In our school days, we used to track any rare aeroplane that we spot on our skies with its booming sound. We shouted at the sighting of it to alert all other fellow students to view it. Now, it is needless to say about the reactions of sighting of a 'planet' that moves like an UFO! As I alerted about its visit this month, both adults and children reported back about its visit with awe. What is this moving 'planet'?
It is our present day International Space Station (ISS) that orbits around our Earth at a height of only 330 Kms (203 miles)! It is a man made satellite in which human beings live in and conduct experiments in various fields such as biology and technology; they also prepare equipments for the future Moon or Mars missions.
The space station was launched in the year 2000; it is a combined project of USA, Russia and European countries. It is used by astronauts from major countries of the world. It consists of a pressurised module and solar arrays. Life supporting systems are also present in it. It is powered by double-sided solar arrays. Foods are cooked in it and eaten with knife and fork that are attached to the food plate by magnets - to keep them from flying away! This space station revolves the Earth about 16 times each day! It can be seen with naked eyes as a bright white spot, just after sunset or before sunrise, moving slowly over the sky taking about 5 minutes.
It is a wonder in the Space - having researchers on it all the time doing experiments on the go! You can view this wonder on your skies with the guidance from NASA's --> Spot The Station service.
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