Since 1998 when the International Space Station (ISS) was launched into orbit, it had pretty simple tasks: to make us all understand our place in the Solar System and learn more about how our cosmic neighbourhood works. The space station moves through space stunningly fast for its mass of 925,335 pounds (419,725 kilograms).
As PetaPixel reveals for us, the French astronaut Thomas Pesquet has shared an image that says more than a thousand words. The ISS travels at a staggering speed of about 17,400 mph, and the astronaut uses a 30-second exposure while focusing on the station with the night sky of planet Earth as it shows in the background.
Difficile de donner un bon aperçu de la vitesse de l’ISS (28000km/h !), on est tellement haut qu’on a l’impression de ne pas avancer si vite. L’obturateur de mon 📷 est resté ouvert 30 sec et les traits sont donc le trajet des lumières des 🌃pendant qu’on avançait de… 235km ! pic.twitter.com/hECkKPtXTt
— Thomas Pesquet (@Thom_astro) June 13, 2021
The International Space Station also holds the title of the largest artificial object from space and the largest satellite that revolves around our planet. The ISS programme is somehow a result of the Space Station Freedom, which is an American proposal conceived in 1984 for constructing a permanently manned Earth-orbiting station. The ISS is also the ninth space station inhabited by crew members.
The International Space Station’s components for in-orbit assembly were manufactured in various countries across the world. The US components Unity, Destiny, the Integrated Truss Structure, as well as the solar arrays were manufactured at the Michoud Assembly Facility and the Marshall Space Flight.
To make the International Space Station a dream come true, powerful space agencies from important countries across the world had to join forces. Therefore, the station is operated by NASA from the USA, the European Space Agency, JAXA from Japan, Roscosmos from Russia, and the Canadian Space Agency.
