For a fresher, ISS (International Space Station) is nowhere on Earth, but it’s up there; orbiting our Earth. And most of us, as a space enthusiast, might have tried tracking ISS when it orbits in our location.
But have you ever wondered how the ISS could have been built? International space station is literally as big as a football pitch and weighs approximately 455 tons. It definitely would have not been possible to build the ISS and launch it in one complete piece. I mean, there are contradictions. Till date, there is no rocket powerful enough and of course big enough too. So, how could they have done it?
The ISS is built in space piece by piece launching materials from the Earth. The first piece of the International Space Station was launched in the year 1998. And there were 30 more missions and launches to assemble each piece to the ISS. By the year 2011, the International Space Station was completely built in space. Speaking of which, just like Marvel Cinematic Universe films, ISS took ten whole years to complete its construction (If you know what I mean). Maybe, Marvel itself is inspired from the planning of the ISS.
International Space Station(ISS) is a multinational construction project that is the largest ever single structure built by us “humans” in space. Check out this below video to see the step by step construction of the ISS in space.
There are a total of 11 countries involved in constructing the ISS. Canada, Japan, The Russian Federation, The United States and the eleven Member States of European Space Agency i.e.
- Belgium
- Denmark
- France
- Germany
- Italy
- The Netherlands
- Norway
- Spain
- Sweden
- Switzerland
- The United Kingdom
Now that you know the construction of this Space Station, you definitely gotta understand in what way ISS is used for. There is so much research conducted and ongoing in zero-gravity space. Conducting experiments in zero gravity helps us to understand how things behave in Earth vs in space. One such example is that growing a plant in the absence of gravity.
Not everyone can visit the ISS, only astronomers and researchers can visit. Now that the mission of the commercial company SpaceX “Crew Dragon” has been successful, laymen can visit the International Space Station but it costs approximately 50 million dollars for a seat. But here is a ticket to a trip, a tour to ISS, absolutely free. But you may be disappointed for not experiencing zero gravity because you are gonna remain seated at your place; in your home; in the Earth and have this tour.
Check out this link for a live experience inside ISS: https://www.google.com/maps/@29.5604556,-95.0854808,2a,90y,285.72h,85.16t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s3OFiq36cp0IAAAQvxgbyIg!2e0!7i10000!8i5000
I must warn you that the International Space Station is quite messy and I suggest you do not get lost on your way.
StarDustWaves 