'Are you able to see that star-like glowing object coming out from behind the clouds?. That…..is the ISS', Rajarshi's eyes gleamed like a star as well. 'Seriously? That really looks like an another airplane', said I, gazing up in the not so starry Bangalore night. 'Han bhai, that is the ISS. It doesn’t flicker like other plane's light and travels much faster', the gleam in Rajarshi's eyes too wasn't flickering.
Raj (short for Rajarshi) is my ex-roomie and an avid star gazer, a reason for which he is also known as 'Star Uncle' amongst kids in our society. He had summoned all of us to be at terrace exactly at 19:30 hours; as at 19:32, ISS was to pass directly over us. We, quite fascinated by Sandra Bullock's Gravity and later McConaughey's Interstellar, were really excited to witness the ISS, when Raj told that it can be seen from our naked eye. And finally, the vision of the object moving high up in the sky, left us thrilled but it also made us feel so small, so trivial. We are like a grain of sand in a big big ocean out there.
What is ISS / International Space Station?
ISS is a man-made satellite, orbiting Earth at a height of 400 kms. The space station works as a laboratory cum home for (up to) 6 scientists in outer space. who work under micro-gravity (or very less gravity) environment. The space lab forms an ideal place to conduct researches which aren't possible back on Earth. The research is taken on several areas ranging from Biology to Meteorology, Physics to Astronomy; preparing the mankind for future space explorations.
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| International Space Station |
When did the ISS commence and who all are the stakeholders in the programme?
The ISS program began in 1993 but it wasn’t until 1998 when the construction started with a joint effort of five space agencies viz. NASA (USA), Roscosmos (Russia), JAXA (Japan), ESA (Europe), CSA (Canada). Though the construction completed in 2011, the first crew was sent to ISS in 2000 itself. Since then, the station has always been manned by scientists, rotating typically after every 5-6 months. Till November 2017, 222 people from 18 countries have shared space in this man made wonder.
How big and fast is the ISS?
The station is big enough to be seen from Earth by the naked eye. It roughly equals a football ground (~ 357 feet), has six sleeping quarters, two bathrooms, a gym, and a 360-degree view bay window. It moves at a speed of 7.67 km/s, 400 kms above earth. The cost of building the station is whooping 160 billion USD, easily making it the most expensive single object ever constructed. Though the expenses have been shared by the 5 space agencies, bulk of the brunt has been bore by the US only (approx. $ 100 bn).
Does ISS has an End date?
Though there isn't a certain stamped Expiry date to the program, it really will need support from nations to keep it running. The support will be in terms of both money and resources and hence the politicial relationship between the key founding group will be paramount. As of now, the plan is to keep ISS up and running until 2028 at least.
Why do some people want to shut it down?
We have already known about the massive amount of funding the ISS needs for its survival. A few critics have questioned the benefits of the programme with respect to the expenses it has gulped in. As they say, that we could spend this money on other more important things such as robotic missions, further space explorations and even tackling current problems on Earth. However, proponents have their own view. They believe the research on ISS will work wonders in long term.
How to track the ISS?
ISS is easily visible to the naked eye; being the third brightest object in sky. It looks like any other plane, though travelling much higher and faster. There are multiple apps available which you shall use to track the current location of ISS. On entering your current location, you can even figure out the exact date & time when the station will fly over your city/town. One such site is NASA's site: https://spotthestation.nasa.gov/
Nerd Notes:
- Within a day (24 hours), the ISS sees 16 sunrises & sunsets i.e. it makes 16 orbits around Earth
- The astronauts work out 2 hours daily to thwart the loss of muscle and bone mass due to microgravity
- 50+ computers control the systems on the space station, with approx. 2.3 million lines of code
- Six spaceships can be connected to the space station at once
Thanks for reading and keep smiling !
- Prakhar
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