WEBVTT

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🎵 [music] 🎵

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KIDS: Our World!

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EVAN: Globey, what's that
spinning around your head?

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What a second.

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I think there's somebody's
inside there. There is!

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I know what that is. It's the
International Space Station!

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And it's orbiting our world as
we speak!

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Do you know why they call it
the ďInternationalĒ

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Space Station? It's because
several nations across our

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world have joined together for
this huge project.

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The countries and space
agencies include the

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United States (which has NASA),
Russia (which has the

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Russian Federal Space Agency),
Japan

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(with the Japan Aerospace
Exploration Agency),

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Canada (which has the Canadian
Space Agency)

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and 11 European nations which
make up the European Space

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Agency, that has headquarters
in France.

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All of these nations work
together to build and run

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the space station. American
astronauts serve on the ISS

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with astronauts from Germany,
Russia, Japan, and Canada.

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In fact astronauts from 16
different countries have

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served on the International
Space Station,

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making it truly international.

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Construction of the space
station began in 1998.

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Much of it is finished now, but
there's still work to be

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done. NASA is working hard to
complete the station before

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retiring the space shuttle. The
huge cargo bay on the

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shuttle is used to carry
materials and large pieces

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that are added to the ISS.

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The International Space Station
is the largest man-

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made satellite that orbits
Earth.

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It travels around Earth at a
speed of almost 28,000

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kilometers per hour. That's
around 17,500 miles per hour.

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It means the space station can
orbit around Earth

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about 16 times everyday.

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The space station is in a low
Earth orbit, which means it's

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not as high off the ground as
other satellites like the

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Hubble telescope. The ISS orbit
is only about 350

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kilometers off Earth's surface.
That's about 220

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miles. That seems like a very
long way off,

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but we can make a quick model
to show you just how close

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low Earth orbit really is.

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Let's use this basketball for
Earth in our model and this

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softball for the Moon. Since
the Moon is about 1/4th the

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size of Earth, these two
spheres are close to the

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right scale. Using that scale,
how far away do you

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think the Moon should be from
Earth? This far?

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Maybe this far. Well, it just
happens that the Moon

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and our Earth have another
unique relationship.

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The distance between the two is
10 times the circumference

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of Earth. Earth's circumference
is the distance

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around Earth at the equator.

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We know Earth has a
circumference of about 40,000

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km. The distance to the Moon is
10 times that,

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or about 400,000 km. We can use
a string to place the

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Moon in our model. If we wrap a
string around the

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basketball ten times and
stretch it out, we can see

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how far away the Moon should
be. Now where on this string

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do you think we'd find the
International Space Station?

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Half way? A fourth of the way?
Actually, it's much

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closer. Using this scale the
ISS would be less than 1 cm

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from the surface of Earth or
just about here.

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Because the space station
reflects the Sun's light and

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because it's in a low orbit, it
shines in the sky.

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In fact, if you were in the
right place and at the

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right time, you could see the
space station

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without having to use a
telescope.

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You can tack the ISS on NASA's
website.

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So you can go outside as it
passes overhead, look up and

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see it for yourself. It may
look like a bright fast

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moving star in the sky.

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The space station has giant
solar panels that absorb the

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Sun's light and convert that
light into electricity.

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This electricity is used to
power the space station.

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And because the space station's
position to the Sun

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is constantly changing since
it's orbiting Earth,

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its panels are able to rotate
and adjust to make sure they

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are always capturing the sun's
light.

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Astronauts aboard the ISS use
the solar power to make the

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electricity needed for living
and working in orbit.

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Scientists from all over the
world can use the space

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station to conduct long term
experiments.

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The US part of the space
station has been classified

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as a national laboratory which
will help scientists

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learn new things in science,
technology,

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engineering and mathematics.

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One of the most important
things they want to study is

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the effects of outer space on
the human body.

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Our bodies change because of
the reduced gravity in space.

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NASA conducting experiments to
help us understand more

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about these changes and how to
overcome them.

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And there is no better place to
explore these problems

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than the ISS. The station
offers a big advantage over

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NASA space shuttles because
astronauts can stay on the

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space station for much longer
periods of time.

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Research conducted in space has
taught doctors and

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scientist that astronauts need
to exercise to stop

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bone and muscle loss.
Scientists have learned much

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about sleep problems by
studying the sleep habits of

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astronauts as they experience
very fast day and night

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cycles because of the speed of
the ISS's movement.

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What the doctor's and
scientists learned in space

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can also be applied to the same
problems on Earth.

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Astronauts and scientists from
around the world are

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working together on the
International Space Station

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to solve problems and to prove
new ideas. By working

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together, they can accomplish
some pretty amazing things.

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Hey Globey, I wonder when the
ISS is going to

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pass over my head.

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? [music] ?

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KIDS: Our World!