How fast is the space station traveling? International Space Station ISS

Orbit is, first of all, the flight path of the ISS around the Earth. In order for the ISS to fly in a strictly specified orbit, and not fly into deep space or fall back to Earth, a number of factors had to be taken into account such as its speed, the mass of the station, the capabilities of launch vehicles, delivery ships, the capabilities of cosmodromes and, of course, economic factors.

The ISS orbit is a low-Earth orbit, which is located in outer space above the Earth, where the atmosphere is in an extremely rarefied state and the particle density is low to such an extent that it does not provide significant resistance to flight. The ISS orbital altitude is the main flight requirement for the station in order to get rid of the influence of the Earth's atmosphere, especially its dense layers. This is a region of the thermosphere at an altitude of approximately 330-430 km

When calculating the orbit for the ISS, a number of factors were taken into account.

The first and main factor is the impact of radiation on humans, which is significantly increased above 500 km and this can affect the health of astronauts, since their established permissible dose for six months is 0.5 sieverts and should not exceed one sievert in total for all flights.

The second significant argument when calculating the orbit is the ships delivering crews and cargo for the ISS. For example, Soyuz and Progress were certified for flights to an altitude of 460 km. American space shuttle delivery ships could not even fly up to 390 km. and therefore, earlier, when using them, the ISS orbit also did not go beyond these limits of 330-350 km. After the shuttle flights ceased, the orbital altitude began to be raised to minimize atmospheric influences.

Economic parameters are also taken into account. The higher the orbit, the further you fly, the more fuel and therefore less necessary cargo the ships will be able to deliver to the station, which means you will have to fly more often.

The required height is also considered from the point of view of the assigned scientific tasks and experiments. To solve given scientific problems and current research, altitudes of up to 420 km are still sufficient.

The problem of space debris, which enters the ISS orbit, poses the most serious danger, also occupies an important place.

As already mentioned, the space station must fly so as not to fall or fly out of its orbit, that is, to move at the first escape velocity, carefully calculated.

An important factor is the calculation of the orbital inclination and the launch point. The ideal economic factor is to launch from the equator clockwise, since the speed of the Earth's rotation is an additional indicator of speed. The next relatively economically cheap indicator is to launch with an inclination equal to the latitude, since less fuel will be required for maneuvers during launch, and the political issue is also taken into account. For example, despite the fact that the Baikonur Cosmodrome is located at a latitude of 46 degrees, the ISS orbit is at an angle of 51.66. Rocket stages launched into a 46-degree orbit could fall into Chinese or Mongolia territory, which usually leads to costly conflicts. When choosing a cosmodrome to launch the ISS into orbit, the international community decided to use the Baikonur Cosmodrome, due to the most suitable launch site and the flight path for such a launch covering most of the continents.

An important parameter of the space orbit is the mass of the object flying along it. But the mass of the ISS often changes due to its updating with new modules and visits by delivery ships, and therefore it was designed to be very mobile and with the ability to vary both in height and in directions with options for turns and maneuvering.

The height of the station is changed several times a year, mainly to create ballistic conditions for the docking of ships visiting it. In addition to the change in the mass of the station, there is a change in the speed of the station due to friction with the remnants of the atmosphere. As a result, mission control centers have to adjust the ISS orbit to the required speed and altitude. The adjustment occurs by turning on the engines of delivery ships and, less often, by turning on the engines of the main base service module "Zvezda", which have boosters. At the right moment, when the engines are additionally turned on, the station’s flight speed is increased to the calculated one. The change in orbit altitude is calculated at the Mission Control Centers and is carried out automatically without the participation of astronauts.

