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The 20 most frequently asked questions about the international space station.

As we celebrate the 20th anniversary of humans living and working in space aboard the International Space Station, you may ask, why? Why would humankind live and work in space? President Ronald Reagan answered this question best:

“We can follow our dreams to distant stars, living and working in space for peaceful, economic, and scientific gain. … A space station will permit quantum leaps in our research in science, communications, in metals, and in lifesaving medicines which could be manufactured only in space. We want our friends to help us meet these challenges and share in their benefits.”

Keep reading below to see the answers to more of the most frequently asked questions about this achievement in science and international cooperation.

What is the International Space Station?

The International Space Station (ISS) is Earth’s only microgravity laboratory that has allowed more than 3,600 researchers in 106 countries to conduct more than 2,500 experiments – and the research continues. The space station is a symbol of international cooperation that has benefited life back on Earth economically, technologically, scientifically and educationally.

Can I see the ISS from Earth?

At dawn or dusk you’ll be able to see the space station with your bare eyes as the third brightest object in the sky. It will also be moving across the sky, similar to an airplane, but without flashing lights. Track where the ISS is right now using NASA’s Spot The Station tool .

What does the ISS look like?

The ISS is constructed of many connected modules called “nodes” connecting the station together. The solar arrays are connected to the station with a long truss, which controls the space station’s temperature. The ISS also has robotic arms mounted outside the station.

How far away is the ISS?

The space station orbits Earth at an average altitude of 227 nautical miles/420 kilometers above Earth.

How big is the ISS?

The ISS measures 357 feet or 108 meters from end-to-end, which is about the size of an American football field. The space station has a mass of nearly 1 million pounds. When it comes to living in space, the ISS is larger than a six-bedroom house.

How fast does the ISS travel?

The ISS travels at about 17,500 miles/28,000 kilometers per hour. At this speed, the ISS orbits the Earth every 90 minutes, which gives the crew 16 sunrises and sunsets every day. Since humans have been living and working on the space station, it has orbited Earth tens of thousands of times.

How old is the ISS? How long has it been operational?

Plans for the ISS first began 36 years ago when President Ronald Reagan directed NASA to develop a permanently internationally crewed space station. Over 20 years ago, in 1998, the first modules of the ISS were launched into space. Now in November 2020, the ISS will celebrate 20 years of humankind permanently occupying the space station.

How many countries are involved in the International Space Station?

The partnership of five space agencies representing 15 countries provide for and operate the ISS. These countries include the United States, Russia, Canada, Japan and the participating countries of the European Space Agency.

How was the ISS built?

Constructing the ISS was a joint mission over the course of 13 years by many countries including the United States, Russia, Japan and Europe. Different modules of the ISS were constructed on Earth by thousands of engineers and launched by Russia’s Proton rocket and the United States’ space shuttles.

Fun Fact: Space shuttle Atlantis on display at Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex delivered the U.S. laboratory module Destiny along with many other vital components.

Who is on the ISS?

As of mid-October 2020, six astronauts are aboard the ISS. Keep up to date with who is on the station at NASA ISS webpage . Four astronauts are preparing to launch soon on a SpaceX Crew Dragon, including NASA astronauts Michael Hopkins, Victor Glover, Shannon Walker and JAXA astronaut Soichi Noguchi. Learn more about this launch and other upcoming launches on the launch calendar .

How long do astronauts stay on the ISS?

The average mission length for an astronaut is six months or 182 days, but the amount of time varies based on their mission.

Who has been on the ISS the longest?

Astronaut Scott Kelly holds the record for the longest single spaceflight at 340 days. For the longest cumulative days in space, astronaut Peggy Whitson holds the record at a total of 665 days.

Fun Fact: Astronaut Scott Kelly is one of the 2020 Astronaut Hall of Fame inductees. Visit the Astronaut Hall of Fame to learn more about this prestigious honor.

How many people have been on the ISS?

A total of 240 astronauts from 19 different countries have been aboard the ISS.

How many people can be on the ISS at one time?

The ISS is designed to support a crew of six people at one time.

What do astronauts do on the ISS?

An astronaut's primary job while on the space station is to conduct scientific experiments and maintain the space station. When not working, astronauts do a lot of the same things we do on Earth. Astronauts also complete a two-hour daily exercise program to remain fit. They eat a variety of foods, although some of it has to be rehydrated. When astronauts are ready to sleep, they stay in special sleep bags secured to the ways of their crew quarters.

Fun Fact: The Space Shuttle Atlantis ® exhibit contains the ISS: Triumph of Technology section that contains real space-flown artifacts from the ISS.

How do astronauts use the restroom on the ISS?

How many spacewalks have been done on the ISS?

In order to maintain and upgrade the ISS, over 227 spacewalks have been completed.

How many experiments have been conducted?

More than 2,800 experiments have been conducted so far.

Fun Fact: Part of one such experiment was conducted here at the visitor complex’s Mars Base 1 botany lab, to learn how microgravity affected the growth of tomatoes.

What research is being done on the ISS?

Over the years, many activities and research projects have been completed. For example, advances have been made in saliva testing to detect active viruses which allows for faster, less-invasive testing. Additionally, over 500 microgravity protein crystal-growth investigations have been conducted. This research helps find better treatments for diseases such as cancer and muscular dystrophy.

How will the ISS help us get to the Moon again?

The ever-growing body of research that has been conducted on the ISS has given many insights into the needs of future lunar explorers. NASA’s next step for space exploration is to set up a permanent base for humans to live on the Moon – the long duration human spaceflight aboard the ISS has provided many answers on how that will happen. The ISS has led to advances in spacesuit design, experience on spacewalks and the creation of strong meteorite protection.

Still have more questions? Visit Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex to explore the story of NASA, from the first rocket launches to the Apollo program to the International Space Station. Learn about the pioneers of space exploration at Heroes & Legends who proved that humans could exist in space, before humankind ever considered living among the stars. Visit Space Shuttle Atlantis ® to see how the Space Shuttle Program brought new modules, supplies and astronauts to the International Space Station.

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Where is the International Space Station?

The International Space Station with ESA’s Columbus laboratory flies 400 km high at speeds that defy gravity – literally. At 28 800 km/h it only takes 92 minutes for the weightless laboratory to make a complete circuit of Earth. Astronauts working and living on the Station experience 16 sunrises and sunsets each day.

The tracker above, developed by ESA, shows where the Space Station is right now and its path 90 minutes ago and 90 minutes ahead. Due to the Station's orbit it appears to travel from west to east over our planet, and due to Earth's own rotation the Space Station's moves 2200 km to the west on each orbit. You can see the International Space Station with your own eyes from here by looking up at the right time.

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The International Space Station (ISS) is a multi-nation construction project that is the largest single structure humans ever put into space. 

Its main construction was completed between 1998 and 2011, although the station continually evolves to include new missions and experiments. It has been continuously occupied since Nov. 2, 2000.

The ISS is not owned by one single nation and is a "co-operative programme" between Europe, the United States, Russia, Canada and Japan, according to the European Space Agency (ESA). The International Space Station costs about $3 billion per year for NASA to operate, roughly a third of the human spaceflight budget, according to the agency's Office of the inspector general.

Related: International Space Station: Live updates

As of May 2022, 258 individuals from 20 countries have visited the International Space Station. The top participating countries include the United States (158 people) and Russia (54 people). Astronaut time and research time on the space station are allocated to space agencies according to how much money or resources (such as modules or robotics) they contribute. 

The ISS includes contributions from 15 nations. NASA (United States), Roscosmos (Russia) and the European Space Agency are the major partners of the space station and contribute most of the funding; the other partners are the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency and the Canadian Space Agency . Through a private company called Axiom Space , private astronauts are starting to work on the orbiting complex, from time to time; additionally, astronauts from other nations such as the United Arab Emirates do fly occasionally to the ISS. 

This NASA livestream shows high definition views from the ISS as it orbits Earth. The external camera is mounted on the station's Harmony module. 

According to NASA's video description "If the Harmony module camera is not available due to operational considerations for a longer period of time, a continuous loop of recorded Earth views will be displayed with the caption 'Previously Recorded.'"

Current plans call for the space station to be operated through at least 2024 , with the partners discussing a possible extension. NASA has approved an extension to 2030, although Russia says it will withdraw after 2024 to focus on building its own space station around 2028. How the station will be operated after Russia's departure has not yet been determined. After 2030, plans for the International Space Station are not clearly laid out either. It could be deorbited, or recycled for future commercial space stations in orbit.

Crews aboard the ISS are assisted by mission control centers in Houston and Moscow and a payload control center in Huntsville, Ala. Other international mission control centers support the space station from Japan, Canada and Europe. Elements of the ISS are controlled by mission control centers in Houston or Moscow. 

We asked Raphael Grau, deputy manager of NASA's International Space Station External Integration Office, a few frequently asked questions about the ISS. 

Raphael Grau is the deputy manager of NASA's International Space Station External Integration Office.

How big is the ISS?

The International Space Station is 356 feet (109 meters) end-to-end with a mass of 925,335 pounds (419,725 kilograms) without visiting vehicles. The solar panels alone cover one acre. There is 13,696 cubic feet of habitable volume for crew members, not including visiting vehicles. The space station has seven sleeping quarters, with the ability to add more during crew handover periods, two bathrooms, a gym, and the cupola — a 360-degree-view bay window of the Earth. You can learn more in the reference guide here . 

