International Space Station

In the early 1980's, the International Space Station was only an idea on paper. Today, the Space Station is a result of sixteen international partners working together to create a world-class, state-of-the-art orbiting research facility.

The ISS provides scientists, engineers and entrepreneurs an opportunity to perform complex experiments over long periods of time in a space environment. But, it is much more; it is an international "city in space" - a place where we will learn how to live and work "off planet."

Some facts about the International Space Station

The Space Station is the largest manned object ever sent into space - larger than the new Airbus 380 recently put into service to carry over 500 passengers. It consists of 70 separate major components and hundreds of minor ones. All the parts will be put together in space for the first time.

This is a BIG construction job - 45 launches in total to assemble the parts and over 1700 hours of space walks for the astronauts and cosmonauts.

We can see it - and the people on board can see us! When completed, the ISS will be visible to more than 90 percent of the world's population and circles the Earth every 90 minutes.

Having trouble sleeping? Humans need less sleep in space because the body does little work in a microgravity environment. It takes little effort to raise an arm, hold your head up, or move a bulky object.

It's a team effort - many countries are involved - the United States, Russia, Canada, Japan, Belgium, Brazil, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. The construction involves more than 100,000 people, and hundreds of companies. Astronauts also work in teams on the various experiments aboard the ISS.

Keep working in Physical Education classes - Every astronaut must do at least two hours of strenuous exercise, every day. This is to counteract the tendency of the human body to lose muscle and bone mass rapidly in space.

It's not cheap! It is the most expensive object every built. The Chunnel between England and France cost about $22 billion. The United States' contribution ALONE is estimated at nearly $200 billion!

International Space Station Statistics

Statistic   Updated
Crew 2 June 17, 2005
Perigee 347.9 km June 17, 2005
Apogee 354.1 km June 17, 2005
Orbital period 91.55 minutes June 17, 2005
Orbits per day 15.73 June 17, 2005
Days occupied since Expedition 1 boarded on November 2 , 2000 1,688 June 17, 2005
Days in orbit since Zarya launch 2,401 June 17, 2005
Revolutions since Zarya launch 37,573 June 17, 2005
Distance traveled since launch ~1,400,000,000 km June 17, 2005
Average speed 7.69 km/s (27,685.7 km/h)  
Pressure ~757 mmHg (100 kPa)  
Oxygen ~162.4 mmHg (22 kPa)  
Carbon Dioxide ~4.8 mmHg (640 Pa)  
Temperature ~26.9°C  

Links

Some good links to provide more information about the ISS for STUDENTS (and many of them have teacher information as well) include:

Canadian Space Agency

NASA

Tracking the International Space Station

Other International Space Station resources