13 Things You Didn’t Know About the International Space Station
A Progress spacecraft docked to the ISS.Photo: NASAEvery once in a while, the ISS requires a boost to counteract orbital decay and maintain its altitude. While the ISS is equipped with its own thrusters, they aren’t sufficient for major reboosts due to limited fuel capacity, lower power, and the need to preserve onboard resources for other critical operations (like orientation control and space junk avoidance). So instead, docked spacecraft are used to provide these external boosts. These spacecraft, specifically designed…