How high is the ISS?

The space station orbits Earth at an altitude of approximately 250 miles (402 kilometers), with its orbital path taking it over 90 percent of the Earth's population. Thanks to the size of its solar panels, it can be seen with the naked eye at dusk or dawn when flying over a local area. You can track the space station's path near you at spotthestation.nasa.gov . 

Who owns the ISS?

The International Space Station is exactly that — international. It is a partnership of five space agencies from 15 countries who contributed different parts to make up the ISS, which are still owned by the respective partner, and we all help to continuously operate the station 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. The space station is composed of parts provided by the United States, Russia, Japan, Canada, and the countries comprising the European Space Agency. 

How to see the International Space Station

The International Space Station orbits Earth, at an average altitude of 248 miles (400 kilometers). 

At night, the ISS is visible from Earth, appearing as a luminous moving point of light and rivaling the brilliant planet Venus in brightness. It can be seen without the use of a telescope by night sky observers who know when and where to look. For more information on how to see and track the ISS, check out our guide.

You can also take pictures of the International Space Station with the right equipment; our guide takes you through how to photograph the ISS . 

Related: This International Space Station VR experience lets you explore the ISS… and it’s as amazing as it sounds

How fast is the ISS moving?

The ISS circles Earth every 90 minutes at a speed of about 17,500 mph (28,000 km/h). In one day, the station travels about the distance it would take to go from Earth to the moon and back. 

There is typically an international crew of seven people that live and work inside the ISS. However, during the changeover of crew members, this number can vary; for example, in 2009, 13 crew members visited the ISS. This is also the record for the most people in space at one time. Occasionally, private missions such as those from Axiom Space bring non-professional astronauts on board the space station, too.

Typically, astronauts travel to the space station via SpaceX's Crew Dragon capsule or, in the case of Russian cosmonauts, a Russian Soyuz capsule . The Soyuz was the primary form of transportation for all astronauts and cosmonauts after NASA’s space shuttle program retired in 2011. Crew Dragon began flying people starting with the Demo-2 mission that launched on May 30,  2020. Boeing's Starliner is preparing for launching humans after its successful uncrewed Orbital Flight Test 2 (OFT-2) in 2022. 

Once at the station, astronauts will typically spend a mission period of around six months conducting various science experiments and maintaining and repairing the ISS. Outside of work, astronauts will spend at least two hours on exercise and personal care. They also occasionally perform spacewalks, conduct media/school events for outreach, and post updates to social media. The first astronaut to tweet from space was Mike Massimino, who did it from a space shuttle in May 2009.

Bedrooms in the ISS typically include small bunk beds. The astronauts tether themselves to a wall or allow themselves to freely float in the small space, depending on their preference. Crews temporarily visiting for just a few days may sleep in their spaceship or in a spare spot on the station, which is allowed as long as they tether themselves in space.

The ISS is a platform for long-term research for human health, which NASA bills as a key stepping stone to letting humans explore other solar system destinations such as the moon or Mars. 

Related: First 'Guardian' in space: NASA astronaut on ISS enters Space Force

Human bodies change in microgravity , including alterations to muscles, bones, the cardiovascular system and the eyes; many scientific investigations are trying to characterize how severe the changes are and whether they can be reversed. Astronauts also participate in testing out products — such as an espresso machine or 3D printers — or doing biological experiments, such as on rodents or plants , which the astronauts can grow and sometimes eat in space. As the only microgravity laboratory in existence, the ISS has facilitated more than 3,600 researchers to conduct more than 2,500 experiments to date.

Astronauts only have limited spare time in space, but they use it for activities like looking out the window, talking with friends and family, taking pictures or doing hobbies like playing instruments or sewing. One astronaut, Mark Kelly, once donned a gorilla suit on the ISS in 2016 as a practical joke on ground controllers.

Crews are not only responsible for science but also for maintaining the station. Sometimes, this requires that they venture on spacewalks to perform repairs. From time to time, these repairs can be urgent — such as when a part of the ammonia system fails, which has happened a couple of times . Spacewalk safety procedures were changed after a potentially deadly 2013 incident when astronaut Luca Parmitano's helmet filled with water while he was working outside the station.

NASA now responds quickly to "water incursion" incidents. It also has added pads to the spacesuits to soak up the liquid, and a tube to provide an alternate breathing location should the helmet fill with water. In May 2022, NASA suspended spacewalks again following another water incursion incident, which is still being investigated; Russian Orlan spacewalks are still continuing as that is an independently manufactured spacesuit.

NASA has produced several machines to reduce the need for spacewalks, including the humanoid Robonaut 2. The dexterous machine joined the ISS crew back in 2011, however, after discovering a fault in the machine, Robonaut 2 was sent home to Earth in 2018 , for repairs. Also, onboard the ISS are several external robotic arms that can tackle maintenance issues remotely, such as the Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator (SPDM) — also known as Dextre — and the Canadarm2 (a 57.7-foot-long robotic arm). A European Robotic Arm on the Russian segment will be the third large operational arm on the space station following the end of its installation and commissioning, which is ongoing in 2022.

How big is the International Space Station?

The space station, including its large solar arrays, spans the area of a U.S. football field, including the end zones, and has a mass of 925,335 lbs. (419,725 kilograms), not including visiting vehicles. The complex now has more livable room than a conventional 6-bedroom house and has 2 bathrooms, gym facilities and a 360-degree bay window. Astronauts have also compared the space station's living space to the cabin of a Boeing 747 jumbo jet.

Inside the International Space Station

The International Space Station was taken into space piece-by-piece and gradually built in orbit using spacewalking astronauts and robotics. Most missions used NASA's space shuttle to carry up the heavier pieces, although some individual modules were launched on single-use rockets. The ISS includes modules and connecting nodes that contain living quarters and laboratories , as well as exterior trusses that provide structural support, and solar panels that provide power. 

Related: International Space Station at 20: A Photo Tour

The first module, the Russia Zarya, launched on Nov. 20, 1998, on a Proton rocket. Two weeks later, space shuttle flight STS-88 launched the NASA Unity/Node 1 module. Astronauts performed spacewalks during STS-88 to connect the two parts of the station together; later, other pieces of the station were launched on rockets or in the space shuttle cargo bay. Some of the other major modules and components include:

• The truss, airlocks and solar panels (launched in stages throughout the ISS lifetime; docking adapters were launched in 2017 for new commercial spacecraft)
• Zvezda (Russia; launched in 2000)
• Destiny Laboratory Module (NASA; launched 2001)
• Canadarm2 robotic arm (CSA; launched 2001). It was originally used only for spacewalks and remote-controlled repairs. Today it also is regularly used to berth cargo spacecraft to the space station – spacecraft that can't use the other ports.
• Harmony/Node 2 (NASA; launched 2007)
• Columbus orbital facility (ESA; launched 2008)
• Dextre robotic hand (CSA; launched 2008)
• Japanese Experiment Module or Kibo (launched in stages between 2008-09)
• Cupola window and Tranquility/Node 3 (launched 2010)
• Leonardo Permanent Multipurpose Module (ESA; launched for permanent residency in 2011, although it was used before that to bring cargo to and from the station)
• Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (private module launched 2016)
• NanoRacks Bishop Airlock (launched 2020)
• Nauka , Multipurpose Laboratory Module (launched 2021)
• Prichal , a Russian docking module (launched 2021)

What else visits the ISS?

Besides the space shuttle and Soyuz, the space station has been visited by many other kinds of spacecraft. Uncrewed Progress (Russia) vehicles make regular visits to the station. Europe's Automated Transfer Vehicle and Japan's H-II Transfer Vehicle used to do visits to the ISS as well until their programs were retired. 

NASA began developing commercial cargo spacecraft for the space station under the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services program, which lasted from 2006 to 2013. Starting in 2012, the first commercial spacecraft, SpaceX's Dragon , made a visit to the space station. Visits continue today with Dragon and Northrop Grumman's Cygnus spacecraft under NASA's Commercial Resupply Services program. Boeing is developing its Starliner for future human visits, too. 

The ISS has had several notable milestones over the years, when it comes to crews:

• Most consecutive days in space by an American : 355 days, which happened in 2021-2022 with NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei.
• Longest single spaceflight by a woman : 328 days, during American astronaut Christina Koch’s 2019-20 mission aboard the space station.
• Most total time spent in space by a woman : Again, that's Peggy Whitson, who racked up most of her 665 days in space on the ISS.
• Most women in space at once : This happened in April 2010 when women from two spaceflight missions met at the ISS. This included Tracy Caldwell Dyson (who flew on a Soyuz spacecraft for a long-duration mission) and NASA astronauts Stephanie Wilson and Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger and Japan's Naoko Yamazaki, who arrived aboard the space shuttle Discovery on its brief STS-131 mission.
• Biggest space gathering : 13 people, during NASA's STS-127 shuttle mission aboard Endeavour in 2009. (It's been tied a few times during later missions.)
• Longest single spacewalk : 8 hours and 56 minutes during STS-102, for an ISS construction mission in 2001. NASA astronauts Jim Voss and Susan Helms participated.
• Longest Russian spacewalk : 8 hours and 13 minutes during Expedition 54, to repair an ISS antenna. Russian astronauts Alexander Misurkin and Anton Shkaplerov participated. 

