Episode guide
International Space Station: Sixteen Sunrises
The astronauts overhead ride one long fall around the Earth, and morning comes to them sixteen times a day. This episode floats through an evening on the station.
The science, gently
- The space station circles Earth about every ninety minutes, so its crew sees roughly sixteen sunrises a day.
- Astronauts sleep in bags clipped to the wall, arms floating in front of them.
- The station is falling around the Earth constantly; that endless fall is what floating is.
Wonder together
- Which of your sixteen sunrises would you save, if you could keep one?
- What would your bedroom look like with no up or down?
- Who do you think is asleep above the sky right now?
Tonight's calm-down
Somewhere overhead, someone is sleeping in mid-air, held by nothing but a soft bag and trust. Let your bed hold you the same way. Gravity is doing all the work tonight.