Elon Musk Says More Accurate To Call ISS A Space Bullet

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said on Sunday that calling the international space station (ISS) a space bullet would be much more accurate.

What Happened: In December 2020, Musk expressed awe at the ISS in a tweet that said, “It's called the Space "Station", but it's actually moving around Earth at ~25 times the speed of sound or ~10 times faster than a rifle bullet.”

In the thread of a twitter user who recounted the tweet, another user recommended that it be called a space bullet instead. Responding to it, Musk said, “That would be much more accurate.”

Why It Matters: The ISS is a laboratory orbiting around Earth approximately 250 miles above the surface. It is operated by an international partnership of five space agencies- NASA, Russia’s Roscosmos, Japan’s JAXA, Europe’s ESA and Canada’s CSA.

The ISS travels at the speed of five miles per second and orbits Earth about every 90 minutes. In 24 hours, the station makes 16 Earth orbits and witnesses 16 sunrises and sunsets, says NASA.

Last week, SpaceX launched Dragon’s 28th Commercial Resupply Services mission to the ISS. SpaceX said on Twitter that it marked the fleet’s 38th trip to the orbiting lab surpassing the U.S. record set by the Space Shuttle for most visits to the station by a spacecraft type.

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