What orbits the Earth at 17,500 miles per hour, is 360 feet wide, 260 feet long and has a crew of 3? It is the International Space Station, also known as the I.S.S. It is going to be finished in the year 2006. The countries that are putting it together are the United States, Russia, Japan, Canada, Brazil, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland. There will be 100 different pieces sent up to space to create the I.S.S.

What You Want to Know About The I.S.S.

When it is completed, the I.S.S. will be the size of two football fields. You will be able to see it from Earth without a telescope. The I.S.S. will be much bigger than previous space stations. Other space stations, like Mir, were cramped. You also had to eat dehydrated food (food without water). The I.S.S. will have a refrigerator with fresh foods.

The I.S.S. is like living on earth except one thing-you are weightless! When you are sleeping, you have to be strapped to the wall or else you will float out of your bed.

The first crew went up in orbit on October 31, 2000. The size of the crew was decided by how big the escape pod was. That was 3.

Did you know that every time we breathe or exercise we add moisture to the air? This extra moisture has to be removed from the air on the ISS so the moisture doesn’t collect on the ISS equipment. This moisture will be recycled.

The crew will recycle all of the water on board from the moisture in the air to the crew’s urine and wash water. I know that sounds really gross, but the water is going to be purified and going to be cleaner than the water we drink here on Earth. There are 3 steps to purifying the water:

1. A filter, like a coffee filter, that removes trash, like bits of food.
2. The water passes through chemicals that remove germs.
3. A "catalytic oxidation reactor" removes more impurities and kills bacteria and viruses.

The crew will be up in space for a long time, but when they come back, they won’t be able to walk right away. There is no gravity in space so you don’t use your legs that much, and when you go to use them it’s just like trying to run after you rollerblade.

The people that are training to get on the space station are going to train hard. They will have to train for 2 years. Some of that training will be in the Canadian forest in the middle of winter to prepare them for problems they might run into up in space.

What are Some Modules Up in Space?

In 1999,the first U.S. built station component, the Unity connecting module, was moved to the launch pad. It was loaded onto the Space Shuttle, Endeavour.

More than six major components are in the processing facility. At the end of the year 2000, more than 500,000 pounds of U.S. and international station equipment was completed. That’s the weight of 250 pick-up trucks.

Unity is a six-sided connecting module to which all-future U.S. station modules will attach. Unity will serve as a passageway to various parts of the station. Attached to Unity are two adapters. One to serve as a permanent connection to the Russian station and another that will serve as a shuttle docking port.

What is Going to Put Some Of the International Space Station Together?

Some of the I.S.S. is going to be put together from the outside. One of the dangers is that you could be hit by a micrometeoroid. Some micrometeoroids are the size of a grain of sand, but others can be the size of basketballs and go right through you. The countries that are building the I.S.S. have built robots to put together some of the I.S.S. so that no one gets hurt. Remember, the I.S.S. is made up of 100 different modules so it will take a long time to put it together.

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