Cool facts about the ISS:
Total length: 108 meters.
Total width: 73 meters.
Time to orbit the earth: 91 minutes.
Astronauts see 16 sunrises and sunsets a day as the ISS orbits Earth once every 90 minutes.
The first piece of the ISS went up in 1998.
A crew has continuously lived on board since the year 2000.
Amazingly, the ISS appears as the third-brightest object in our sky after the Sun and Moon.
When complete, the ISS’s habitable volume will equal the size of a three-bedroom house.
There are two toilets on the Station, one Russian and one American.
Astronauts typically stay 6 months aboard the ISS per mission.
The parts of the ISS:
- Modules and Nodes—These are the main areas of the ISS where astronauts live and conduct research.
- The Truss—This acts as a support structure for the radiators and solar arrays.
- Solar Arrays and Radiators—The arrays con-vert sunlight into power, while radiators cool the ISS by eliminating excess heat.
Five agencies built the ISS:
- Nasa (United States)
- Roscosmos (Russia)
- CSA (Canada)
- ESA (Europe)
- JAXA (Japan)
There are 16 countries in the ISS:
- The United States
- Russia
- Canada
- Japan
- Belgium
- Denmark
- France
- Germany
- Italy
- Netherlands
- Norway
- Spain
- Sweden
- Switzerland
- United Kingdom
- Brazil
Here are examples of international foods served on board the ISS:
United States
- Beverage: Coffee
- Appetizer: Shrimp cocktail
- Main course: Fajitas with black beans and rice
- Dessert: Cherry/blueberry cobbler
Russia
- Beverage: Apricot juice
- Appetizer: Beet salad
- Main course: Beef goulash with mashed potatoes and onion
- Dessert: Honey cake
Europe
- Beverage: Iced tea (lemon or orange)
- Appetizer: Legumaise (mushroom truffle dip)
- Main course: Duck breast confit with capers
- Dessert: Rich chocolate cake
Japan
- Beverage: Green or oolong tea
- Appetizer: Soup with Wakame (seaweed)
- Main course: Mackerel with Miso sauce and rice
- Dessert: Sweet bread bean paste
Canada
- Main course: Salmon
- Dessert: Maple cookies
- Snack: Berr
