[The ISS]

The International Space Station

The International Space Station is super cool. I love the international co-operation that was required to make it happen, the fact that it feels like something out of a sci-fi novel, and the fact that you can see it with your just your own eyes (or even better with a telescope or binoculars), amongst other things. Here's some info about it (mostly taken from youtube videos the astronauts themselves made, a few things from Chris Hadfield's book 'An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth', and the NASA website).

How do you get there?

The Soyuz rockets are the only were to get to the ISS between 2011 and 2020. The Soyuz rockets are based on the R-7 rocket family, which descended from the Soviet R-7 Semyorka, developed in the 1950s as the world's first intercontinental ballistic missile. Soyuz launches from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

Since 2020, the Commercial Crew Program has provides crew transportation to and from the ISS. This program uses SpaceX's Crew Dragon spacecraft, and will also use Boeing's Starliner when it becomes operational.

What do they do there?

Science, mostly. They do experiments on how microgravity affects lots of different things, including the human body, bacteria, plants, insects and technology, as well as studying happenings on Earth (e.g. atmospheric phenomena, natural disasters) from a different view point. This page from the NASA website is a good place to learn about their research.

What do they eat?

Most of the food aboard is vacuum sealed in plastic bags. As taste is reduced in microgravity, more spices are used than in regular cooking. Resupply ships can bring fresh fruit and vegetables, although the astronauts do not get these often. They are not allowed foods that create crumbs as they can contaminate equipment. They have two main types of food, thermostabilized MREs and freeze-dried foods that they rehydrate before eating.

What language do they speak?

Astronauts speak generally speak Russian and English on the ISS. English is the primary working language, but astronauts are required to know a bit of Russian. I heard from somewhere that at one point they made the American astronauts speak Russian and the Russian astronauts speak English in an attempt to minimize miscommunication, but I haven't been able to find a source for that (so who knows if its true).

Fun Facts