The International Space Station

Our ancestors probably never guessed that we’d be colonizing space someday. Of course, we Earthlings haven’t set up camp on Mars just yet, but we have taken up residence in our own planet’s orbit. The International Space Station (ISS), a joint effort between 16 nations, is well on its way to a 2006 completion. Weighing in at one million pounds, it will be the largest manmade object in space, but the ISS is more than just an eye-catcher.

The Stats: - Length: 290 feet - Width: 356 feet - Height: 131 feet - Weight: 1,000,000 lb - Speed: 17,500 mph

See the ISS Ninety percent of the world’s population will be able to see the ISS at some point each day. Want to know when it’s overhead? Click here!

Living in Space: It doesn’t sound half-bad. Have your cake and refrigerate it, too. Gone are the days when astronauts could only eat freeze-dried foods. The ISS has running water, microwave ovens, and refrigerators for all kinds of food. A little shut-eye. Humans need less sleep in space because they don’t have to work as hard when there’s less gravity. Still, ISS crewmembers have their own rooms—they just need to anchor themselves to their beds so they don’t float away! Get moving. The human body loses muscle and bone mass quickly in space. That’s why ISS crewmembers must exercise for two hours each day. The ISS is equipped with exercise bikes and rowing machines. What to wear? Inside the ISS, crewmembers can wear regular clothing. But when they’re on space walks, they must wear spacesuits to protect them from harsh temperatures. In the shadow of the ISS, the temperature can get down to 120 degrees below zero, while a sunbeam can pump the mercury up to 250 degrees above zero! A delicate question. Okay, you’re dying to know this one. How do the astronauts use the bathroom? They use a toilet, only it flushes everything down with air instead of water.

A Living Experiment

The ISS will be large and well equipped, so that astronauts and non-astronauts can live there for months at a time. That’s a far cry from past shuttle missions, which lasted only a few days and required small, expert crews.

Long-term ISS projects will give scientists several advantages. First, they will learn more about the effects of a largely gravity-free environment on humans. That will give us some idea of how to go about planning trips to distant planets. And because the ISS will rotate crewmembers, the program will have uninterrupted access to space, so astronauts can conduct long-term experiments and get the results quickly. Finally, crewmembers will become familiar will new technology, developed just for the ISS. We’ll be able to use that technology for medical advances, industry, and improved safety.

A Floating Laboratory

When it is completed, the ISS will feature six laboratories. The unique environment will allow scientists to conduct all kinds of experiments.

New materials. Here on Earth, gravity gets in the way of chemical reactions. On the ISS, scientists can use the unique environment to create new materials that can be used in manufacturing and at home.

Our planet. The ISS will circle the Earth once every 90 minutes. Crewmembers will be able to see our planet from many different angles over long periods of time. Those observations will give us a greater knowledge of what makes the world tick—and how to solve our environmental problems.