But the maneuverability of the ISS is especially necessary in the event of a possible encounter with space debris. At cosmic speeds, even a small piece of it can be deadly for both the station itself and its crew. Omitting data on the shields for protecting against small debris at the station, we will briefly talk about the ISS maneuvers to avoid collisions with debris and change the orbit. For this purpose, a corridor zone with dimensions 2 km above and plus 2 km below it, as well as 25 km in length and 25 km in width has been created along the ISS flight route, and constant monitoring is being carried out to ensure that space debris does not fall into this zone. This is the so-called protective zone for the ISS. The cleanliness of this area is calculated in advance. US Strategic Command USSTRATCOM at Vandenberg Air Force Base maintains a catalog of space debris. Experts constantly compare the movement of debris with the movement in the orbit of the ISS and make sure that, God forbid, their paths do not cross. More precisely, they calculate the probability of a collision of some piece of debris in the ISS flight zone. If a collision is possible with at least a probability of 1/100,000 or 1/10,000, then 28.5 hours in advance this is reported to NASA (Lyndon Johnson Space Center) to the ISS flight control to the ISS Trajectory Operation Officer (abbreviated as TORO). Here at TORO, monitors monitor the location of the station in time, the spacecraft docking at it, and that the station is safe. Having received a message about a possible collision and coordinates, TORO transfers it to the Russian Korolev Flight Control Center, where ballistics specialists prepare a plan for a possible variant of maneuvers to avoid a collision. This is a plan with a new flight route with coordinates and precise sequential maneuver actions to avoid a possible collision with space debris. The created new orbit is re-checked to see if any collisions will occur on the new path again, and if the answer is positive, it is put into operation. Transfer to a new orbit is carried out from Mission Control Centers from Earth in computer mode automatically without the participation of cosmonauts and astronauts.

For this purpose, the station has 4 American Control Moment Gyroscopes installed at the center of mass of the Zvezda module, measuring about a meter and weighing about 300 kg each. These are rotating inertial devices that allow the station to be correctly oriented with high accuracy. They work in concert with Russian attitude control thrusters. In addition to this, Russian and American delivery ships are equipped with boosters that, if necessary, can also be used to move and rotate the station.

In the event that space debris is detected in less than 28.5 hours and there is no time left for calculations and approval of a new orbit, the ISS is given the opportunity to avoid a collision using a pre-compiled standard automatic maneuver for entering a new orbit called PDAM (Predetermined Debris Avoidance Maneuver) . Even if this maneuver is dangerous, that is, it can lead to a new dangerous orbit, then the crew boards the Soyuz spacecraft in advance, always ready and docked to the station, and awaits the collision in complete readiness for evacuation. If necessary, the crew is instantly evacuated. In the entire history of ISS flights, there have been 3 such cases, but thank God they all ended well, without the need for the cosmonauts to evacuate, or, as they say, they did not fall into one case out of 10,000. From the principle of “God takes care,” here more than ever we cannot deviate.

As we already know, the ISS is the most expensive (more than 150 billion dollars) space project of our civilization and is a scientific start to long-distance space flights; people constantly live and work on the ISS. The safety of the station and the people on it are worth much more than the money spent. In this regard, the first place is given to the correctly calculated orbit of the ISS, constant monitoring of its cleanliness and the ability of the ISS to quickly and accurately evade and maneuver when necessary.

One of humanity's greatest assets is the International Space Station, or ISS. Several states united to create it and operate it in orbit: Russia, some European countries, Canada, Japan and the USA. This apparatus shows that much can be achieved if countries constantly cooperate. Everyone on the planet knows about this station and many people ask questions about at what altitude the ISS flies and in what orbit. How many astronauts have been there? Is it true that tourists are allowed there? And this is not all that is interesting to humanity.

Station structure

The ISS consists of fourteen modules, which house laboratories, warehouses, rest rooms, bedrooms, and utility rooms. The station even has a gym with exercise equipment. This entire complex runs on solar panels. They are huge, the size of a stadium.

Facts about the ISS

During its operation, the station aroused a lot of admiration. This apparatus is the greatest achievement of human minds. In its design, purpose and features, it can be called perfection. Of course, maybe in 100 years they will start building spaceships of a different type on Earth, but for now, today, this device is the property of humanity. This is evidenced by the following facts about the ISS:

1. During its existence, about two hundred astronauts visited the ISS. There were also tourists here who simply came to look at the Universe from orbital heights.
2. The station is visible from Earth with the naked eye. This structure is the largest among artificial satellites and can be easily seen from the surface of the planet without any magnifying device. There are maps on which you can see what time and when the device flies over cities. Using them you can easily find information about your locality: see the flight schedule over the region.
3. To assemble the station and maintain it in working order, the astronauts went into outer space more than 150 times, spending about a thousand hours there.
4. The device is controlled by six astronauts. The life support system ensures the continuous presence of people at the station from the moment it was first launched.
5. The International Space Station is a unique place where a wide variety of laboratory experiments are conducted. Scientists make unique discoveries in the fields of medicine, biology, chemistry and physics, physiology and meteorological observations, as well as in other fields of science.
6. The device uses giant solar panels the size of a football field with its end zones. Their weight is almost three hundred thousand kilograms.
7. The batteries are capable of fully ensuring the operation of the station. Their work is carefully monitored.
8. The station has a mini-house equipped with two bathrooms and a gym.
9. The flight is monitored from Earth. Programs consisting of millions of lines of code have been developed for control.

