13 Out-Of-This-World Facts About The ISS

The International Space Station is a habitable artificial satellite that orbits Earth at an altitude of about 400 kilometers. It has been inhabited continuously since November 2000 and is currently the largest artificial body in space. The ISS consists of modules that were launched by different spacecraft and are now permanently connected to form a complex structure. The station serves as a platform for research in areas such as human health, physics, astronomy, and meteorology. It is also used to test technology for future missions to Mars and other destinations beyond low Earth orbit. Astronauts from many countries have lived and worked on the ISS, conducting experiments and carrying out maintenance tasks. The station has also been visited by a number of tourist astronauts, who have paid large sums of money for the experience. In addition to its scientific role, the ISS has also been used as a location for film and television productions, including the reality show "An astronaut's guide to life on Earth."

When people overwhelmingly voted to name a new ISS name after Stephen Colbert, NASA said no, but gave him a pretty cool consolation prize. Here’s the full story, plus 12 others:

13

An astronaut used his dirty laundry to grow plants on the ISS. You can't really wash dirty laundry, so you have to get creative with it and since there's no soil, using it to grow plants is a good idea. That's how Science Officer Don Pettit grew the tomato and basil seeds he'd taken to the ISS. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Source: NASA

12

A spider, Nefertiti, spent 100 days on the ISS (and was nicknamed Spidernaut). She made the trip so that the species' reaction to microgravity could be tested -- on Earth, they hunt prey by leaping towards it, and NASA wanted to see how that would work in space. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Source: NASA

11

South Korea spent millions of dollars to make kimchi you can eat on the ISS. (illustration) For years, three government institutes researched a version of kimchi that wouldn't be destroyed by space radiation or put off other astronauts due to its smell. They succeeded in time for the first South Korean's astronaut visit to the ISS. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Source: NYTimes

10

Knowing Russian is mandatory for astronauts on the ISS. UDDE TAM OH gorxeH HHO TOILLI noraun CHCTeMa rpor ripoekTHpo TY-154M HKAINH ABHTATCINI III, BCC TPH Heper Bblietom BpeMeHHO. Texhnuecki KINNN, neirc. NASA astronaut training includes learning Russian - you'd need it to understand any fellow crew members speaking Russian in case there's an emergency. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Source: Universe Today

9

The treadmill aboard the ISS was officially named after Stephen Colbert. sistance Operative Treadmill Combined NASA asked people to name a new ISS node, and Colbert got his viewers to vote for his name. NASA didn't want to do that, so they named a new ISS treadmill Combined Operational Load Bearing External Resistance Treadmill (C.O.L.B.E.R.T.) NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Source: NPR

8

Gravity on the ISS actually isn't too weak at all - it's 90% of 00 Earth's. But the ISS is in freefall -- astronauts (and objects) float around the station because they're all falling together towards Earth. The ISS never falls because it's also moving forward very fast, so it settles into a stable orbit (just like the Moon). NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Source: NASA

7

Space outside the ISS kind of smells like a backyard barbecue. Space is full of dying stars, which release polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and those lead to a burned smell. They stick to astronauts' suits, which is why astronauts say they feel a burned or fried smell once they get back from a spacewalk. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Source: PopSci

6

The ISS has amazingly fast internet. tee 0000 a It has 600 Mbps internet -- NASA upgraded the connection in 2019, since being able to upload and download a lot of data is pretty integral to the ISS' mission. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Source: ScienceAlert

5

Part of the ISS was built using Imperial units, and another part with metric. NASA built the U.S. part using Imperial units, while everything else used metric -- for a while, NASA thought about switching to metric too, but decided that would BE too expensive because none of their contractors use metric. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Source: Airspace Magazine

4

In 2020, NASA installed a $23 million toilet on the ISS. It's called the Universal Waste Management System, took six years to design, and NASA eventually wants to use it for deep space missions. Installing it on the ISS is the first step towards that. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Source: Smithsonian Magazine

3

When a hole formed in the ISS, an astronaut plugged it with a thumb. In 2018, the ISS started leaking air, so the astronauts looked for the source. They eventually found it -- a 0.08-inch hole -- and one of them put his thumb in as a stopgap measure. Eventually, they applied epoxy and tape as a medium-term fix. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Source: CNET

2

When The Force Awakens came out, Disney sent a copy to the ISS. They uploaded it through NASA's Johnson Space Center, and then did the same thing again a few years later for The Last Jedi. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Source: NASA

1

An intricate system lets astronauts on the ISS vote just like anyone else. ISS VOTING BOOTH A secure electronic ballot is generated at a local county office, then uploaded by the NASA's Johnson Space Center Mission Control Center to the ISS. The count office then emails each crew member the credentials that allow them to vote. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Source: NASA

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