The space station orbits the Earth 16 times a day and travels at 28000 km/h – equivalent to ten times the speed of a bullet on earth.
These are often the first questions that come to mind when thinking of life in outer space. There are two space toilets on the ISS, which astronauts strap themselves into to use. Their urine is even filtered and turned into drinking water.
The International Space Station is the third brightest object in the night sky and is visible with the naked eye. To spot it, look out for for an airplane-like light that moves quickly across the sky. You’re most likely to catch a glimpse during dawn and dusk.
The changes can range from small, strange things, like calluses on your feet to the more harmful. Without gravity, your muscles and bones can deteriorate, so astronauts exercise every day to keep healthy and in good shape.
All residents of the ISS have laptops, and they can even connect to the internet to keep in contact with family and friends, and watch live TV.
The ISS is the biggest object ever made. And, despite the fact that it floats in space, it weighs a whopping 460 tons.
Scientists abroad the ISS look at the effect of microgravity on the human body, investigate the possibilities for future space travel, as well as a wide range of other kinds of important research, from studying dark matter, to growing crystals for use in medicine.
Astronauts return from the ISS having aged less than they would have on Earth. Because of "relative velocity time dilation", the high-speeds that astronauts aboard the ISS are traveling mean that time slows down for them relative to people on the surface of the Earth.
Things that are easy for us on Earth, like getting a haircut, become much more complicated in the delicate environment of the ISS. Astronauts cut their hair using clippers attached to a vacuum, which collects all the stray hairs to prevent them clogging the station's air filters and other equipment.