Astronauts

Since December 2017, the ISS crew consists of the following astronomers and cosmonauts:

• Anton Shkaplerov - commander of ISS-55. He visited the station twice - in 2011-2012 and in 2014-2015. During 2 flights he lived at the station for 364 days.
• Skeet Tingle - flight engineer, NASA astronaut. This astronaut has no space flight experience.
• Norishige Kanai - flight engineer, Japanese astronaut.
• Alexander Misurkin. Its first flight was made in 2013, lasting 166 days.
• Macr Vande Hai has no flying experience.
• Joseph Akaba. The first flight was made in 2009 as part of Discovery, and the second flight was carried out in 2012.

Earth from space

There are unique views of Earth from space. This is evidenced by photographs and videos of astronauts and cosmonauts. You can see the work of the station and space landscapes if you watch online broadcasts from the ISS station. However, some cameras are turned off due to maintenance work.

The International Space Station (ISS), the successor to the Soviet Mir station, is celebrating its 10th anniversary. The agreement on the creation of the ISS was signed on January 29, 1998 in Washington by representatives of Canada, the governments of member states of the European Space Agency (ESA), Japan, Russia and the United States.

Work on the international space station began in 1993.

On March 15, 1993, RKA General Director Yu.N. Koptev and general designer of NPO ENERGY Yu.P. Semenov approached NASA head D. Goldin with a proposal to create an International Space Station.

On September 2, 1993, Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation V.S. Chernomyrdin and US Vice President A. Gore signed a “Joint Statement on Cooperation in Space,” which also provided for the creation of a joint station. In its development, RSA and NASA developed and on November 1, 1993 signed a “Detailed Work Plan for the International Space Station.” This made it possible in June 1994 to sign a contract between NASA and RSA “On supplies and services for the Mir station and the International Space Station.”

Taking into account certain changes at joint meetings of the Russian and American sides in 1994, the ISS had the following structure and organization of work:

In addition to Russia and the USA, Canada, Japan and European Cooperation countries are participating in the creation of the station;

The station will consist of 2 integrated segments (Russian and American) and will be gradually assembled in orbit from separate modules.

Construction of the ISS in low-Earth orbit began on November 20, 1998 with the launch of the Zarya functional cargo block.
Already on December 7, 1998, the American connecting module Unity was docked to it, delivered into orbit by the Endeavor shuttle.

On December 10, the hatches to the new station were opened for the first time. The first to enter it were Russian cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev and American astronaut Robert Cabana.

On July 26, 2000, the Zvezda service module was introduced into the ISS, which at the station deployment stage became its base unit, the main place for the crew to live and work.

In November 2000, the crew of the first long-term expedition arrived at the ISS: William Shepherd (commander), Yuri Gidzenko (pilot) and Sergei Krikalev (flight engineer). Since then the station has been permanently inhabited.

During the deployment of the station, 15 main expeditions and 13 visiting expeditions visited the ISS. Currently, the crew of the 16th main expedition is at the station - the first American female commander of the ISS, Peggy Whitson, ISS flight engineers Russian Yuri Malenchenko and American Daniel Tani.

As part of a separate agreement with ESA, six flights of European astronauts were carried out to the ISS: Claudie Haignere (France) - in 2001, Roberto Vittori (Italy) - in 2002 and 2005, Frank de Vinna (Belgium) - in 2002, Pedro Duque (Spain) - in 2003, Andre Kuipers (Netherlands) - in 2004.

A new page in the commercial use of space was opened after the flights of the first space tourists to the Russian segment of the ISS - American Denis Tito (in 2001) and South African Mark Shuttleworth (in 2002). For the first time, non-professional cosmonauts visited the station.

The creation of the ISS is by far the largest project implemented jointly by Roscosmos, NASA, ESA, the Canadian Space Agency and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).

