THis Sunday marks the 25th anniversary of one of the greatest architectural and technological feats in human history: the construction, commissioning, and use of the International Space Station, the largest spacecraft ever built by humans, which opened its doors on November 2, 2000, from NASA’s Bill Shepard and Russia’s Roscosmos to Russia’s Sergei Krikalev and Yuri Gizenko.
What was then a cold, damp, three-room station is now approximately 109 meters long (about the size of a soccer field) and weighs approximately 453 tons. “It’s like a four-star hotel,” says one former resident. 290 people from 26 countries visited the space station. Today, the space station is home to multiple laboratories, a telephone with internet for astronauts’ personal use, and even a glass dome with a privileged view of Earth. The ball pictured in this article was one of the few to survive the tragic Challenger shuttle disaster and returned to space 30 years later.
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Although the original plan was to spend half that time on the ISS, which orbits the Earth 16 times a day at an altitude of around 400km and a speed of 28,000km/h, sports were and are still essential for the more than 200 astronauts who have traveled, sometimes staying for months, on this amazing facility…Microgravity is a big challenge for the human body.
It’s not without reason. If you don’t exercise, your body loses bones, muscle mass, and everything else. In fact, you need at least two hours of exercise a day to avoid muscle and bone deterioration. When not used, weight-bearing bones can lose up to 1% of their mass for each month they are in orbit. This puts astronauts at risk of broken bones on their return to Earth.
Equipment used includes a treadmill for running in place and a stationary bike to strengthen muscles and stimulate blood flow. Astronauts may also wear special pants that pump blood to their legs and make their hearts beat stronger. Otherwise, your heart will become weak.
the incredible physical demands of the universe
Data from the European Space Agency (ESA) shows that astronauts can lose 10-20% of their muscle mass during a short 10-day mission, and if they don’t work every day, the loss can reach 50% during a six-month mission. After six months, the loss of calcium in bones will be comparable to osteoporosis in older people on Earth
And, of course, during the 25 years of space travel, there have been several World Cups and Olympics, involving astronauts of dozens of nationalities and featuring numerous entertaining videos at facilities in the United States, Russia, Japan, and Canada. There were also guests speeding up the shores of this cosmic dream.
Tennis matches advised by Juan Martin del Potro, American football matches, small soccer matches with small balls were also played, but of course there were also bicycle kicks like Captain Tsubasa, long matches of 10 minutes, very long dives and all kinds of impossible flexes here…
The ISS will cost more than $100 million in the U.S. alone and will remain in service for five more years before being retired in 2031, despite questions about its actual performance. “Scientific results are few,” says Britain’s Royal Astronomer Sir Martin Rees.
“We’ve learned a little bit about how the body reacts when you spend long periods of time in space, and we’ve developed some (protein) crystals in zero gravity, but that’s in no way proportionate to the tens of billions of dollars spent on the ISS,” he says.
Carlos Fontanotto, ISS imaging manager at NASA’s Johnson Space Center, countered: “There’s still hope that we can help develop drugs to cure cancer aboard the ISS. Can you put a price on that? Is there a price to pay for delivering clean water to remote parts of the planet? The cost of the ISS will probably be minimal compared to the benefits it will bring to humans.”
ISS gym
Current exercise equipment aboard the space station includes the ARED (Advanced Resistive Exercise Device), which simulates weight lifting. A treadmill called T2. CEVIS (Cycle Ergometer with Vibration Isolation and Stabilization System) for cardiovascular exercise. Preflight fitness levels are typically reached within 45 days of landing.
Experimental greenhouses also add color and flavor, producing chili peppers and zinnias. The espresso machine was also tested for a short period of time, as was the cookie oven. However, there are still no showers or laundry facilities, only sponge baths, and dirty clothes are thrown away without washing. Some of the most serious setbacks include a spacewalker’s near-drowning, the station spinning out of control upon docking, persistent cracks and air leaks, and the ever-growing threat of space debris.
For NASA, the International Space Station continues to be a critical science platform, providing humanity with the foundation it needs to survive and thrive as it expands into unexplored regions of space. A total of 259 extravehicular activities (EVAS) were conducted outside the spacecraft.
