ISS MISSION - SCI & TECH

News: NASA to train an Indian astronaut for ISS mission

 

What's in the news?

       US space agency NASA will train an Indian astronaut for a mission to the International Space Station by the end of 2024, said the organisation’s administrator Bill Nelson during his Delhi visit.

 

Key takeaways:

       Terming India as a “great future partner”, Nelson said that the US would be open to collaborate on an Indian Space Station.

       The Prime Minister called on ISRO scientists to set up an Indian Space Station by 2035 and send an Indian to the moon by 2040.

 

International Space Station:

       The International Space Station (ISS) is a space station, or a habitable artificial satellite, in low Earth orbit.

 

Key takeaways:

       Its first component launched into orbit in 1998, and the ISS is now the largest human-made body in low Earth orbit.

       It circles the Earth in roughly 92 minutes and completes 15.5 orbits per day.

       The ISS was developed and built by five space agencies namely, NASA (USA), Roscosmos (Russia), European Space Agency (ESA-Europe), JAXA (Japan) and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA-Canada).

       The space station reached its full six-person crew size in 2009 as new modules, laboratories and facilities were brought online.

       Current plans call for the space station to be operated through at least 2020. NASA has requested an extension until 2024.