The map below shows the current position of the International Space Station. The crosshair marks its current position. The blue sections of the ISS’ track indicate when the space station is in the earth’s shadow. The red sections mark when the ISS is sunlit.
The International Space Station (ISS) is one of humanity’s most extraordinary engineering achievements, orbiting Earth about every 90 minutes at a speed of roughly 17,500 miles per hour, fast enough to witness 16 sunrises and sunsets each day. It’s the largest structure ever built in space, spanning the size of a football field and weighing over 900,000 pounds. The ISS was assembled piece by piece in orbit beginning in 1998 and has been continuously inhabited by rotating crews since November 2000, making it a symbol of global cooperation between NASA, Roscosmos, ESA, JAXA, and CSA. Astronauts aboard the station conduct cutting-edge research in microgravity that helps advance medicine, materials science, and our understanding of life in space paving the way for future missions to the Moon and Mars. Interestingly, because of microgravity, astronauts can grow up to two inches taller during their stay, though they return to normal height once back on Earth. The International Space Station is planned to be retired around the year 2030.
Watch Earth Live and in 4K from Sen’s video cameras on the International Space Station, downlinked via NASA. This is the world’s first continuous 4K livestream from space, empowering you to see our planet like astronauts do.
See the following links for more information regarding the ISS:
https://www.nasa.gov/international-space-station/