| ISS crew Earth | observations

This visualization shows 4k video taken from the International Space Station (ISS) in April 2016.

The International Space Station is a large spacecraft in orbit around Earth that serves as a home where crews of astronauts and cosmonauts live. The space station is also a unique science laboratory. It orbits Earth at an average altitude of 220 miles and it travels at 17,500 mph, orbiting Earth every 90 minutes. The space station has the volume of a five-bedroom house or two Boeing 747 jetliners. It is able to support a crew of six people, plus visitors. On Earth, the space station would weigh almost a million pounds. Measured from the edges of its solar arrays, the station covers the area of a football field including the end zones.

The space station has made it possible for people to have an ongoing presence in space. Human beings have been living in space every day since the first crew arrived. The space station's laboratories allow crew members to do research that could not be done anywhere else. This scientific research benefits people on Earth. Space research is even used in everyday life. Scientists also study what happens to the body when people live in microgravity for a long time. NASA and its partners have learned how to keep a spacecraft working well. All of these lessons will be important for future space exploration.

NASA currently is working on a plan to explore other worlds. The space station is one of the first steps. NASA will use lessons learned on the space station to prepare for human missions that reach farther into space than ever before.