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The microgravity environment of space makes the ISS a unique laboratory for the testing of spacecraft systems that will be required for future exploration missions beyond low Earth orbit.

The ISS travels in orbit around the Earth at an average speed of 27,743.8 km/h, completing 15.7 orbits per day.

The ISS is operated jointly among five participating space agencies: the United States’ National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the European Space Agency (ESA), the Russian Federal Space Agency (RKA), the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA).

An international crew, typically consisting of six members, resides on the ISS for approximately six months at a time.

The ISS requires a constant supply of oxygen to keep the astronauts safe and in top condition.

The primary sources of oxygen on the ISS are the Russian-built Elektron Oxygen Generator unit and NASA’s Oxygen Generator System (OGS).

Astronauts aboard the ISS do not feel the effects of gravity as we do on Earth.

As the ISS orbits the Earth, both the vehicle and crew members are in a constant state of free-fall causing astronauts to experience a feeling of weightlessness.

Astronauts are scheduled to exercise approximately two hours per day to maintain their health while on the ISS.

The Advanced Resistive Exercise Device (ARED) allows the crew to engage in resistive exercise onboard the ISS by simulating the use of free weights.

Before Musk, America’s space industry was moribund. In 2011, NASA mothballed the last space shuttle, after inking a deal with SpaceX to make uncrewed cargo resupply runs to the International Space Station (ISS). […] SpaceX launched its first crew to the ISS aboard a Dragon spacecraft in May 2020.