If you look up at the sky for long enough or take a few seconds to Google its position, you may see the International Space Station (ISS) zipping its way over your head. You may also notice it’s moving quite fast, though you may not be aware just how fast.
Though of course it’s not moving as fast as probes sent out to deep space, or the Parker Solar Probe traveling at velocities of 532,000 kilometers per hour (330,500 miles per hour) relative to the Sun, the ISS is speeding along at an impressive 28,000 kilometers per hour (17,500 miles per hour). At this pace on its orbit, it completes a rotation once every 90 minutes, seeing 16 sunrises and sunsets every (Earth) day.
But to really get a sense of its speed, nothing beats seeing something hurtle along the ground like in this video simulating the ISS flying at ground level from YouTube channel Airplane Mode.
The video, made by speeding up footage created using Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020, helpfully compares the velocity to Mach 1, the speed of sound. It shows the ISS flying over forests, mountain ranges, and cities like New York in mere seconds.
The ISS will one day get this close to ground level, albeit very briefly. Once its mission is over, it will be disposed of by gradually reducing its orbit until it is pulled down to Earth, meeting its end in 2031 in the South Pacific Ocean Uninhabited Area, otherwise known as Point Nemo, the most remote place on the planet.
Source Link: People Are Surprised At The Astonishing Speed Of The ISS At Ground Level
