The International Space Station has orbited the Earth for 20 years. Here is the description in a laboratory in the space.

The international space station.

NASA

The International Space Station (ISS) celebrated its 20th anniversary on Tuesday, marking the twentieth anniversary of the launch of the first component of the station in orbit on a Russian rocket.

Since November 2000, when NASA's astronaut Bill Shepherd and Russian cosmonauts Sergei Krikalev and Yuri Gidzenko became the first humans to stay on the long term in the ISS, more than 230 people visited the lab 150 billion dollars in space.

Today, the ISS is bulky enough to fill a six bedroom home. It is the largest spacecraft ever built and scientists have conducted more than 2,500 investigations there.

To celebrate the anniversary of the ISS, we have summarized what some astronauts have said about their time aboard.

The space station, which hovers about 400 km above the Earth, is about the size of a football field. It was considered both as a laboratory and a possible pit stop for missions on the Moon or Mars.

A spacecraft can reach the ISS as little as six hours after launching it from Earth and six spacecraft can be connected to the station at the same time.

Astronaut Peggy Whitson was the first woman to command the ISS. Whitson, who retired in June, holds the longest US record in space: 665 days. Whitson told Business Insider that she would not miss the food, which is on a 16-day rotation cycle. "The slogan" everything is about sauce "is really true, because everything starts to taste the same after a while," she said.

Read more: The incredible career of Peggy Whitson, of NASA, who asked to become an astronaut 10 times before she beat the US record of space travel

"Seeing Earth from above is a very special experience," Whitson said. "This gives you a new perspective on what's home."

ISS astronauts must exercise daily to avoid bone and muscle loss. Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield said that he had actually increased his strength when he was in space, but that he was still struggling to readjust to gravity at home. him. "For the moment, I'm still trying to keep myself straight," said Hadfield after returning to Earth in 2013. "I have to sit in the shower so I do not faint." and do not fall, and I do not have calluses on the foot of my feet for the moment, so I walk as if I were walking on hot coals. "

Source: Business Insider

Weightlessness is also behind many other problems specific to the ISS. For example, sweat does not evaporate and so astronauts constantly use towels to stay dry. Even small tasks like cutting nails can be a challenge – astronauts cut their nails near a vent to prevent tiny pieces from flying off.

Read more: All the crazy things that happen when you live aboard the most expensive spaceship ever designed by mankind

Scott Kelly, a retired NASA astronaut, told Business Insider that he had been struck by the fragility of the earth's atmosphere of space. "It's very skinny," Kelly said. "It almost looks like a thin contact lens on someone's eye, and you've realized that all the pollutants we release into the atmosphere are contained in this very thin film at the surface It's a bit scary to watch it. "

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Kelly said that her biggest fear within the ISS was that something bad could happen to a loved one in her absence. The nightmare came true in 2011, when Kelly's sister-in-law, Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, was shot dead in Tucson, Arizona. "Six people were killed in this shootout and I was halfway through a mission and I could not come back," Kelly said.

Source: Business Insider

French astronaut Thomas Pesquet took many pictures while he was aboard the ISS, showing everything from cosmic views to astronaut celebrations. On his one-year anniversary, Pesquet's colleagues surprised him with a saxophone. They sent the instrument to the ISS aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft (along with other goods).

Source: INSIDER

Until now, NASA has invested more than 100 billion dollars in the ISS. The Trump administration, however, said it planned to end US involvement in 2024 – about four years before the "use" date of the lab.

Read more: Congress and Trump have little time to repair a $ 100 billion investment in the sky, according to a NASA auditor

During his testimony before the Congress in May, NASA's Inspector General Paul Martin acknowledged that the funds needed to maintain the ISS limit NASA's ability to pursue others. projects and missions, given its current budget. But he also said that Trump's proposal to terminate early ISS funding would endanger future astronauts. "Important work on several human health risks and technology demonstrations will not be completed by 2024," he said.

Source: Business Insider

As the United States no longer has its own rockets to bring astronauts to and from the ISS, the agency is working with SpaceX and Boeing to develop a new spacecraft that can carry astronauts. SpaceX is already bringing goods to the space station and could launch humans on its Crew Dragon capsule as early as 2019.

Source: Business Insider