Russia is a major partner in the International Space Station, but that relationship is changing. In February 2022, Russia undertook an internationally condemned invasion of Ukraine . As a result, numerous international space partnerships were dissolved. Russia, the United States and the other ISS partners do continue to operate the space station as normal, for now, NASA has emphasized. 

In July 2022, Russia announced it would withdraw from the ISS after 2024 . Its goals, Roscosmos said, are to build a new Russian Orbital Space Station around 2028 or so. The withdrawal will be gradual and the international partners are in discussions about the transition.

The ISS cannot be separated into independent Russia and United States sections as the complex is interdependent. NASA has said the U.S. supplies power, while the Russians control major propulsion maneuvers. It may be possible to independently raise the orbit of the ISS through U.S. spacecraft, which NASA and its partners are testing. 

The ISS does require such maneuvers to avoid falling into the Earth's atmosphere and dodging orbital space debris . Russia conducted an anti-satellite missile test in November 2021 that has seen debris come close to the ISS orbit and require the crews to shelter in place; at the time, NASA and the United States expressed displeasure with the situation.

You can discover more about the ISS with this Haynes manual and through the eyes of the astronaut who lived there a year: Scott Kelly. Endurance: A Year in Space, a Lifetime of Discovery .

If you want to feel like you are living on the ISS yourself, look out the window of the ISS with this amazing visual guide: Interior Space: A Visual Exploration of the International Space Station: Photographs by Paolo Nespoli & Roland Mille . 

European Space Agency. About the International Space Station. https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Human_and_Robotic_Exploration/International_Space_Station/About_the_International_Space_Station

Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex Blog. (2020, Oct. 23). The 20 Most Frequently Asked Questions About the International Space Station. https://www.kennedyspacecenter.com/blog/the-20-most-frequently-asked-questions-about-the-international-space-station

Garcia, Mark. (2021, Dec. 14.) International Space Station: Space Station Assembly. https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/elements/space-station-assembly 

Garcia, Mark. (2022, March 30). NASA Station Astronaut Record Holders. NASA. https://www.nasa.gov/feature/nasa-station-astronaut-record-holders

Garcia, Mark. (2022, Aug. 9.) International Space Station. NASA. https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html

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Elizabeth Howell (she/her), Ph.D., is a staff writer in the spaceflight channel since 2022 covering diversity, education and gaming as well. She was contributing writer for Space.com for 10 years before joining full-time. Elizabeth's reporting includes multiple exclusives with the White House and Office of the Vice-President of the United States, an exclusive conversation with aspiring space tourist (and NSYNC bassist) Lance Bass, speaking several times with the International Space Station, witnessing five human spaceflight launches on two continents, flying parabolic, working inside a spacesuit, and participating in a simulated Mars mission. Her latest book, " Why Am I Taller ?", is co-written with astronaut Dave Williams. Elizabeth holds a Ph.D. and M.Sc. in Space Studies from the University of North Dakota, a Bachelor of Journalism from Canada's Carleton University and a Bachelor of History from Canada's Athabasca University. Elizabeth is also a post-secondary instructor in communications and science at several institutions since 2015; her experience includes developing and teaching an astronomy course at Canada's Algonquin College (with Indigenous content as well) to more than 1,000 students since 2020. Elizabeth first got interested in space after watching the movie Apollo 13 in 1996, and still wants to be an astronaut someday. Mastodon: https://qoto.org/@howellspace

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How long does it take to get to the ISS from Earth?

Last Updated: February 25, 2022

For years, we have looked up to the stars and dreamed of exploring the cosmos around us. Once considered a fantasy, the International Space Station has been a reality for more than 20 years now, thanks to the collaboration of NASA (United States), Roscosmos (Russia), JAXA (Japan), ESA (Europe) and the CSA (Canada). 

In this article, we will take a look at how long it takes to travel to the Internal Space Station from Earth, as well as all of the intricacies involved in such a difficult journey.

How far away is the space station?

The International Space Station (ISS) is the largest man-made structure ever to orbit the Earth, and it can be seen at night as a slow-moving little point of light. Although we can see it with the naked eye, we should not overlook the fact that it is located very far away in the sky. The ISS orbits Earth at an altitude of about 253 miles (408 km). 

Although the ISS is gradually losing altitude because of drag from the atmosphere, its orbital height is corrected with burns every 2 months. As we will see later in this article, the height and speed of the ISS play an important role in the time needed to reach the space station from Earth.

How long does it take to travel to the space station?

From launch to docking, a spacecraft typically takes between 6 hours and 3 days to travel from Earth to the International Space Station. The quickest travel time so far has been an amazing record-breaking 3 hours and 3-minute flight by the Russian spacecraft Soyuz MS-17 carrying Russian cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov, Sergey Kud-Sverchkov and NASA astronaut Kate Rubins. 

Orbiting Earth every 90 minutes at a velocity of 17,500 miles (28,000 kilometres) per hour, you can imagine that reaching the ISS could seem like a momentous task just within itself and the timing for arrival is essential. Travel to the spectacular modular space station varies, all depending on the various capabilities and technologies. However, through the brilliant minds of today’s top scientists and engineers, the journey today is much smoother than it once was. 

The journey to the space station is a carefully choreographed sequence of rocket burns or engine firings, that must be precisely timed to achieve the correct orbit. To help you make sense of the time and effort it takes to reach the ISS from Earth, we’ve created the below timeline explaining a rocket’s journey to the ISS.

The liftoff phase of a rocket is the point in its launch when it leaves the ground and begins to ascend into space. The engines fire up, providing thrust that pushes the rocket upwards. 

2. Orbit activation

The orbit activation phase of a rocket is the process of transitioning from a suborbital trajectory to an orbital trajectory. The orbit activation phase typically lasts for around two minutes. However, the exact duration will vary depending on the specific rocket and its payload.

3. Phasing burns

This phase is used to fine-tune the rocket’s trajectory and ensure it reaches its destination safely. During phasing burns, the engines are fired in short bursts to make small adjustments to the rocket’s course.

4. Approach initiation

The approach initiation phase of a shuttle going to the ISS is an important step to ensure safe arrival. This phase begins once the shuttle has reached its orbit and is about to start its journey to the space station. The rendezvous timeline is based on the space station’s orbit, so it’s important to make sure that both orbits are accurately calculated.

5. Proximity operation

The proximity operations phase of a shuttle going to the ISS is the most dangerous part of the mission. The proximity operations are very risky because there is a danger of collision between the shuttle and the ISS. To avoid this, the shuttle spacecraft must be carefully manoeuvred into position by the pilot.

6. Docking & pressurization

Docking is the process of connecting two spacecraft together. The shuttle connects to the ISS by using a docking port, which is like a giant plug that fits into a socket on the ISS. Once the two spacecraft are connected, the pressurization process begins. Pressurization is the process of increasing the air pressure inside a spacecraft. This allows the astronauts to safely enter the ISS.

How long does it take SpaceX to get to the space station?

The Soyuz spacecraft was once the only way for astronauts to reach the ISS from Earth. That has changed thanks to SpaceX, Elon Musk’s aerospace company. SpaceX used to fly uncrewed spacecraft to deliver cargo (supplies, food, pieces of equipment, etc) to the ISS since 2012. However, since 2020, SpaceX has been transporting people to the ISS using their flagship “Crew Dragon” spacecraft.

So far, SpaceX has successfully completed three operational missions as part of the Commercial Crew Program. Those three missions consisted of sending 4 people to the International Space Station. 

• SpaceX Crew-1 reached the ISS in 28 hours
• SpaceX Crew-2 docked to the ISS after a 24 hours journey.
• SpaceX Crew-3 arrived at the ISS after just 21 hours.

SpaceX has managed to reduce the duration of their spaceflights with each of the last 3 missions and it would not be surprising to see them achieve even shorter journeys to the space station. Time will tell!

Step by step flight plan of the dragon crew spacecraft to the international space station. Image credit: SpaceX

Written by Tom Urbain

Space exploration has been a fascinating subject for me since a very young age. As a child, astronauts were my heroes, so it was inevitable that a part of my website would be dedicated to astronauts and their space missions.

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How long does it take to get to the iss.

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In this clip, astronaut Tracy Caldwell Dyson gives us a view of the Unity node of the International Space Station. She explains the travel time from launching to space and then on to the space station.

While aboard the International Space Station in 2010, astronaut Tracy Caldwell Dyson used American Sign Language, or ASL, to answer a variety of video inquiries submitted by students from the Texas School for the Deaf, or TSD. She recorded almost an hour of video footage showing an inside view of the station in response to the students’ questions about life in space. NASA sent the video footage to TSD, and students in Bobbie Guerra’s video technology class (Zealous Studio) used this footage to create a series of video clips. Caldwell Dyson suggested this project as a way to inspire deaf and hard-of-hearing students to learn more about space science and to encourage them to pursue space-related careers.

Related article: Astronaut Caldwell Dyson Sends Sign Language Message From Space Station Other video learning clips in this series: Texas School for the Deaf Students Introduce Themselves What Do You Do About Space Junk? You Did a Spacewalk for Over 8 Hours. How Did You Do That? How Do You Stay in Contact With Your Family? How Do You Work Together as a Team? How Does It Feel to See Sunrise and Sunset Every 90 Minutes? Expedition 24 Crew Sends a Message to the Texas School for the Deaf How Deaf and Hearing Impaired People Helped the Space Program

Time Dilation

What Is Time Dilation?

