ISS turns 25: Some interesting facts about the space laboratory

Recently, the International Space Station (ISS) celebrated its 25th anniversary since the first module blasted off into space. The Zarya module made its way to low-Earth orbit in November 1998, and the Unity module joined it in less than a month. Over the past 25 years, the space station has been a temporary home to 273 folks from 21 different countries. These visitors have been busy with over 3,000 research and educational projects.

According to NASA, it’s “bigger than a six-bedroom house.” The ISS is actually 357 feet (108 meters) long, roughly the size of an American football field. Inside, you’ve got six bedrooms, three bathrooms, a gym, and plenty of spots for research.

How fast is the ISS orbiting the Earth

The space station zooms around at a whopping 17,500 mph (28,000 kph), circling Earth every 90 minutes. So, the crew on board gets to witness a crazy 16 sunrises and sunsets every single day.

Astronauts typically hang out for around six months up there, but some pop in for a quick visit, while others make it a long-term stay. In October 2023, Frank Rubio made it back to Earth after a whopping 371 days in space—setting a new record for the longest time a NASA astronaut has spent in orbit. Originally signed up for a six-month gig, his mission got stretched to over a year due to a glitch in his spacecraft.

The usual crew on the station is about six folks, but there have been a couple of occasions when it swelled to 13. That’s mainly because of crew changes, so it’s not a long-lasting situation.

Also Read: Is living on Mars really possible or just a far-fetched dream?

Do astronauts enjoy the best views of Earth?

The Cupola module on the station, with its seven windows, serves up unbeatable views of Earth. It’s the go-to chill spot for astronauts during their downtime. Folks like French astronaut Thomas Pesquet make the most of it by planning ahead and figuring out exactly which part of the world the ISS will be cruising over. That way, he’s all set to capture some killer shots with his camera.

You can also see the ISS from Earth, and you don’t have to be a stargazer with a telescope or binoculars. You just gotta know when to glance up. NASA’s got your back with an app that makes it a breeze to catch sight of the station cruising at an altitude of around 250 miles.

What risks does ISS face up there?

Yep, with all that space debris circling Earth, there’s a constant risk of some of it colliding with the station. It’s usually dodging the smaller stuff, but if a big chunk looks like it’s on a collision course, the ground controllers can tweak the station’s orbit to steer clear of the trouble.

Back in 2021, the astronauts got the word to hunker down in their spacecraft for a bit because there was a worry that a debris cloud might be headed their way. Luckily, the ISS came out unscathed, and everyone on board could go back to their regular routine without a hitch.

How do astronauts go about their morning business on ISS

Astronauts constantly get hit with this question, and you can imagine, it’s not your typical task in the microgravity conditions up there. So, to keep bathroom visits hassle-free, engineers came up with a nifty setup: a suction tube for handling urine (which gets filtered and recycled into drinking water) and a compact space for taking care of solid waste.

What’s ISS’s future in space?

The ISS’s getting up there in years, and keeping it in tip-top shape is becoming a real headache and expensive. Right now, the game plan is to keep it running until 2030. Then, in the next year, NASA and its partners will carefully guide the space station down to a spot where a good chunk of it will burn up as it dips into Earth’s atmosphere.

NASA’s teaming up with private companies to cook up brand-new space stations to pick up where the ISS leaves off. SpaceX is one of these companies, joining forces with the Los Angeles-based startup Vast. They might even be the first to shoot out a fresh module, and we’re talking as early as 2025. China’s got its own taikonauts chilling on a space station in low-Earth orbit, while NASA’s cooking up plans to set up a moon base for astronauts to kick it for the long haul.

Also Read: What does ISRO have in store for the future?

NASA wants to crash the ISS

The International Space Station (ISS) is scheduled to retire in 2031, wrapping up three decades of orbiting Earth. However, NASA’s not keen on letting the 356-foot-long (109-meter) station just float around in orbit. That would only add to the increasing pile of risky space debris already hanging out in low-Earth orbit. Plus, there’s the chance it might bump into something else and create even more space junk.

To make sure the ISS goes out safely, NASA’s got this thing they call a “space tug,” formally named the U.S. Deorbit Vehicle (USDV). It’s going to steer the space station to a secure spot, and from there, it’s going to zip down and mostly burn up in Earth’s atmosphere. But here’s the deal: there’s a chance that a few bits and pieces might make it through the speedy drop. So, the deorbit move has to be thought out and carried out with precision to make sure none of the ISS remnants end up landing in a populated spot.

Getting ready for the big move, NASA put out a call for ideas on a fresh design for a space tug—or tweaking an existing spacecraft—to help out with the vital deorbiting job. They mentioned that the chosen design will likely take several years to develop, test, and get the green light.

NASA and its buddies were thinking about using a Russian Progress spacecraft to handle the deorbiting job. However, they’ve changed their minds and decided that a new spacecraft solution would bring more solid capabilities for what NASA calls a “responsible” deorbit.