On behalf of the Russian side, RSC Energia and the Khrunichev Center are participating in the project. The Cosmonaut Training Center (CPC) named after Gagarin, TsNIIMASH, Institute of Medical and Biological Problems of the Russian Academy of Sciences (IMBP), JSC NPP Zvezda and other leading organizations of the rocket and space industry of the Russian Federation.

The material was prepared by the online editors of www.rian.ru based on information from open sources

> 10 facts you didn't know about the ISS

The most interesting facts about the ISS(International Space Station) with photo: life of astronauts, you can see the ISS from Earth, crew members, gravity, batteries.

The International Space Station (ISS) is one of the greatest technological achievements of all mankind in history. The space agencies of the USA, Europe, Russia, Canada and Japan have united in the name of science and education. It is a symbol of technological excellence and demonstrates how much we can achieve when we collaborate. Below are 10 facts you may have never heard about the ISS.

1. The ISS celebrated its 10th anniversary of continuous human operation on November 2, 2010. Since the first expedition (October 31, 2000) and docking (November 2), the station was visited by 196 people from eight countries.

2. The ISS can be seen from Earth without the use of technology and is the largest artificial satellite ever to orbit our planet.

3. Since the first Zarya module, launched at 1:40 a.m. Eastern Time on November 20, 1998, the ISS has completed 68,519 orbits around the Earth. Her odometer shows 1.7 billion miles (2.7 billion km).

4. As of November 2, 103 launches were made to the cosmodrome: 67 Russian vehicles, 34 shuttles, one European and one Japanese ship. 150 spacewalks were made to assemble the station and maintain its operation, which took more than 944 hours.

5. The ISS is controlled by a crew of 6 astronauts and cosmonauts. At the same time, the station program has ensured the continuous presence of man in space since the launch of the first expedition on October 31, 2000, which is approximately 10 years and 105 days. Thus, the program maintained the current record, beating the previous mark of 3,664 days set aboard Mir.

6. The ISS serves as a research laboratory equipped with microgravity conditions, in which the crew conducts experiments in the fields of biology, medicine, physics, chemistry and physiology, as well as astronomical and meteorological observations.

7. The station is equipped with huge solar panels that span the size of a US football field, including end zones, and weigh 827,794 pounds (275,481 kg). The complex has a habitable room (like a five-bedroom house) equipped with two bathrooms and a gym.

8. 3 million lines of software code on Earth support 1.8 million lines of flight code.

9. A 55-foot robotic arm can lift 220,000 feet of weight. For comparison, this is what the orbital shuttle weighs.

10. Acres of solar panels provide 75-90 kilowatts of power for the ISS.

Most space flights are carried out not in circular orbits, but in elliptical orbits, the altitude of which varies depending on the location above the Earth. The altitude of the so-called “low reference” orbit, from which most spacecraft “push off”, is approximately 200 kilometers above sea level. To be precise, the perigee of such an orbit is 193 kilometers, and the apogee is 220 kilometers. However, in the reference orbit there is a large amount of debris left behind by half a century of space exploration, so modern spacecraft, turning on their engines, move to a higher orbit. For example, the International Space Station ( ISS) in 2017 rotated at an altitude of about 417 kilometers, that is, twice as high as the reference orbit.

The orbital altitude of most spacecraft depends on the mass of the ship, its launch site, and the power of its engines. For astronauts it varies from 150 to 500 kilometers. For example, Yuri Gagarin flew in orbit at perigee 175 km and apogee at 320 km. The second Soviet cosmonaut German Titov flew in an orbit with a perigee of 183 km and an apogee of 244 km. American shuttles flew in orbit altitude from 400 to 500 kilometers. All modern spacecraft delivering people and cargo to the ISS have approximately the same height.

Unlike manned spacecraft, which need to return astronauts to Earth, artificial satellites fly in much higher orbits. The orbital altitude of a satellite orbiting in geostationary orbit can be calculated based on data about the mass and diameter of the Earth. As a result of simple physical calculations, we can find out that geostationary orbit altitude, that is, one in which the satellite “hangs” over one point on the earth’s surface, is equal to 35,786 kilometers. This is a very large distance from the Earth, so the signal exchange time with such a satellite can reach 0.5 seconds, which makes it unsuitable, for example, for servicing online games.

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