What is the orbit altitude of the ISS? ISS Orbit around the Earth

The International Space Station was launched into outer space in 1998. At the current moment, for almost seven thousand days, day and night the best minds of mankind are working on solving the most complicated riddles in conditions of weightlessness.

Space

Everyone who has at least once seen this unique object, asked a logical question: what is the height of the orbit of the international space station? But you can not answer it in monosyllables. The height of the orbit of the International Space Station ISS depends on many factors. Let us consider them in more detail.

The orbit of the ISS around the Earth is reduced due to the effect of a rarefied atmosphere. The speed decreases, accordingly, the height also decreases. How again to rush up? The altitude of the ISS station's orbit can be changed with the help of ship engines that dock to it.

Different heights

For the entire period of the space mission, several basic values were recorded. Back in February 2011, the ISS's orbit altitude was 353 km. All calculations are made with respect to sea level. The height of the ISS's orbit in June of the same year increased to three hundred and seventy-five kilometers. But even this was not the limit. Just two weeks later, NASA employees were happy to answer journalists with a question "What is the current altitude of the ISS orbit?" - three hundred and eighty-five kilometers!

And this is not the limit

The height of the ISS's orbit was still insufficient to resist natural friction. The engineers took a responsible and very risky step. The height of the ISS's orbit was to be increased to four hundred kilometers. But this event happened a little later. The problem was that only the ships raised the ISS. The height of the orbit was limited for shuttles. Only in time the restriction was abolished for the crew and the ISS. The altitude of the orbit since 2014 exceeded 400 kilometers above sea level. The maximum average value was recorded in July and amounted to 417 km. In general, height adjustments are carried out constantly to fix the most optimal route.

History of creation

Back in 1984, the US government was hatching plans for the need to launch a large-scale scientific project in the near space. Alone to carry out such a grandiose construction, even for Americans it was rather difficult and Canada and Japan were connected to the development.

In 1992, Russia was included in the campaign. In the early nineties, a large-scale Mir-2 project was planned in Moscow. But economic problems did not come true to the grandiose plans. Gradually, the number of participating countries rose to fourteen.

Bureaucratic delays took more than three years. Only in 1995 the sketch of the station was adopted, and a year later the configuration was adopted.

November 20, 1998 was an outstanding day in the history of world astronautics - the first unit was successfully delivered to the orbit of our planet.

Assembly

ISS is brilliant in its simplicity and functionality. The station consists of independent blocks, which are interconnected as a large constructor. It is impossible to calculate the exact cost of the object. Each new unit is manufactured in a separate country and, of course, varies in price. A lot of such parts can be attached to a huge amount, so the station can be constantly updated.

Validity

Due to the fact that station blocks and their filling can be changed and upgraded an unlimited number of times, the ISS can long plow the expanses of near-earth orbit.

The first alarm bell rang in 2011, when due to its high cost, the "space shuttle" program was canceled.

But the terrible nothing happened. The cargoes were regularly delivered to space by other ships. In 2012, the ISS even successfully docked a private commercial shuttle. Subsequently, a similar event occurred repeatedly.

Threats to the station can only be political. Periodically, officials from different countries threaten to stop supporting the ISS. First, support plans were drawn up until 2015, then until 2020. To date, there is an approximate agreement to maintain the station until 2027.

In the meantime, politicians argue among themselves, the ISS in 2016 made a hundred-thousandth round around the planet, which was originally called the "Jubilee".

Electricity

Sitting in the dark, of course, interesting, but sometimes boring. At the ISS, every minute is worth its weight in gold, so the engineers were deeply perplexed by the need to provide the crew with an uninterrupted electrician.

A lot of different ideas were suggested, and in the end they agreed that there could be nothing better than solar cells in space.

During the implementation of the project, the Russian and American sides went in different ways. Thus, the generation of electricity in the first country is made for a system of 28 volts. The voltage in the American unit is 124 V.

Over the day, the ISS makes many turns around the Earth. One turn is about an hour and a half, forty-five minutes of which pass in the shade. Of course, at this time generation from solar panels is impossible. The station is powered by nickel-hydrogen batteries. The life of such a device is about seven years. The last time they were changed in the distant 2009, so very soon the engineers will be implemented a long-awaited replacement.

Device

As it was written before, the ISS is a huge constructor, parts of which are easily interconnected.

As of March 2017, the station has fourteen elements. Russia has put five blocks named "Dawn", "Search", "Star", "Dawn" and "Pierce". The Americans gave their names to the seven parts: Unity, Destiny, Tranquility, Quest, Leonardo, Domes and Harmony. The countries of the European Union and Japan still have in their assets one block: "Columbus" and "Kibo".

Parts constantly change depending on the tasks assigned to the crew. A few more blocks are on the way, which will greatly enhance the research capabilities of the crew members. The most interesting, of course, are the laboratory modules. Some of them have full tightness. Thus, in them it is possible to investigate absolutely everything, down to extraterrestrial living beings, without the risk of infection for the crew.

Other blocks are designed to generate the necessary media for normal human activity. Still others allow you to easily go out into space and do research, surveillance or repairs.

Some of the blocks do not carry research load and are used as storage facilities.

Conducted research

Numerous studies - actually, for what in the distant nineties politicians decided to send to space a designer, whose value for today is estimated at more than two hundred billion dollars. For this money you can buy a dozen countries and get a small sea as a gift.

So, the ISS has such unique capabilities that none of the Earth's laboratories have. The first is the existence of an infinite vacuum. The second is the actual absence of gravity. The third is the most dangerous cosmic radiation, not spoiled by refraction in the earth's atmosphere.

Do not feed the researchers with bread, but let them learn something! They are happy to fulfill the duties assigned to them, even despite the risk of death.

Most biologists are interested in biology. This area includes biotechnology and medical research.

Other scientists often forget about sleep, exploring the physical forces of extraterrestrial space. Materials, quantum physics - only part of the research. A favorite activity by the revelations of many is to test various fluids in zero-gravity conditions.

Experiments with vacuum, in general, can be carried out outside the blocks, right in the open space. Earth scientists can only envy, watching experiments on video communication.

Any person on Earth would give everything in one go into space. For the workers of the station this is practically a routine activity.

conclusions

Despite the dissatisfied exclamations of many skeptics about the futility of the project, the scientists of the ISS made many interesting discoveries that allowed us to look at the cosmos as a whole and our planet.

Every day these brave people receive a huge dose of radiation, and all for the sake of scientific research, which will give humanity unprecedented opportunities. One can only admire their efficiency, courage and purposefulness.

ISS is a fairly large object, which can be seen from the surface of the Earth. There is even a whole site where you can enter the coordinates of your city and the system will accurately tell you at what time it will be possible to try to see the station while sitting on a deck chair right on your balcony.

Of course, the space station has many opponents, but there are many more fans. And this means that the ISS will confidently stay in its orbit in four hundred kilometers above sea level and more than once will show avid skeptics how wrong they were in their forecasts and predictions.