The 400-Kilometer Commute: Life Inside the International Space Station

ISS: How It Works — Pillar 2 • Space Capital In this article The Beautiful Lie Why the ISS Falls Zvezda Leak SARJ Failure Drowning Spacewalk Hidden Pattern Commercial Future Lessons & Legacy FAQs Research & Standards About Penny Continue Your Journey 🏠 Home ← Back to Pillar 2 Overview section class="grid"> Meta Description: The ISS nearly killed an astronaut. Its gears ground apart. Air leaked for years. Yet zero deaths in 27 years. Here's how humans keep saving the machine. The International Space Station isn't floating peacefully in space. It's falling. Every single second of every day. And that's not even the scary part. Last Updated: October 2025 Mini Table of Contents ...

Living in Orbit (Overview)

ISS: How It Works — Pillar 1

Living in Orbit

How humans survive, adapt, and respond to emergencies aboard the International Space Station.

Code Red in Orbit

The ISS “stabilize & transport” medical doctrine — and where it breaks on a Mars mission.

The 400-Kilometer Commute

Sleep, food, hygiene, and sanity: the rhythms of daily life in microgravity.

How Do Astronauts Clean the ISS?

The hidden battle against dust, microbes, and floating crumbs inside a closed habitat.

The Ultimate Tightrope (EVA)

A step-by-step guide to spacewalking: prep, suits, tethers, and contingency plans.

How the ISS Life Support System Keeps Astronauts Breathing

Air, water, and CO₂ control when space wants you dead.

How the ISS Stays Alive

The fragile machine we keep saving — maintenance, risks, and hard-won resilience.