Something more lighthearted

Let's ignore the nuclear meltdown* in Japan and the fight for power in Libya and turn our attention to something you've all probably often wondered at some time or other, namely: HOW BIG EXACTLY IS THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION?

I'm sure that like me whenever you've heard a piece of news about the ISS, your first question is "YEAH, BUT HOW BIG IS IT?".

Well, wonder no more, as a BBC page will set your mind at rest. Just type in the address that you want to see and it will show you the map with the ISS to scale plonked on top.

http://howbigreally.com/dimension/space/international_space_center

I tried to put it on top of the IES Joaquim Mir for no particular reason ha ha, but this is the nearest I could get. Please let me know if you can get it any nearer.

*If you're as ignorant on the subject as I am, read about how nuclear power is produced here: http://www.howstuffworks.com/nuclear-power.htm, and about Nuclear Reactor Safety here: http://science.howstuffworks.com/nuclear-energy-info3.htm (scroll down 8 paragraphs). Notice the last line of the paragraph:

"To prevent the possibility of a meltdown, nuclear reactors are built with one or more emergency cooling systems to provide extra coolant in case it is needed. The effectiveness of these systems has been debated, however, because the conditions that would be produced following the loss of coolant in the core are uncertain."

I have the feeling they're going to be rewriting that article soon...