A ground-based imitation of the interior of an ISS module from 2007-2008 in Sopotnia Wielka, with astronaut sessions for groups.
The Youth Space Station YSS in Sopotnia Wielka is a ground-based imitation of the interior of a module of the International Space Station ISS. It was built by the POLARIS-OPP Association, which runs educational activities and sky observations in Sopotnia.
The project "Youth Space Station, or Life in Orbit" ran from June 2007 to February 2008. It was co-funded by the Polish Children and Youth Foundation and the Polish-American Freedom Foundation under the Equal Opportunities programme. The aim was to interest lower-secondary school pupils in the sciences and astronautics.
A room measuring 5.7 x 3.4 x 2.5 m was converted into the station. The brick walls and concrete ceiling were covered with white laminated HDF boards, and imitations of equipment were assembled from, among other things, parts of ten dismantled computers. The construction was accompanied by a competition for three-person crews, who spent weekends on board.
Today the station also serves as a lecture room at the association's meetings and camps, but it can be visited in the form of sessions. A standard session lasts about 60 minutes and covers a group of 15-20 people. Participants receive costumes styled as astronaut suits and roles, and the "mission" is directed by an on-board computer reacting to typed codes and Kinect sensors.
The model has special-effects devices that reproduce, among other things, a micrometeorite impact, an air filter failure or a cabin depressurisation. The association also offers 24-hour missions for two to four people. The station does not provide weightlessness, and in the summer season a trampoline is set up next to it.
In 2008 the station was visited by the American NASA astronaut George Zamka.
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