An accurate clock for one observer may be measured as ticking at a different rate when compared to a second observer’s own equally accurate clock. This effect is not a result of the clocks’ technical properties but of the nature of spacetime itself. [i] Clocks on the International Space Station (ISS), for example, run marginally more slowly than reference clocks back on Earth. This explains why astronauts on the ISS age more slowly, being 0.007 seconds behind for every six months. This is known as time dilation, and it has been frequently confirmed and validated by slight differences between atomic clocks in space and those on Earth, even though all were functioning flawlessly. The laws of nature are such that time itself will bend because of differences in either gravity or velocity, each of which affects time in distinctive ways. This phenomenon will have significant implications for interstellar or intergalactic travel.

What Causes Time Dilation?

Time dilation is triggered by disparities in both gravity and relative velocity. Together these two factors are at constant play in the case of a spacecraft’s crew. When two observers are in relatively uniform motion and not influenced by any gravitational mass, the point of view of each observer will be that the other’s clock is ticking at a slower rate than his or her own. Furthermore, the faster the relative velocity, the larger will be the magnitude of time dilation. This case is occasionally termed special relativistic time dilation.

The Spacecraft Scenario

Two spacecraft moving past each other in space would experience time dilation. If the crew inside each one could somehow have an unobstructed view into the other’s spacecraft, it would see the other craft’s clocks as ticking more slowly than its own. In other words, from Spacecraft A’s frame of reference its clocks are ticking normally, while Spacecraft B’s clocks appear to be ticking more slowly (and vice versa). From a local standpoint, time registered by clocks that are at rest with respect to the local frame of reference always seems to pass at the same rate. For example, if a new spacecraft, Spacecraft C, travels next to Spacecraft A, it is “at rest” relative to Spacecraft A. From Spacecraft A’s point of view, Spacecraft C’s time would also appear normal. Here arises a thought-provoking question. If both Spacecraft A and Spacecraft B think that each other’s clocks are ticking more slowly than the other’s, who’s time is correct, and who would have aged more?

Time Dilation and Interstellar Space Flight

Time dilation would make it conceivable for the crew of a fast-moving interstellar spacecraft to travel further into the future while aging much more slowly, because enormous speed significantly slows down the rate of on-board time’s passage. [ii] That is, the spacecraft’s clock would display less elapsed time than the clocks back on Earth. For extremely high speeds during a journey, the effect would be more dramatic. For example, one year of interstellar travel might correspond to ten years back on Earth. Therefore, constant acceleration at one G would theoretically allow a human crew to travel through the entire known universe in one lifetime. Unfortunately, the crew could return to Earth billions of years in the future. Interstellar travel at high speeds thus would have huge implications from both an anthropological and sociological perspective. The crew volunteering for a mission of this magnitude and speed would have to accept the fact that their loved ones, and perhaps even their home planet or star system, would have died long ago. [iii] Because of this effect, humans might wish to travel to nearby stars without spending their entire lives aboard an interstellar spacecraft.

The Twins Paradox

In this paradox one twin makes an interstellar trip in a fast-moving spacecraft but upon return to Earth finds that the other twin who remained there passed away hundreds or thousands of years ago. [iv] This result appears bewildering because each twin sees the other twin as traveling; therefore, each should find the other to have aged more slowly. The paradox can be resolved, however, within the framework of special relativity. The siblings are not equivalent because the twin on the interstellar trip experienced additional acceleration when switching direction to return back to Earth.

Consider by way of illustration an interstellar spacecraft traveling from Earth to Proxima Centauri, the nearest star system outside our solar system and four light years away. At a speed of 80% of the speed of light, the twins will observe the situation as described in the following paragraphs. To make the math less complicated, the spacecraft is assumed to have reached its full speed instantly upon departure from Earth.

The twin on the interstellar spacecraft would see low-frequency (red-shifted) images for three years. During that portion of the trip he would see his counterpart on Earth in the images grow older by 3/3 = 1 year. On the return trip to Earth, he then sees high-frequency (blue-shifted) images for another three years. During that time he would see his twin on Earth in the images grow older by 3 × 3 = 9 years. When the interstellar trip is completed, the image of the twin on Earth will seem to have aged by 1 + 9 = 10 years.

On the other hand, for nine years the twin back on Earth sees slow (red-shifted) images of the spacecraft twin, during which time the spacecraft twin ages in the images by 9/3 = 3 years. The twin on Earth then sees fast (blue-shifted) images for the remaining one year until the spacecraft returns. In the fast images the spacecraft twin ages by 1 × 3 = 3 years. The total aging of the spacecraft twin in the images received by Earth is 3 + 3 = 6 years, so the spacecraft twin returns a bit younger.

To avoid misunderstanding, note the difference between what each twin actually sees versus what he actually calculates. Each sees an image of his twin that he knows originated at an earlier time and that he knows is Doppler-shifted. He does not take the elapsed time in the image as the age of his twin now. If he wants to estimate when his twin was the age shown in the image, he has to determine how far away his twin was when the signal was emitted. In other words, he has to consider simultaneity for a distant event. If he wants to calculate how fast his twin was aging when the image was transmitted, he tweaks for the Doppler shift. [v]

Time Dilation and Communications with Earth

In theory, time dilation will also affect scheduled meetings between the crew on an interstellar mission and the mission managers back on Earth. For example, the crew would have to set their clocks to count the precise number of years time has passed for them, whereas mission control back on Earth would need to count several years more to allow for time dilation. At the velocities currently possible, however, time dilation is too trivial to be a factor in communications between the ISS and Earth.

Implications for Interstellar Travel

Time dilation will have huge implications for both the crew of a spacecraft and mission managers back on Earth. We must consider, for example, the age of the mission managers for the crew returning to Earth (or for alleged extraterrestrials returning to their home planets) and whether or not an interstellar mission would be sociologically accepted. Consider, for example, a spacecraft traveling at 99% of the speed of light to the center of the Milky Way. If everything goes right, the crew would have aged about 21 years. However, back on Earth over 50,000 years would have passed (as observed from Earth). [vi] Obviously all those involved in the initial planning of the mission, as well as generations thereafter, would have died long ago.

[i] Ashby, Neil (2003). “Relativity in the Global Positioning System.” Living Reviews in Relativity. http://relativity.livingreviews.org/Articles/lrr-2003-1/download/lrr-2003-1Color.pdf.

[ii] Toothman, Jessika (2012). “How Do Humans Age in Space?” HowStuffWorks. Retrieved 2012-04-24.

[iii] Calder, Nigel (2006). Magic Universe: A Grand Tour of Modern Science . Oxford University Press.

[iv] Miller, Arthur I. (1981). “Albert Einstein’s Special Theory of Relativity: Emergence (1905) and Early Interpretation (1905–1911).” SOURCE?

[v] Wheeler, J.; and Taylor, E. (1992). Spacetime Physics . 2nd ed. New York: W. H. Freeman.

[vi] Interstellar Travel Calculator. http://spacetravel.nathangeffen.webfactional.com/spacetravel.php.

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Why does NASA want a time zone on the moon?

NASA has been tasked with determining a standard time zone for the moon, but it’s more complicated than you might think.

The United States government has tasked its space agency, NASA, with establishing a standard time zone for the moon, which will be known as Coordinated Lunar Time (CLT).

In a memo issued on April 2, the US Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) stated: “Federal agencies will develop celestial time standardisation with an initial focus on the lunar surface and missions operating in Cislunar space [the area within the moon’s orbit], with sufficient traceability to support missions to other celestial bodies.” “Traceability” means that CLT can be kept in sync with time zones on Earth.

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The memo outlined the following features for the new CLT:

• Traceability to Coordinated Universal Time (UTC – a compromise for both English and French speakers);
• Accuracy sufficient to support precision navigation and science;
• Resilience to loss of contact with Earth (meaning CLT can operate independently of Earth); and
• Scalability to space environments beyond the Earth-moon system (meaning other space stations beyond the moon would be able to use CLT as well).

Don’t expect your favourite time zone and calendar apps to have CLT as an option yet; NASA has until the end of 2026 to establish CLT.

Why does the moon need its own time zone?

In layman’s terms, we need a reliable “lunar time” earth-syncing system because lower gravity on the moon causes time to move slightly faster there than on Earth – by just 58.7 microseconds (there are 1 million microseconds in a single second) faster within every 24 Earth hours.

This is not science fiction, even though it is a main feature of Hollywood blockbusters such as Interstellar. Known as “gravitational time dilation”, the passage of time is impacted by gravity.

Although small, these time discrepancies can cause issues with syncing satellites and space stations in lunar orbit.

An unnamed OSTP official told Reuters: “Imagine if the world wasn’t syncing their clocks to the same time – how disruptive that might be and how challenging everyday things become.”

How would we tell time on the moon?

Earth uses UTC or Coordinated Universal Time to sync time zones around the world. UTC is determined by more than 400 atomic clocks that are maintained in national “time laboratories” in about 30 countries around the world. An atomic clock uses the vibrations of atoms to achieve extreme precision in keeping track of time.

Similar atomic clocks would be placed on the moon to get an accurate time reading.

Known as Positioning, Navigation and Timing (PNT), this precision-timing system allows communications systems to measure and keep accurate timing. The Ordnance Survey, the British organisation that has been producing maps since 1791, explains that PNT has three core elements:

• Positioning – the ability to precisely determine one’s location and orientation, predominantly two dimensionally on a printed map, although three-dimensional orientation can be determined when required.
• Navigation – the ability to determine both the current and desired position (either relative or absolute), and apply corrections to course, orientation and speed to reach a desired position from anywhere in the world, from sub-surface (below the Earth’s surface) to surface, and from surface to space.
• Timing – the ability to maintain accurate and precise time from anywhere in the world.

