Visible for a few minutes from the capital's sky will be the International Space Station tonight.
As the President of the Cyprus Space Exploration Agency, George Danos, told CNA, the ISS will pass directly over Nicosia from 22.05 to 22.08.
It will be visible and very bright, Mr Danos said, like a moving bright star.
The station is in orbit around the Earth and at a distance of 346 kilometres. It is permanently inhabited by six astronauts in rotation.
It is visible from Earth with the naked eye, as its photovoltaic panels reflect sunlight. It has a size (109 meters x 51 x 20 ) and travels at a speed of more than 27,000 kilometers per hour, making almost 16 revolutions around the Earth. Of course, this speed is not perceived by the astronauts.
The station has received over 200 astronauts from many countries and was the destination of the first space tourists. It is considered the most expensive human construction, costing €120 billion.
It is a shining example of cooperation, being a joint project between the space agencies NASA (USA), Roscosmos (Russia), JAXA (Japan), CSA (Canada) and the European Space Agency (ESA).
The space station is a microgravity and biology research laboratory in a zero-gravity environment. Astronauts are there to perform experiments in various fields such as biology, physics, astronomy, biology, medicine, meteorology, etc.
All these experiments, as well as the control of space systems, are aimed at conquering space. It is a fact that the ISS is the most suitable place to test space systems and the equipment needed for future missions to the Moon, Mars and asteroids.
Source: CNA
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