International Space Station

☆  ISS (international space station)

 The International Space Station was built in 1998 and has been continuously inhabited since 2000. It measures about 400 feet long, 200 feet wide, and 300 feet high. The ISS consists of 11 major components that include: Zvezda service module, core module, truss segment, solar arrays, radiators, cooling system, Columbus laboratory, Japanese Experiment Module Kibo, European Laboratory Destiny, Russian Orbital Segment, and crew quarters. There are many scientific experiments being conducted at the moment aboard the ISS, including those related to human health, physics, astronomy, biology, environmental science, life sciences, materials research, technology demonstration, and fundamental experiment.

 ●The ISS (Internation Space Station) was built by NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The station is composed of modules assembled spaceward from 2000, including the Russian Zvezda Service Module, Japanese Kibo Laboratory Module, European Columbus Carrier Assembly, and U.S. Destiny Laboratory. The first module launched in 1998 under the International Space Station program was the Russian Zarya spacecraft.

ISS mass - 7200 tones

 ISS PATHWAY

●The ISS has been continuously occupied since November 2000. Currently, the United States, Russia, Japan, Belgium, Germany, Canada, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland, France, Luxembourg, Austria, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, New Zealand, Australia, and Israel have research laboratories aboard.

☆Low gravity environment

 The International Space Station was built to understand how humans can live in low gravity environments. In microgravity, your body doesn't have anything to hold onto, therefore your muscle mass decreases to about 60% of its normal weight. Your bones become less dense due to fluid loss in your body, and your blood becomes thicker. These changes are temporary but they make you lose bone density if you were born already with a weak bone structure. This leads to increased stress fractures in astronauts that are exposed to microgravity long term.

  ■Food

 In space food has been reduced to powdered form and mixed with water. Many different types of foods are used to maintain astronaut health. Some common examples include pasta, beef jerky, fruit juices, fruit bars, and vegetables. Since many fruits and vegetables float in zero gravity, they don't need to be cut into small pieces and can just be eaten whole. Juice boxes are used to store fresh produce. Vegetables are added together to create a soup-like mixture. To make sure that the mix stays nutritious and solidified, dehydrated potatoes and other ingredients are added. Water is added to give the mixture enough consistency and flavor.

●Exercise

 Exercise was invented on Earth to help our bodies stay fit. When people travel to outer space, their bodies don't get any exercise at all. Astronauts have to use the treadmill to keep their muscles strong. They run between 15 minutes to 1 hour per day while wearing a space suit. Running helps prevent bone density loss, reduces obesity, and strengthens muscles. Also, astronauts develop cardiovascular skills needed to perform in space.

 Speed and microgravity

 ●The ISS is a crewed orbiting research laboratory used primarily to conduct experiments in microgravity. In addition to its scientific importance, it has become a symbol of national prestige and technological innovation. The first module was launched into low earth orbit, but the rest were launched and connected together into one large craft. Because the ISS travels at 17,500 km/h, it is referred to as “the fastest human-made object ever”. The ISS may be retired around 2024.

 ISS jointly regulated by - 

● The International Space Station (ISS) is a low Earth orbit research laboratory operated jointly by NASA and Roscosmos. It consists of habitable modules that are linked together to form two pressurized sections called Zarya ("Sun") and Pirs ("Pine tree"). Also attached are unpressurized trusses and solar arrays. The first module launched was Zarya, followed by the Pirs Pressurized Module in 1998, and then the Unity connecting node in 2003. The current configuration has been operational since November 2008.

 ●The ISS orbits at about 240 miles above the surface of the Earth and completes one revolution around the planet every 95 minutes. This allows scientists to study various aspects of how our environment affects life on Earth. With approximately 135 experiments running simultaneously, the ISS can be used to conduct nearly any kind of experiment desired. The scientific equipment aboard the station includes air quality sensors, radiation detectors, thermometers, cameras, spectrometers, and many other instruments for measuring the physical conditions in space.

 Working astronauts 

There are 5 astronauts currently living and working onboard the ISS. They include Commander Shane Kimbrough, NASA; Flight Engineer Thomas Pesquet, ESA; Russian cosmonaut Alexey Ovchinin, Russian Federal Space Agency; American astronaut Nick Hague, NASA; and Russian cosmonaut Alexei Borisenko, Roscosmos.

 Now here u can see how astranauts works in low gravity