This year sees 25 years of continuous human presence aboard the International Space Station (ISS), and to mark the occasion NASA on Wednesday posted a video tour of this masterpiece of engineering and innovation. You can watch it via the player embedded at the top of this page.
The 15-minute space station tour, presented by NASA astronauts Nicole Mann and Kjell Lindgren, was actually recorded in 2022 when NASA’s SpaceX Crew-4 and Crew-5 missions were aboard the orbital outpost.
As the camera glides through the ISS in microgravity conditions, pop-ups appear explaining about each section of the multi-modular facility and what it’s used for.
The station orbits Earth at an altitude of around 250 miles, circling our planet about once every 90 minutes, resulting in astronauts experiencing 16 sunrises and sunsets in every 24-hour period.
NASA describes the ISS as “larger than a six-bedroom house.” End-to-end, it measures 357 feet (108 meters), or around the size of an American football field, and inside you’ll find six sleeping quarters, three bathrooms, a gym, and a bunch of research facilities.
Astronauts usually stay aboard the station for around six months, during which time they work on science research while also enjoying amazing views of Earth and beyond.
In normal times, the crew usually comprises around six people, including Americans, Russians, Europeans, Japanese, and more recently, astronauts from other countries have been visiting as part of private missions.
While no fatalities have ever been reported aboard the ISS, the facility has occasionally faced some dangerous moments. In 2021, for example, astronauts there were ordered to seek refuge in their spacecraft for a short time when space debris was spotted heading their way. Fortunately, the ISS avoided any damage and the astronauts were able to continue with their duties.
Notably, the facility only has about six more years left to operate. Its aging structure and high maintenance costs mean that in around 2030, the ISS will be cleared of astronauts and nudged toward Earth where it’ll mostly burn up in Earth’s atmosphere.
The good news is that NASA is working with private firms to build new space stations so that astronauts from the U.S. and other countries can continue to live and work in low-Earth orbit.
