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This awesome 4K space station tour reveals its enormous size

Astronaut Thomas Pesquet has shared a fascinating 4K video tour of the interior of the International Space Station (ISS).

The 25-minute video (below) highlights the huge size of the orbiting outpost, which has been hosting space travelers for the last 20 years. The French astronaut delivers the tour in his native tongue, but English subtitles are also available via the video player.

Pesquet, who has been living and working aboard the ISS since April, takes us through the station’s many modules and also drops by the Crew Dragon spacecraft that will be taking him and three other astronauts back to Earth on Monday, November 8.

According to NASA’s website, the space station is 356 feet (109 meters) end-to-end, or “one yard shy of the full length of an American football field including the end zones.”

The space agency describes the facility’s living and working area as “larger than a six-bedroom house.” It includes multiple sleeping quarters, several bathrooms, a gym, and a 360-degree view bay window called the Cupola from which astronauts can survey the exterior of the space station and also capture amazing images of Earth. Pesquet has shown himself to have a particularly keen eye when it comes to Earth photography, with the astronaut regularly posting breathtaking pictures of our planet snapped from 250 miles up.

Over the last few months, Pesquet has also been posting videos in which he talks in more detail about particular modules, including the U.S. Lab, also known as Destiny; the European Space Agency’s Columbus facility; Harmony (also known as Node 2); Tranquility (Node 3); and the station’s newest module, Nauka.

Just a few days ago Pesquet also shared a video featuring breathtaking time-lapse footage of Earth captured by cameras attached to the space station.

Want more? This collection of astronaut-made videos shows how visitors to the ISS work, rest, and play.

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Trevor Mogg
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