Does NASA have plans for time zones in other parts of outer space?

Although there has been no mention of time zones on other planets, in 2019, NASA’s Deep Space Atomic Clock (DSAC) mission tested an atomic clock to improve spacecraft navigation in deep space. The DSAC mission, on SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket, was launched on June 22, 2019. The rocket tested the atomic clock in Earth’s orbit for one year.

Typically, spacecraft keep accurate time by bouncing signals to atomic clocks on Earth and then the signal is sent back to the spacecraft. In this mission, the on-board atomic clock was tested to keep precise time without relying on this two-way communication between the spacecraft and the atomic clocks on Earth. The accuracy of the timing is tied to getting accurate positioning, while helping the spacecraft reach the intended location in space successfully.

As NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the centre for robotic exploration of the solar system, explains: “A two-way system that sends a signal from Earth to a spacecraft, back to Earth and then to the spacecraft again would take an average of 40 minutes. Imagine if the GPS on your phone took 40 minutes to calculate your position. You might miss your turn or be several exits down the highway before it caught up with you. If humans travel to the Red Planet [Mars], it would be better if the system was one-way, allowing the explorers to immediately determine their current position rather than waiting for that information to come back from Earth.”

The mission successfully ended in 2021, with the on-board atomic clock maintaining the correct timing and navigational positioning.

Time in Moscow , Russia now

• Tokyo 01:17AM
• Beijing 12:17AM
• Kyiv 07:17PM
• Paris 06:17PM
• London 05:17PM
• New York 12:17PM
• Los Angeles 09:17AM

Time zone info for Moscow

• The time in Moscow is 8 hours ahead of the time in New York when New York is on standard time, and 7 hours ahead of the time in New York when New York is on daylight saving time.
• Moscow does not change between summer time and winter time.
• The IANA time zone identifier for Moscow is Europe/Moscow.

Time difference from Moscow

Sunrise, sunset, day length and solar time for moscow.

• Sunrise: 05:04AM
• Sunset: 07:52PM
• Day length: 14h 48m
• Solar noon: 12:28PM
• The current local time in Moscow is 28 minutes ahead of apparent solar time.

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• Moscow is the capital of Russia .
• Latitude: 55.75. Longitude: 37.62
• Population: 10,381,000

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• Pacific NW Magazine

At Seattle’s Smith Tower, 110-year-old elevators travel through time and space

THE SMITH TOWER opened on July 4, 1914, during the wild summer that kicked off the first World War, between the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand in June and the declaration of hostilities in August. At 38 stories and 462 feet tall, it was, at the time, the tallest building west of the Mississippi.

The skyscraper was built adjacent to Pioneer Square, a major fixture in a growing city rebuilding its downtown from the ashes of the 1889 Great Seattle Fire.

Smith Tower sits on the corner of Second Avenue and Yesler Way, a corner variously known as Wirth Corner or Bailey Corner before the tower’s construction. Today, tourists and downtown workers mill about the area, which contains many of Seattle’s most notable buildings and, it must be noted, also is sometimes quite unsafe.

The building itself consists of two parts: a low-rise portion that goes up to floor 21, and the high-rise extension (the “tower” part of the construction) topped with a distinctive, arrow-shaped triangular roof. While the building’s plaque lists Smith Tower at 42 stories, that is a bit of an overstatement — the builders claimed it was  technically  42 of what, by measure, could be considered a story, but the building has always had a maximum of 38 actual  floors — even fewer at the time of its construction. 

Today,   the very top of the tower holds a private penthouse, and the 35th floor of the high rise — reached by one of seven still-working, 110-year-old elevators — houses a beautifully vintage 1920s chinoiserie-style bar and observation deck, a space that still commands striking views of downtown Seattle, shipping cranes and Elliott Bay.

Smith Tower by the numbers

7: Number of elevators

Smith Tower is a work of art, its ornate construction and interior fixtures a combination of neoclassical and Art Nouveau sensibilities, and its elevators are similarly gorgeous: century-old bronze-toned wrought-iron birdcages lining the hallway enrobed in pearly, fondantlike Mexican onyx, topped by a row of carved Native American chieftain heads watching over the proceedings like sentinels.

The enigmatic initials LCS grace every set of ornate elevator doors, a nod to the original builder, the eponymous Lyman Cornelius Smith (of Smith-Corona typewriter fame), whose fortune was built on firearms and typewriters, the modern version of the pen vs. the sword. But the ostentatious initials are far from a statement of vanity; they’re actually a statement of love: Smith died in 1910, and his son Burns Lyman Smith had more than 50,000 instances of his father’s initials placed throughout the building in tribute.

Up until 2016-17, all the elevators were manually operated. Each working car had an attendant inside who would raise and lower the apparatus using a hefty lever. Originally, seven of the elevators serviced the first 21 floors only (today, it is six, as one is out of commission), and for those on the bottom floor, it was a matter of choosing an elevator and telling the operator your desired floor. For those in the high-rise, a call to the concierge desk would result in the sole elevator that serviced those lofty heights being sent up to fetch you. But for those on an intermediate floor, the low-rise, calling a car would mean standing in the elevator hallway and shouting through the cage at the operators as they passed up and down through the shaft, until someone obligingly pulled the carriage to a halt and admitted the passengers inside, like hailing a taxi on a busy street.

Unlike with modern elevators, whose heavy doors are so often unceremoniously halted by an arm thrust between them, sticking one’s arm through the gap of the Smith Tower elevators was unwise: just as likely to damage the door mechanism as the arm in question. To request someone hold the elevator, guests would call out, “One more!” regardless of how many people actually needed to climb in.

One forgets, in a predigital world, how much of one’s life in a city involved yelling.

These days, the elevators look as they did back in 1914, with a few modifications, such as modern earthquake sensors and safety glass, copper-sheeted back walls and cleverly hidden escape hatches added in the 1940s to conform to fire code. One of the original motors is on display, a green sleeping giant that looks like an oversized sewing machine, and the levers and wheels used by the manual operators are extant as well, though they are now entirely for show.

Each elevator is like a wee Jules Verne time machine taking paying guests from the unrelenting modernity at ground level to the glamorous days of yore preserved in the upstairs bar, an experience complete with vintage cocktails. And while the cars are now operated by modern motors, safety key cards and buttons, at least one still features an attendant — now most often an extremely knowledgeable “guest experience guide” named Richard Phillips, who spends his days riding up and down from the heart of Seattle to its lofty heights, giving short elevator tours or roaming about the building on longer historical tours for guests who come to sip a vintage cocktail and enjoy some historical context about a building that was central to Seattle’s Prohibition era.

While the view from the observation deck morphs day by day as the city grows around it, the view from the inside of a century-old elevator never changes.

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Time  is when the sighting opportunity will begin in your local time zone. All sightings will occur within a few hours before or after sunrise or sunset. This is the optimum viewing period as the sun reflects off the space station and contrasts against the darker sky.

Visible  is the maximum time period the space station is visible before crossing back below the horizon.

Max Height  is measured in degrees (also known as elevation). It represents the height of the space station from the horizon in the night sky. The horizon is at zero degrees, and directly overhead is ninety degrees. If you hold your fist at arm's length and place your fist resting on the horizon, the top will be about 10 degrees.

Appears is the location in the sky where the station will be visible first. This value, like maximum height, also is measured in degrees from the horizon. The letters represent compass directions -- N is north, WNW is west by northwest, and so on.

Disappears represents where in the night sky the International Space Station will leave your field of view.

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Being back in the beach house that witnessed much of my 20s feels strange and wondrous – like a sort of time travel

I run from room to room, touching things as if they’ll somehow transport me to the past. Not much has changed in the old weatherboard

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M any years ago, a friend from university invited some of us to his mum’s beach house at Walkerville South. His mum had bought the house super cheap before the world had discovered that there was another impressive coastline in Victoria, far away from the more established houses of the Mornington Peninsula or the Great Ocean Road.

The house was a weatherboard shack hidden in thick native bush. There were two bedrooms, and a large corner couch in the lounge that doubled as two extra beds when needed. Fronted by large windows, you could spy the ocean through the tall trees while standing in the kitchen and waiting for the kettle to boil. It was a house that didn’t need too much attention. From the straw matting on the floor to the green bathroom straight out of the 1970s, it was immediately welcoming, and once you arrived, you didn’t want to leave.

On that first visit, I slept on one of the couch-beds, preferring to keep the curtains open so I could see the darkness of the sky. And in the morning, I woke to a row of noisy rosellas hanging out on the edge of the deck, waiting for birdseed. We swam even in the height of winter, running into the cold, foamy water and lasting only minutes before tiptoeing with bare feet back up the hill to the waiting fire. We drank too much cheap red wine, ate simple meals of beans and rice, and laughed late into the night. It was one of those bonding weekends that was so joyful, it was repeated more than once.

After we left university and scattered in different directions, I still borrowed the house from time to time, introducing it to other friends, including the man who would one day become my partner. After he and I started going out, we visited just the two of us, and I remember mocking him for pulling on a wetsuit before wading into the sea. The house witnessed much of my 20s, those lost years when none of us knew what we were going to do with the rest of our lives, and coming together somehow made us feel safe.

