Where can I learn more about the International Space Station?

http://www.space.com/16748-international-space-station.html

There is an app where you can find it as it travels overhead and see their view and look up and wave. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.polilabs.issonlive&hl=en

It’s a start anyway.

The NASA ISS mission page has lots of links:
Research & Technology
Crews & Expeditions
International Cooperation
Launches and Landings
Ground Facilities
Space to Ground

The European Space Agency (ESA) site does, too. For example, Building the International Space Station

Here’s the SpaceX page for their Dragon cargo spacecraft (which is designed to also carry people someday).

Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) cargo spacecraft H-II Transfer Vehicle.

Cygnus cargo spacecraft built by Orbital Sciences Corp.

And the Soyuz spacecraft is super interesting. It’s been flying for almost fifty years! And currently it’s the only way for people to reach the ISS.

The Soyuz capsule rides on the Soyuz rocket , which IS fifty years old and is amazingly reliable.

I’m just curious to know where Russia stands now compared to other agencies like NASA, ESA..no major launches / missions by Russians in recent times? They were frontrunners in early days I suppose.

There is a fun site called Heavens-Above .
You enter your GPS coordinates or the nearest town and the site will list all the objects moving overhead. ISS, satellites, space junk, Iridium flares, space junk, amateur radio communication satellites, etc. It is wonderful.
You will be able to see ISS as it moved majestically overhead. If you are into astronomy and astrophotography there is a kind of competition to see who can photograph from Earth it with the highest resolution.
Here is a pretty good one by Martin Lewis .
You can find many more. One person even has a shot of an astronaut doing an EVA!

Maybe @rarebear will have a shot.

@imrainmaker The US space program is actually dependent on the Russians. But on the other hand, the Russians are dependent on US funding.

Unless you’re Chinese, you ride into space on Russian rockets these days. There are always Russians on the ISS, and they built significant parts of the station.

Oddly enough, US military satellites are launched on American rockets with Russian engines.

The Russians built their own GPS satellite network, GLONASS. If you have a smartphone, it probably uses GLONASS as well as the American GPS for location.

But since you mentioned it, it seems like they definitely aren’t launching many exploratory missions like the US and ESA.

Okay.. gotcha..)

Thanks to everyone for the links.

I checked my local library for books. There were several, but they were all in the juvenile section. Is there something odd about an adult wanting to know more about the space station?

I don’t think it’s odd at all. I think having a lifelong curiosity and wanting to learn for its own sake are great attributes which keep us young at heart.

And don’t necessarily discount books aimed primarily at the children’s market. There is definitely a lot of skill and sophistication involved in being able to break down complex subjects so that even a 3rd grader can understand them. We’ve come a long way from the days of Dick and Jane and see Spot run :)

A lot of children’s literature nowadays is of quite high quality.

There’s nothing at all wrong with an inquisitive mind, regardless of the age of the body it connected to.