International Space Station
The International Space Station ( ISS ) is a habitable artificial satellite that orbits the Earth at an altitude of approximately 408 kilometers ( 253 miles ). It is a joint project of five space agencies: NASA (United States), Roscosmos (Russia), JAXA (Japan), ESA (Europe), and CSA (Canada). The ISS was first launched in 1998 and has been continuously inhabited by international crews since 2000. It serves as a unique laboratory for scientific research in a microgravity environment, and its facilities are used for a wide range of experiments in fields such as biology, physics, astronomy, and meteorology. The ISS is the largest human-made structure in space, with a total mass of approximately 420,000 kilograms (925,000 pounds) and a habitable volume of about 388 cubic meters (13,700 cubic feet). It consists of various modules and components that were launched and assembled in orbit over several missions. The ISS orbits the Earth at a speed of approximately 28,000 kilometers (17,...