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And then my university friend married his partner and moved to another state, and we lost contact. I stopped visiting the house because he wasn’t around to lend me the keys. But years later, each time I read Alison Lester’s wonderful Magic Beach to my children, I would be transported back to the wilds of Walkerville South, a place that had become almost mythical in my memory.

Three years ago, as the pandemic restrictions lifted, friends invited the kids and I to visit them on their summer holiday. I’d been to the Gippsland coast often as an adult and knew the roads well, but I hadn’t stayed at Walkerville South since that time. I was surprised to see how little had changed. A gravel road still led the way in, and the hill behind the beach was still dotted with only a handful of houses.

We pulled up outside the place my friends had rented and started unloading the car. As we walked in, I felt a prickle of familiarity. There was a corner couch that doubled as a bed in the lounge, large sliding glass doors out to the deck, and a green kitchen straight out of the 1970s. But it was the coloured Marimekko curtains that hung to the floor, more faded than when I’d last seen them, that did it. I knew immediately that it was the same house.

Excited, I asked who owned the house and my friend told me. I grinned when I heard that my old university friend’s mum still owned it. They didn’t know her well, but she was a friend of a friend and she still rented out the place to people sometimes. Now in her 90s, she didn’t visit it herself very often any more.

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I ran from room to room checking the fittings to see if they were the same, touching things as if they’d somehow transport me back to the past. I gripped the same green ball handles on the bathroom door. Ran my fingers along the same boxed-up board games stacked in the shelves in the lounge. And bent down to rub the fur back of the large grey, stuffed wombat that sat waiting near the fireplace, a little more loved looking than it had been all those years before.

Not much had changed in the old weatherboard. It held such stories in its walls. And now I was back, and it felt strange and wondrous like a sort of time travel. I stood on the deck, knowing the rosellas would soon land, and remembered a time when I was younger, freer, less worried about what was coming. When sleeping on a couch in the corner of a room was fought over, and when swimming in the winter sea was a given.

Nova Weetman is an award-winning children’s author. Her adult memoir, Love, Death & Other Scenes , is out in April 2024 from UQP

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When is the best time to visit Moscow? | Weather, budget, events by month

• July 14, 2023

Discover when is the best time to visit Moscow. In this blog post, I will talk about weather, budget and other things to know to choose the best time when to go to Moscow for you. I cannot account the times when we went in Moscow. Here are the pros and the cons of each month taking all main criteria into account!

I will first describe the main criteria that will help you choose when to go to Moscow:

• Climate in Moscow: temperatures and weather

Special events in Moscow

• Budget and visa

Then I will talk about each season (go directly to this party if you already have an idea of ​​the desired departure date):

• Advantages and disadvantages month by month

The weather cannot be the only criterion to decide when is the best time to visit Moscow for you. Even if the temperatures drop low, Moscow in December is just magical! This is why I advise to take into account several criteria at the same time. Also remember that it takes at least a month to get the Russian visa.

When to go to Moscow: climate and weather

The seasons are well marked. The mid-season months are not necessarily the best for the weather. However, they are not necessarily to be avoided, because, as we will see later, Moscow is a city that changes all the time and the prices can be more attractive. For example, for a lot of people winter is the best time to visit Moscow.

Weather in Moscow. Moscow is inland, making the city “more protected” from changing weather. For example, the weather is much more changeable in St. Petersburg. On the other hand, the weather in Moscow is more and more scorching in summer, we can then easily reach 30 degrees (for the Russians, it’s already the heat wave).

Moscow temperatures

As soon as you think of Russia, you want to do “Brrrr”. Let’s prepare our down jackets! Indeed, the Russian climate is not the mildest on the planet. However, it all depends on the region, because the country is very large. Moscow is almost at the same latitude as Copenhagen. As Moscow is relatively far from the coast, there is a pronounced continental climate. It is hot in summer and cold in winter.

In addition, global warming is there. For several decades, annual average temperatures have always been recorded above the past. I suggest you look at the averages over the past five years to be as close as possible to reality:

Sunshine and precipitation

Sunshine. This is surprising, but there is more sunshine in Moscow than in Paris or even in Berlin: 1,731 hours in Moscow, compared to 1661 in Paris and 1626 in Berlin.

Duration of the day in winter. We had questions about the length of the day in winter. So, here are a few things. As in Europe, the shortest days are in December. In Moscow, at the end of December, the sun rises around 9 a.m. and sets around 4 p.m. Then the day gets bigger until the end of June, when the day is the longest.

Precipitation. There is more precipitation in Moscow than in Paris (705mm against 637mm).

When is the best time to visit Moscow: interesting events

Moscow is a city that moves a lot. It is even said that this city never sleeps. So there are a lot of events, forums, exhibitions, conferences. Here I’m going to talk about the main recurring events that punctuate the year and that may help you decide when to go to Moscow.

End of year celebrations in Moscow

December 31 rather than Christmas. The Russians are eagerly awaiting the holiday season. Here on December 31 is like Christmas with us. Religion, “opium of the people” according to Marx, and, above all, its official absence marked the country during the Soviet years. This then reinforced the celebration of December 31, while Orthodox Christmas is January 7.

Russian calendar. In addition, it should be known that the first week of January is a bank holiday. Many Russians therefore do not work during this period. Europe also greatly influences the habits of Muscovites. Consequently, the Christmas markets start in early December and, for some, continue until early February!

Fairytale atmosphere. If you are wondering when to go to Moscow and you love the holiday mood, then the end of December – early January, and even February, is for you! There are many things to do during this time: for example, Christmas markets, decorations, winter games, skating rinks. In 2016, Moscow opened the largest ice rink in Europe. In short, the city is doing a lot of entertainment during this period and the general atmosphere is at the top! However, everything comes at a cost. You can see more detail below in the article, month by month.

Find our more in this blog post: Christmas and New Year in Moscow .

Visit Moscow in May

May 1 and 9 are two big festivals in Russia. Both dates are known worldwide. May 9 in Russia is May 8 with us in France. The signature that marks the end of the Second World War. The shift day is explained by … the difference in time zone.

The May 9 holiday is a very important holiday for the Russians. The Soviet human losses amounted to millions. So there are many families who have been directly affected by the war. The first big parade was organized by Stalin on June 24, 1945 in Red Square in Moscow. Later each year the USSR and then Russia organized a parade on May 9. Here is the video of the first parade dating from 1945 in color, then the last – that of 2016.

A disadvantage of the beginning of May. For the planned events, Red Square will not be completely empty. There are always installations for May 9, but also rehearsals. So, to the question “when is the best time to visit Moscow”, I would not say that May is the best one. You can find out more in the article “Moscow in autumn” below.

Throughout the year, the Moscow City Hall organizes free events (festivals, small markets, concerts, etc.) in the Red Square and in the streets of the city center. For example, there are two major interesting events:

• Festival of Lights “Around the World”: in 2019, it was from September 28 to October 4.
• Anniversary of the city of Moscow always celebrated the first weekend of September.

When is the best time to visit Moscow: budget, price seasonality, visa

Most touristy periods. Many travelers come to Moscow from May to October. This is the period when we see the most tourists in Moscow. In addition, many are also those who come at the end of December and at the beginning of January for the New Year. The beginning of May and the first week of January are also strongly requested, in particular by the Russians (school holidays, public holidays).

Accommodation. Hotel rates therefore necessarily increase during these periods of the year. But they do not go so far as to triple. To give an idea, count at least 80 euros in the city center for a double room with breakfast. You can read more about the districts of Moscow in my article: Where to stay in Moscow?

Guides and tours. Also take into account that during these periods it will be more difficult to find a guide at the last moment. It’s best to do it 2-3 months in advance. There will be more waiting or difficulty obtaining tickets during the months of high tourist influx: late December, early January, May, June, July, August.

Visa for Russia. The cost of the visa does not change depending on the month of the year. On the other hand, the deadlines can be longer if you make the request for the high tourist season (from May to October). Allow about a month. Getting the Russian visa is not complicated, there is a procedure to follow.

In Russia, the seasons are divided as follows:

• Fall: September, October, November.
• Winter: December, January, February.
• Spring: March, April, May.
• Summer: June, July, August.

Discover Moscow in autumn: when is the best time to visit Moscow in autumn?

From the beginning of September, we feel that the temperatures begin to drop gradually, especially at night.

Moscow in September

More and more travelers are choosing the month of September to go to Moscow. Because it is not cold yet and there are fewer tourists than in summer. Prices drop slightly, but remain higher than in the lean months of the year. There is also the city’s birthday on the first weekend in September, but also the “Around the World” festival towards the end of the month.

Moscow in October

You are likely to come across the colors of autumn from the beginning of October. The accommodation prices are starting to drop gradually. There is less waiting in the places to visit. Temperatures are not very low: during the day they are generally around +6 degrees. On the other hand, the only negative point can be the cost of plane tickets, if you leave during the French school holidays.

Moscow in November

It’s one of the least calm! Temperatures drop and can approach zero during the day in mid-November. Hotel rates are low, there are few tourists, and therefore less waiting in museums. It’s easier to get tickets for the Kremlin Palace of Armor, which can be very difficult in the summer. Guides also have more availability. So why not go to Moscow in November?

Discover Moscow in winter: when is the best time to visit Moscow in winter?

