ISS celebrates 20 years in space: Interesting facts you should know

New Delhi : The International Space Station (ISS) successfully completes 20 years now since its launch on Russian rocket. For long time the ISS has collected memorable moments in the history of human's journey to space. The space station was launched as a single cargo module but now it has become one of its kinds orbiting the Earth.

Launched on November 20, 1998, the International Space Station (ISS) is the largest human-made object in low Earth orbit which can often be seen with the naked eye from Earth. Talking about the components, the ISS has been engineered with pressurised modules, solar arrays, external trusses, among others while these components were launched with help of Russian Proton and Soyuz rockets as well as American Space Shuttles.

Now the ISS completes 20 years into space and we would like to share some interesting facts about ISS

• More than 230 people have visited the $150 billion laboratory in space since November 2000.
• NASA’s astronaut Bill Shepherd and cosmonauts Sergei Krikalev and Yuri Gidzenko from Russia became the first humans to stay long-term on the ISS in the year 2000.
• The space station has 6 bedrooms and it is also the largest space vehicle ever built.
• The space station is the size of a football field. 
• The ISS was envisioned as both a laboratory as well as a potential pit stop for humanity’s missions to the moon or Mars.
• A spacecraft can reach the ISS within six hours from Earth, and the space station can connect six spaceships at the same time.
• The station is expected to operate until at least 2028.
• NASA has invested more than $100 billion for far into the station.
• It is equipped for 6 crew members to stay, however, currently, only three crew members calling the space facility their home.
• Weightlessness in space causes some unique problems for astronauts on the ISS. For instance, sweat doesn't evaporate in space and astronauts constantly need to use towels to stay dry.
• The International space station flies at an average altitude of 248 miles (400 kilometers) from Earth's surface and in every 90 minutes, it circles the planet at a speed of about 17,500 mph (28,000 km/h).