ISS Astronauts witness 16 sunrises & sunsets every day, reveals NASA; Here's how

The International Space Station (ISS) has been a wonder ever since it became operational around the year 2000. Adding to its marvel, NASA, in its recent live streaming, has now revealed that astronauts, who are a part of ISS experience a sunset and sunrise every 90 minutes. As crazy as it may sound, but the astronauts who witness such a phenomenon have proven it over the years by posting mesmerizing pictures of the same on social media. 

What makes this possible?

The massive ISS is a partnership of 15 countries and is made by conjoining several different parts over the last two decades. As per the data given by NASA, the ISS measures 109 metres long and 75 metres wide, similar to the length of an American football field. Besides, it weighs 420 tonnes and travels around the Earth at extreme speed. The ISS orbits the earth at a speed of over twenty-seven thousand kilometres per hour and thus completes a full revolution in just 90 minutes. Breaking down the data, the station makes 16 orbits of Earth and thus, travels through 16 sunrises and sunsets in just 24 hours.

The news about this exciting event made the headlines yet again after NASA's official Twitter handle made the revelation during an interactive session after astronauts Akihiko Hoshide and Thomas Pesquet completed their spacewalk, reported The Atlantic. Several astronauts including Scott Kelly and Victor Glover have kept their spirits high by posting images of sunrise and sunset from their space module. 

Hoshide and Pesquet's spacewalk

The astronauts underwent an almost seven-hour spacewalk for the outfitting of the orbiting laboratory with new sets of solar arrays. During the lengthy spacewalk, astronauts, Hoshide and Pesquet installed a modification kit for the ISS Solar Array Wings (SAWs) that produces the electrical power of the station. The installation followed after NASA had detected the decreasing power ability of the arrays installed on ISS due to ramped-up use of the orbital. NASA worked on the ISS Power Augmentation program to boost the station’s power output as it is unable to work on the construction and integration of the station.

(IMAGE: TWITTER/@STATIONCDRKELLY)