why the international space station isn’t high up in the orbit at least at a few 1000s miles away, not the 250 it’s right now?
In: Technology
In addition to everything already said regarding ease of transit and fuel, there’s also the issue of radiation. The reason solar radiation isn’t an issue here on the surface of the Earth is because the Earth’s magnetic field shields us and protects us from the worst of it. That shield extends into space, *but only so far*. The radiation environment at 400 km altitude is a little worse than on the surface, but not by much. Out at a few thousand kilometers altitude its orders of magnitude worse though. This would be an issue for both the astronauts, as well as all the equipment on the station itself.
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