Where is the International Space Station right now?
ISS Tracking [image courtesy of NASA]
The ISS circles the Earth every 97 minutes. With each new assembly flight the ISS gets bigger and brighter, and there are many times that you can see it easily with your eyes in the night sky. To find out where the the ISS is right now, or when your next chance might be to see it in the evenings, check out
NASA's online ISS tracking system.
ISS Overview
Current on-orbit configuration of the ISS following the mission of the STS-116, launched in December 2006.
[image courtesy of NASA]A Product of Five International Agencies
The International Space Station (ISS) is a research facility currently being assembled in orbit around the Earth. It is a joint project between five space agencies: the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA, United States), the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roskosmos, Russian Federation), the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA, Japan), the Canadian Space Agency (CSA, Canada) and the European Space Agency (ESA, Europe).
A Presence in Space
The ISS has been continuously inhabited since the first resident crew entered the station on November 2, 2000, thereby providing a permanent human presence in space. The station is serviced primarily by Russian Soyuz and Progress spacecraft and by U.S. Space Shuttle orbiters. At present the station has a capacity for a crew of three.
One Module at a Time
A total of 10 main pressurized modules (Zarya, Zvezda, Destiny, Unity Module -also called Node 1-, Node 2, Node 3, Columbus, Kibo, MLM and the RM) are currently scheduled to be part of the ISS by its completion date in 2010.
Space Station Assembly Sequence
Click on the graphic to view an animation of the ISS as it is built.
(Opens in a new window -- from USA Today.)
About the Window Observational Research Facility
Graph of Window Pane TransmittanceCrystal Clear Window
Windows and viewing ports aboard spacecraft have historically not had to support high quality scientific observations. The U.S. Laboratory Window onboard the ISS has been designed to be as optically transparent as possible across a wide spectral range, as shown at right.
A Home For ISSAC™
The
Window Observational Research Facility, or WORF, is a modified standard equipment rack that will fit over and around the U.S. Laboratory Window. From within it's enclosed, internal volume, scientific instruments such as ISSAC will be able to view the Earth from a solid, mechanical mounting location. As shown below, the WORF also provides standardized power and data interfaces, air or water cooling as needed, fire detection and suppression, and isolation from the crew compartment environment.
Following are excerpts taken from Wikipedia articles about the Space Station.