the high cost. The station is serviced by Soyuz spacecraft, Progress spacecraft, space shuttles, the Automated Transfer Vehicle and the H-II Transfer Vehicle, and has been visited by astronauts and cosmonauts from 15 different nations. From Wikipedia under the
GNU Free Documentation License What would happen if an astronaut aboard the International Space Station...? Q. If an astronaut aboard the International Space Station (traveling at 28,000 km/h) reached outside the station and dropped a hammer ... what would happen to the hammer? So, the speed of the ISS is irrelevant? It would just slowly drift away in any direction? Asked by 19AD4 - Thu Feb 11 01:48:12 2010 - - 7 Answers - 0 Comments A. Well some answers are correct or partially correct. If it was let go of gently, it would slowly drift away and loose speed as time passes, as there is nothing to accelerate it. Assuming it did not hit anything or other 'space junk' ( as that is what it would be as well) it would eventually decay in its orbit and fall back to Earth. One night you could look up in the night sky and see its fiery trail steak across the night sky as it falls back to Earth as space junk. It most likely would melt and/or burn up and disintegrate before it hit the ground. There are thousands of such 'space junk' already decaying in their orbits every day, by now I suspect. It would not just float off into outer space as it is caught in the Earths… [cont.] Answered by Steve ( ) - Sun Feb 14 19:38:56 2010 How many people can stay at the international space station?? Q. How many people can stay at the international space station for a science project. need answer quick!!! Asked by blisskissbabe - Mon Mar 24 08:25:18 2008 - - 3 Answers - 0 Comments A. The crew of the ISS is 3. However when the shuttle docks, it holds 10... and for much longer than two days (as what the previous poster said). The ISS can hold 10 people for about a month, at which time the supplies become exhausted, and the oxygen regeneration units start to get exhausted. In the somewhat near future, the max ISS crew will be upgraded to 6, so when the shuttle docks, there will be 13 people aboard. Answered by Gothika - Mon Mar 24 09:08:13 2008 what is the mean temperature at he international space station?
Q. does the temperature wary, if the space station is in sunlight and on the dark side of Earth? Asked by mike sammy - Sat Mar 21 16:05:33 2009 - - 3 Answers - 0 Comments A. Temperature of what? With no air, you can't measure the temperature of the air, which is what we do when we give temperatures down here. As for the temperature of the space station itself, that's likely to vary wildly depending on the color of a given part, what it's made of and if it's in the sun or not (and the angle of the sunlight on it, and how long it's been in the sun and at what angles ...) The internal temperature is probably kept around 70 degrees F, just to be comfortable for the residents. And yes, the temperature will vary depending on if the station is in the light or dark. It doesn't lose heat to convection or conduction (like we do down here) but it does lose (and gain) it to/from radiation. Answered by dougmctx - Wed Mar 25 13:26:52 2009 From Yahoo Answer Search: "International Space Station" From Wikiquote under the GNU Free Documentation License.
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 news.google.com Los Angeles Times (blog) ... what US astronauts are tweeting from space. Photo: Japanese astronaut Soichi Noguchi enters the International Space Station in late December. Credit: NASA. International Space Station astronaut shares pictures of his mission with ... Scottish Daily Record Astronaut Tweets Stunning Pictures From Space : PHOTOS Of Kilimanjaro, Haiti ... Huffington Post (blog) Astronauts are tweeting home amazing pictures of Earth, space and beyond DVICE Tom's Guide - Treehugger - izGadget all 25 news articles » news.google.com The Associated Press Space shuttle Endeavour and its six astronauts closed out the last major construction mission at the International Space Station with a smooth landing in ... news.google.com MarketWatch (press release) ... missile defense and Orion programs, partially offset by increased activity on the International Space Station Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) ... and more » From Google News Search: "International Space Station"  antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov 423px x 650px | 59.00kB [source page] the cosmos Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer 2005 November 5 Aurora from Space Credit Don Pettit ISS Expedition 6  media.kentucky.com 325px x 502px | 33.00kB [source page] Space Station Friday July 17 2009 As part of the survey and part of every mission s activities the STS 127 Endeavour crew performed a back flip for the rendezvous pitch maneuver NASA TV From Yahoo Image Search: "International Space Station"  greatwhitesnark.com Great White Snark hu, 18 Feb 2010 07:41:28 GM The Tranquility module is the last major component to be added to the . International Space Station. . Attached to Tranquility is a cupola with six windows around its sides and another in the center. NASA says this room with a view will ...  strictlyobama.com obama - NEWS - HEADLINES hu, 18 Feb 2010 05:35:26 GM USA TodayBarack Obama places call to International Space StationThe Tech HeraldMore pointedly, President Obama this week placed a call to the . International Space Station. (ISS) in order to offer a verbal backslapping to the crew of both ...  ftnews.firetrench.com News Editor Sat, 20 Feb 2010 14:53:28 GM While flying 208 miles above the Atlantic Ocean west of Mauritania and the western Sahara, space shuttle Endeavour undocked from the . International Space Station. at 7:54 p.m. EST, nine days, 19 hours and 48 minutes after docking on Feb. ... From Google Blog Search: "International Space Station" |
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