International Space Station

The International Space Station (ISS) is a habitable artificial satellite in low Earth orbit. It is a joint project among several nations, including the United States, Russia, Europe, Japan, and Canada. The ISS serves as a microgravity and space environment research laboratory where scientific research is conducted in astrobiology, astronomy, meteorology, physics, and other fields. The station is divided into pressurized modules, external trusses, and other components, and has been continuously occupied by rotating crews of astronauts and cosmonauts since November 2000. The ISS maintains an orbit with an average altitude of 400 kilometers (250 miles) and circles the Earth every 90 minutes. In Hebrew, the ISS is known as תחנת החלל הבינלאומית (Tah'nat HaHalal HaBeinLeUmit). Other translations include Estación Espacial Internacional in Spanish, Station Spatiale Internationale in French, and Международная космическая станция (Mezhduunarodnaya kosmicheskaya stantsiya) in Russian.