ISS The Station #iss #space #shorts #cosmicexploration #science #spaceexploration #orbit

Added: 2026-05-17

[00:00:00]The International Space Station orbits Earth at an altitude of approximately 408 km traveling at 7.66 km per second.

[00:00:08]Fast enough to complete a full orbital circuit every 92 minutes. Launched in 1998 and continuously inhabited since November 2000, it is the largest human-made structure in low Earth orbit spanning 109 m across and weighing over 420,000 kg. On board, astronauts conduct research in microgravity that is simply impossible to replicate on the surface.

[00:00:30]Fluid dynamics, cellular biology, material science, all behaving differently when the force of gravity is effectively removed. The station's orbit is not fixed. Due to atmospheric drag at low Earth orbit, it requires periodic reboosts to maintain altitude. Without them, it would gradually decay and re-enter the atmosphere.

[00:00:49]Visible to the naked eye at magnitude -3.6, it is one of the brightest objects in the night sky, outshone only by the moon and Venus.