Did you know that the mass of the International Space Station is about 418 tons (59 714 stones)? Would you like to find out more interesting facts about the ISS?
1. Many people believe that there is no gravity in space. This is not entirely true. The International Space Station is located 350 km (217 miles) above the Earth. Therefore, the acceleration of gravity in this case (recall the school curriculum in physics) is only 10% less than on the surface of the Earth.
If the station did not move at its own speed, then, indeed, it would immediately fall on the heads of earthlings.
However, the ISS makes tremendous speed, which, together with the force of gravity, gives a total movement in orbit
2. The International Space Station makes one round around the Earth every 90 minutes. As a result, astronauts aboard the ISS observe a peculiar sunrise and sunset 16 times a day and 5,840 times a year. Thus, they make many amazing pictures from the station.
3. Sheikh Muzafar Shukor was the first Malaysian cosmonaut. When planning his first flight, Shukor got a very unusual problem. The fact is that this astronaut was a Muslim, which meant that he needed to pray five times a day.
In addition, the flight coincided with the month of Ramadan, when Muslims practice fasting from dawn to dusk. Remember, we mentioned that on the ISS, sunrise and sunset happen every 90 minutes? This meant that Shukor would have problems, because the time of prayer in Islam is determined by the position of the Sun in heaven.
Muslims also need to turn to God, sitting in the direction of Mecca, whose position relative to the ISS changes every second
As a result, the council of 150 clergymen allowed Shukor to depart a little from the existing rules, but the case, nevertheless, is very funny.
4. Obviously, there is no washing machine on board the International Space Station. But how do astronauts solve the problem with clothes? One option is to go to the ISS with a sufficient supply so that there is enough clothing for the entire mission.
But it costs $ 5,000- $ 10,000 for every 500 grams (a pound) of cargo, and such expenses are unreasonably high. Astronauts cannot return their dirty laundry back to Earth because there is not enough space on the lander.
Therefore, unmanned spacecraft that can make one-way periodical trips to the ISS. As soon as the spacecraft approaches the station, the astronauts unload the received supplies and fill the voids with garbage and dirty clothes. The spacecraft and everything in it burns out in the sky over the Pacific Ocean.
5. As you know, a person loses muscle and bone mass if he or she stays in space for a long time.
Therefore, all astronauts have to train every day for at least two hours
Training equipment on the International Space Station is very different from the typical equipment that can be found in the fitness club. Since astronauts are on zero gravity aboard, they have special simulators for training.
6. By the way, astronauts have weapons. They need them to defend against wild animals after landing on Earth. They do not get weapons directly on the International Space Station, though on the descent vehicle.
7. The ISS is the most expensive project in the history of mankind. Together, the United States, Canada, Japan, Russia, Belgium, Brazil, Germany, Denmark, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, France, Switzerland and Sweden invested $ 150,000,000,000 in the construction and maintenance of the station.
8. In 1993, in the United States, many politicians were against the construction of a space orbital station. In June 1993, the US Congress discussed a proposal to abandon the creation of the International Space Station. This proposal was not accepted with a preponderance of only one vote: 215 votes for rejection, 216 votes for the construction of the station.
9. The ISS includes 14 main modules: American: Unity, Destiny, Quest, Tranquility, Dome, Leonardo, Harmony; Russian: Dawn, Star, Pier, Search, Daybreak; European: Columbus and Japanese: Kibo.
10. The toilet at the station is designed for both men and women and looks exactly the same as on Earth. Still it has a number of design features.
The toilet has legs locks with powerful air pumps
The astronaut is fastened with a special spring mount to the toilet seat, and then he turns on a powerful fan and opens a suction hole, where the air stream carries away all the waste.
11. Astronauts have their own greenhouse, where they grow greens. They grow fresh greens under microgravity conditions and officially include them in the menu on the International Space Station.
