International Space Station
A laboratory the size of a football field that has had people on board every day since November 2000.
Earth from the ISS
High-definition cameras on the outside of the space station, looking down at Earth as it turns below.
Video: NASA
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Five space agencies built the station module by module. It circles Earth about every 90 minutes, so its crew sees 16 sunrises a day, and runs experiments that need weightlessness, from medicine to new materials.
Key facts
- Type
- Space station
- Orbit altitude
- About 420 km
- Launched
- 20 November 1998 (first module)
- Crew
- Usually 7
- Operators
- NASA, Roscosmos, ESA, JAXA, CSA