How Far Is The Space Station

Whitson also flew on two space shuttle missions.

How far is the space station. People think that space is some far off place. The iss is maintained in a nearly circular orbit with a minimum mean altitude of 330 km 205 mi and a maximum of 410 km 255 mi in the centre of the thermosphere at an inclinationof 51 6 degrees to earth s equator. The international space station iss is the largest spacecraft ever made and is in constant orbit around earth. The international space station also orbits in this layer between 320 and 380 km 200 and 240 mi and needs to be constantly boosted because friction with the atmosphere still occurs.

Overall length of the station in feet 109 meters. Nasa s web site will check the telemetry from the space station and gather its exact latitude and longitude as it orbits about 200 miles over the earth traveling 17 500 miles an hour making one full orbit every hour and a half. The map of earth below the tracker shows where the space station is flying directly above. It s about the length of a u s.

The international space station travels hundreds of miles above the earth but traveling there takes as long as it does to fly from new york to la. To the naked eye the space station looks like a big white dot that moves quickly across the sky without changing direction unlike aircraft for example. Earth is not shown. The dark overlay indicates where it is nighttime in the world.

Football field including its backbone like truss segments. With a crew of astronauts and cosmonauts from all over the world the iss is large enough to be seen with the naked eye as it passes overhead. Clear answers for common questions. This is why no one has been back to the moon for decades we no longer have the means to get there.

Live space station tracking map. The international space station is about 220 miles 354 km from earth. Though the distance changes slightly the space station.