Winter is a very nice time to go to Moscow, because the Christmas and New Year decorations are installed from the beginning of December and are not removed until the end of February. To learn more about the different activities in winter, read this article: What to do in Moscow in winter? If winter temperatures scare you, check out Moscow in the spring (see below).

Moscow in december

Normally, negative daytime temperatures set in, although the weather can vary significantly from year to year. In general, from mid-December the snow is durable. It is from December 20 that more and more travelers come to Moscow. December 31st is celebrated like Christmas in France. Accommodation rates are higher from mid-December. It’s also more complicated to find a guide at the last moment. Furthermore, as in Europe, the days of December are the shortest of the year. But if you want to mark New Years Day, you will have lots of memories!

Moscow in january

January is also a very festive month. The first week of January is a public holiday in Russia. Besides, it’s also a week of Russian school holidays. There are more people in the streets, museums and everywhere in the city. To find out more about this time of year (Christmas markets, itineraries, etc.), read: Christmas and New Years in Moscow . Prices remain high during this week, but drop from mid-January.

Moscow in February

It’s the second quietest month of the year. In February, winter clearly takes its ease. The temperatures are the lowest, it’s a real winter! The days are longer in February than in December. So we’re enjoying the day more, and with the snow it’s really nice, because the weather in Moscow in February is pretty sunny. Accommodation rates are at their lowest, and the decorations are still there. So, if you are looking for when to go to Moscow, if the cold does not scare you and you appreciate the snowy landscapes, why not consider the month of February?

Discover Moscow in spring: when is the best time to visit Moscow in spring?

Spring is a contrasting period between March, which is still quite cold, and May, when we really feel the arrival of summer.

Moscow in March

The ice and snow begin to melt around mid-March. Winter is coming in March, but spring is not quite there yet. It’s the third quietest month of the year. It is therefore possible to visit the city more quietly. Accommodation prices are low, guides are available. The weather in Moscow in March is milder than in February. In addition, the days are longer, so you can take many walks.

Moscow in April

It is only from mid-April that we begin to feel the beginnings of sunny days. The weather in Moscow in spring and April in particular is getting milder and colder: we can expect +7 during the day. In addition, there are not many travelers yet and we fear to enjoy the places more quietly, but we feel that the start of the tourist season is approaching. Accommodation rates are lower than in May.

Moscow in May

The early May holidays attract many travelers to Moscow. There are also many Russians who come to the capital on public holidays. It is therefore advisable to plan visits in advance to avoid queuing once there. Red Square can be closed or partially closed for rehearsals for the May 9 parade, the same day and one or two days after. More info in: Moscow in May: events, budget, what to do?

Discover Moscow in summer: when is the best time to visit Moscow in summer?

All summer months are great, if you take temperatures into account. The weather in Moscow in summer is quite pleasant. However, in recent years, there have been great heat peaks or heat waves in July (30 degrees during the day).

Moscow in June

From June, you can take long walks in the city’s parks, very numerous and much appreciated by the locals. Boat trips are more enjoyable from June. On the other hand, the prices of accommodation in Moscow are higher than in the lean months. There are also more tourists. Book your hotel, tours and activities in advance.

Moscow in july

July is the hottest month, but we’re not on +40. Moscow is a city inland and therefore there is little fresh air, if it is very hot. We can do lots of walks to discover the city. We have written several complete itineraries so as not to miss anything of Moscow in our special Moscow travel guide. It also contains tips to save time and enjoy the city off the beaten track, as there are so many tourists during this time of year.

Moscow in August

Temperatures are starting to drop gradually, but there are still so many people. In order to be sure of the choice of accommodation, I advise you to book in advance. The same goes for guided tours or entrance tickets to the Kremlin. It’s also a good time to discover the city differently by going to places that are less touristy and more frequented by locals.

When is the best time to go to Moscow? In summary!

The best time to discover Moscow depends on the criteria you want to favor: the weather, the budget, the tranquility of the visits, the special events to be experienced on site.

In summary:

• The peak tourist season in Moscow begins in early May and ends in late September.
• Late December and early January is the best time to experience the holiday mood, but it comes at a cost.
• End of January, February, March, beginning of April, November are the quietest months of the year, when you can visit the city more calmly and on a reduced budget.

So, have you decided when to go to Moscow? 🙂 Do you plan to visit Moscow in spring, summer, autumn or winter?

Travel idea! As in all cases you will get a visa and there is only 4 hours by train between Moscow and Saint Petersburg, why not visit both cities? Read an example of a route here: Moscow to Saint Petersburg in one week.

If you still have doubts, take a look at what you can visit in Moscow in order to choose the best period: Things to do in Moscow in 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 days.

For a great trip to Moscow:

• Visit Moscow and St Petersburg in one week: itinerary
• Where to stay in Moscow?
• Tourist voucher for Russian visa

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Fjords, Pharaohs or Koalas? Time to Plan for Your Next Eclipse.

If you can’t get enough of totality, or missed out this time, you’ll have three more chances in the next four years in destinations like Iceland, Spain, Egypt and Australia.

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By Danielle Dowling

Are you still a little giddy from the magical moments of totality during Monday’s solar eclipse? Or did clouds swoop in to block your view? Maybe you just couldn’t make it to the path of totality this time. No matter what, the question now is “ Where and when will it happen again?”

“People who have never seen it before, the first words out of their mouth after the totality ends is ‘I’ve got to see another one, this is incredible, this is unbelievable.’ That is when you become addicted to these things and end up traveling no matter where the next one is,” said Joseph Rao, an eclipse chaser and guest lecturer at the Hayden Planetarium.

So, if like Mr. Rao, you’ve developed a raging case of umbraphilia — the love of eclipses — you’ll have three chances over the next four years to see the moon blot out the sun. The first, on Aug. 12, 2026, will start above Greenland, then strafe the west coast of Iceland and move along the Atlantic Ocean and over Spain. Almost a year later, on Aug. 2, 2027, another will skirt the Mediterranean coast of North Africa then cross Egypt and part of the Arabian Peninsula. The third, on July 22, 2028, will cut across Australia and the southern tip of New Zealand.

Future Eclipses

Eclipse chasers will have several more chances this decade to view a total solar eclipse .

Last week, as Victoria Sahami , the owner of Sirius Travel , was preparing to guide a group of tourists in Mazatlán, Mexico, for Monday’s big event, she was also planning for these other upcoming eclipses. Ms. Sahami joined the ranks of the eclipse-obsessed when she witnessed one in Venezuela in the 1990s. “Like many people, I was hooked. There was no going back,” she said.

Total solar eclipses happen fairly regularly — about every one to two years — in locations scattered around the world. “That’s the great thing about them: You wind up in places that you don’t normally go,” Ms. Sahami said.

A major spoiler is weather, which will be a big variable in the 2026 eclipse — one Greenland, Iceland and Spain will see.

“Iceland normally has a lot of cloud during that time of year,” said Paul Maley , who runs Ring of Fire Expeditions . “The data shows Spain to have the higher good-weather prospects of all three. However, the sun is low in the sky and the eclipse ends as the sun hits the horizon at sunset.”

Because of Iceland’s mercurial meteorology, Ring of Fire Expeditions is going all in on Spain, with a 10-day excursion on the mainland. Sirius Travel is offering not only a five-day trip to Majorca but also an eight-day tour around Iceland. It will be based in Reykjavik, and the itinerary will remain flexible on the day of the eclipse so the tour can easily pivot toward the location with the least cloud cover. Ms. Sahami recommends the trip for those who already have a few eclipses under their belt and would be happy just to take in the sights of Iceland if the weather doesn’t cooperate.

The 2027 eclipse, on the other hand, promises to be truly stellar: Luxor, Egypt — the site of numerous ancient temples as well as the Valleys of the Kings and Queens — sits right in the middle of the path of totality and will be bathed in darkness for a full 6 minutes 23 seconds. Weather-wise, it is what Ms. Sahami called “a slam dunk.” “You know you’re going to see it. You know that you’re not going to get any clouds,” she said.

But for all its potential, those considering Egypt should be aware that the State Department has a Level 3 “Reconsider Travel” warning for the country because of the risk of terrorism.

The 2028 eclipse will darken the skies over Sydney, Australia, for 3 minutes 49 seconds. It will be the first time the city has experienced a total solar eclipse since 1857. Ms. Sahami has her eyes on a trip based out of there, while Mr. Maley has chartered a cruise ship off the northwest coast of Australia. It will be winter there, he said, but that isn’t likely to mean bad eclipse-viewing weather.

If you want to see any (or all) of these eclipses, you should get started on planning and booking now, particularly if you want to sign up for a trip organized by a tour company. One of Sirius Travel’s excursions to Luxor is already full.

Scrutinize refund policies and look into insuring your trip. Several companies will fully refund your deposit if you cancel a year in advance. A lot can happen, Ms. Sahami said, “but if you think you’re going to go, why not?”

Follow New York Times Travel on Instagram and sign up for our weekly Travel Dispatch newsletter to get expert tips on traveling smarter and inspiration for your next vacation. Dreaming up a future getaway or just armchair traveling? Check out our 52 Places to Go in 2024 .

More From Forbes

Ranked: the best airlines in 2024, according to a new report.

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What are the best airlines to fly? As the world emerges from the turbulence of the global pandemic, the airline industry is navigating a new landscape marked by shifting consumer expectations, evolving safety protocols and fluctuating economic conditions. Against this backdrop, travelers are weighing factors beyond mere ticket prices as they choose the best airlines to ensure a smooth and enjoyable travel experience.

The personal-finance website WalletHub has just announced its annual ranking of the best airlines . The study evaluates the nine largest national airlines in the United States and one regional carrier across a range of criteria, including reliability, safety, comfort and overall service quality, providing travelers with valuable insights to inform their decision-making process.

According to WalletHub, airline ticket prices had dropped significantly in 2023, but are back on the rise. However, costs are only part of the story. “WalletHub’s airline report is unique because it evaluates airlines beyond just ticket prices,” WalletHub analyst Cassandra Happe told me in an interview. “While many reports prioritize affordability, WalletHub takes into account a wider range of factors that are important to travelers, such as comfort, safety, and overall service quality.” Compare this year’s list to 2023’s list of best airlines .

What are the best airlines in 2024? A new WalletHub report ranks the best U.S. airlines.

To rank the airlines for 2024, WalletHub analyzed flight data from the U.S. Department of Transportation and using a strategic methodology that compared key metrics, including cancellation, delays, baggage mishaps and in-flight comfort.

This year’s report unveils Alaska Airlines as the best airline in the U.S., earning the highest WalletHub score and beating out Delta Air Lines, which ranked first in 2023 and 2022. Alaska Airlines has ranked at the top of the list in a number of past WalletHub rankings, including 2021, 2019 , 2018 and 2017. For 2024, a track record of consistent performance and a commitment to passenger satisfaction propelled Alaska Airlines back to the top of the list.

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“Alaska Airlines has regained the top position owing to its consistent and remarkable performance across multiple metrics,” says Happe. “The airline has exceeded expectations in in-flight comfort and cost, providing passengers with amenities such as ample legroom, a range of entertainment options and complimentary refreshments. Moreover, it has demonstrated robust safety measures, ranking first in safety-related categories, such as the number of injuries in aviation incidents and accidents. The airline’s balanced performance across various aspects of air travel has contributed to its return to the top position.”

Following closely behind is Alaska Airlines SkyWest Airlines, followed by Spirit Airlines in the number three spot. “It’s quite surprising to see Spirit Airlines ranking so high on the list,” says Happe. “This is notable because Spirit is usually associated with budget travel and may not be considered as competing in terms of overall service quality. However, it seems that Spirit has made significant progress in areas beyond affordability, such as safety. This is evident by the airline being ranked as the safest airline, which is increasingly valued by travelers.”

Coming in last on the list for the third year in a row is Southwest Airlines. “Although the airline shows satisfactory performance in baggage and departure metrics such as cancelled flights and delays, it falls short in terms of mishandled baggage reports and denied boardings,” says Happe. “When considering in-flight comfort and cost, the airline ranks low in price affordability, which is a crucial factor for many travelers. Furthermore, Southwest’s safety scores are notably low compared to its competitors. Overall, it appears that Southwest needs to address its mishandled baggage and denied boarding issues, as well as work on improving its safety measures and price competitiveness, in order to improve its ranking.”

In addition to ranking the best airlines, WalletHub also reveals the most reliable airline, the most comfortable airline, the most affordable airline and the safest airline.

In terms of dependability, Delta Air Lines emerges as the most reliable airline for the second year in a row, due to the lowest rates of cancellations, delays, mishandled luggage and denied boardings. At the opposite end is Frontier, which is named the least reliable airline for the second year in a row, due to high levels of denied boardings and delayed flights. “Delta Airlines is widely regarded as the most dependable option when it comes to air travel. This is primarily because of their exceptional track record in minimizing cancellations, delays, denied boardings, and mishandled luggage,” says Happe. “However, Frontier Airlines falls short in most reliability metrics, although it does surpass Delta by securing the second overall rank for mishandled baggage.”

Delta Air Lines and JetBlue tied as the most comfortable airlines in the WalletHub rankings. According to WalletHub, they excelled by offering free amenities. The least comfortable airline? Frontier. “Delta Airlines and JetBlue Airways provide a comfortable flight experience with amenities such as Wi-Fi, extra legroom and complimentary snacks and beverages,” says Happe. “Frontier Airlines, on the other hand, does not offer the same level of comfort during the flight, as they lack many of the complimentary benefits provided by their competitors.

When it comes to safety, Spirit Airlines takes the win as the safest airline, boasting a commendable safety record including no fatalities and fewer than 15 injuries between 2018 and 2023. Alaska Airlines earns the runner-up position in terms of safety, highlighting its commitment to passenger well-being. Spirit Airlines has been recognized as the safest airline due to its superior performance in various safety metrics, including incident and accident rates,” says Happe. “On the other hand, Alaska Airlines, despite its good overall performance, has a lower ranking in safety metrics when compared to Spirit Airlines. Since 2018, Alaska Airlines has had a higher rate of incidents and accidents per total number of flights.”

The most affordable airline in 2024 is Spirit Airlines. At the opposite end of the list is American Airlines, which is named the most expensive airline. “Spirit Airlines is the most affordable airline, offering budget-friendly options” says Happe. “Conversely, American Airlines lags behind its competitors in affordability based on our study.”

Read on for the overall list of the best airlines in America, as well as the other key findings.

Alaska Airlines was named the best airline in the U.S. in a new report.

Overall Rankings: The Best Airlines in the U.S.

• Alaska Airlines
• SkyWest Airlines
• Spirit Airlines
• Delta Air Lines
• United Airlines
• JetBlue Airways
• Hawaiian Airlines
• American Airlines
• Frontier Airlines
• Southwest Airlines

Delta Air Lines was named the most reliable airline.

The Most Reliable Airlines in the U.S.

Delta Air Lines was named the most comfortable airline.

The Most Comfortable Airlines in the U.S.

*Note that SkyWest is not represented in this list because it is a regional carrier and serves other major airlines, which may dictate what amenities are provided.

• Delta Air Lines (tie)
• JetBlue Airways (tie)

Spirit ranked as the safest airline in the U.S.

The Safest Airlines in the U.S.

Spirit Airlines was named the most affordable airline.

The Most Affordable Airlines in the U.S.

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Live updates, work starts on america’s first high-speed train between la, las vegas that could cut travel time in half.

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The much-anticipated construction of the first high-speed passenger train between Los Angeles and Las Vegas got underway Monday — promising to ferry passengers between the two cities in half the the time it now takes to drive through the desert.

The $12 billion project is being spearheaded by Brightline West, which will lay 218 miles of track between a new terminal in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., and another station just south of the Las Vegas Strip by 2028, according to Fortune .

In a statement, Brightline Holdings founder and chair Wes Edens said that breaking ground on the rail on Monday — thanks to $6.5 billion in backing from Joe Biden’s administration, plus $2.5 billion in tax-exempt bonds — was laying “the foundation for a new industry.”

Brightline also won federal authorization in 2020 to sell $1 billion in similar bonds, Fortune reported.

US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg will reportedly participate in the rail’s Monday groundbreaking.

Upon its completion, Brightline West is expecting to welcome millions of passengers aboard the high-speed train, which will travel up to 200 miles per hour between the two major US cities in just over two hours — about half the time it takes to drive between LA and Vegas.

The high speeds are comparable to Japan’s Shinkansen bullet trains, whose network includes nearly 2,000 miles of lines on the country’s four major islands.

Brightline’s estimates are that 11 million passengers will take the electric-powered train one way per year, meaning there will be 30,000 travelers per day. The trains will also have restrooms, Wi-Fi, and food and beverage.

There will also be the option to check luggage — with ticket fares with or without large bags anticipated to be well below the cost of flying across the Mojave Desert.

It wasn’t immedately clear what a ticket aboard Brightline West will cost, though airline costs range between $80 and $230 depending on the time of the year.

Passenger traffic at Sin City’s Harry Reid International Airport set a record of 57.6 million people in 2023, Fortune reported.

Meanwhile, an average of more than 44,000 automobiles per day crossed the California-Nevada state line on Interstate 15 in 2023, according to Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority data — perhaps because of the Super Bowl and Formula 1 Grand Prix race that both took place in Las Vegas last year.

Las Vegas — which has nearly 3 million residents — draws more than 40 million visitors per year.

Brightline CEO Mike Reininger has said the goal is to have high-speed trains operating in time for the Summer Olympics in Los Angeles in 2028.

Almost the full distance of the forthcoming train will be along the median of I-15, according to Fortune, which begins in San Diego and runs through Los Angeles before passing through Nevada and into parts of Arizona, Utah, Idaho and Montana.

At this point, only one station stop along the route will take place in San Bernardino County’s Victorville area, per Fortune.

At a later date, Brightline West has said it may add more stops in Palmdale, Calif., and other US metros that are too close to fly between but too far to drive to, though details have yet to be finalized.

The goal is to relieve congestion on I-15, where motorists often get caught in slow-moving traffic.

Representatives for Brightline West did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.

Florida-based Brightline already operates a Miami-to-Orlando high-speed line, where trains reach speeds of up to 125 miles per hour.

The service launched in 2018 and expanded to include service to the Orlando International Airport in September 2022, Fortune reported. It now offers 16 round trips daily, with one-way tickets to travel the 235-mile-long track going for about $80.

Another fast train in the US include Amtrack’s Acels, which can reach 150 miles per hour while transporting passengers between Boston and Washington, DC — but rails aren’t considered “high speed” unless they top at least 160 miles per hour.

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