







window._taboola = window._taboola || []; _taboola.push({ mode: 'thumbnails-c', container: 'taboola-interstitial-gallery-thumbnails-5', placement: 'Interstitial Gallery Thumbnails 5', target_type: 'mix' });







window._taboola = window._taboola || []; _taboola.push({ mode: 'thumbnails-c', container: 'taboola-interstitial-gallery-thumbnails-8', placement: 'Interstitial Gallery Thumbnails 8', target_type: 'mix' });











Photo: HO / AFP/Getty Images Image 1 of / 9 Caption Close Image 2 of 9 This December 2006 image provided by NASA shows European Space Agency astronaut Christer Fuglesang working outside the International Space Station. This December 2006 image provided by NASA shows European Space Agency astronaut Christer Fuglesang working outside the International Space Station. Photo: Associated Press Image 3 of 9 In this image taken from video provided by NASA, the Soyuz TMA-09M carrying three new Expedition 36 crew members approaches the International Space Station Wednesday, May 29, 2013. The cramped capsule carrying NASA's Karen Nyberg, Russian cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin and Italy's Luca Parmitano orbited the Earth four times before docking with the space station. less In this image taken from video provided by NASA, the Soyuz TMA-09M carrying three new Expedition 36 crew members approaches the International Space Station Wednesday, May 29, 2013. The cramped capsule carrying ... more Photo: Uncredited / Associated Press Image 4 of 9 This image provided by NASA shows astronaut Chris Hadfield recording the first music video from space May 12, 2013. The song was his cover version of David Bowie's "Space Oddity." This image provided by NASA shows astronaut Chris Hadfield recording the first music video from space May 12, 2013. The song was his cover version of David Bowie's "Space Oddity." Photo: Cmdr. Chris Hadfield / Associated Press Image 5 of 9 Image 6 of 9 In this image provided by NASA astronaut Nicole Stott, Expedition 20 flight engineer, participates in the STS-128 mission's first session of extravehicular activity on the International Space Station, Sept. 1, 2009. less In this image provided by NASA astronaut Nicole Stott, Expedition 20 flight engineer, participates in the STS-128 mission's first session of extravehicular activity on the International Space Station, Sept. 1, ... more Photo: Associated Press Image 7 of 9 This May 23, 2011 file photo released by NASA shows the International Space Station at an altitude of approximately 220 miles above the Earth, taken by Expedition 27 crew member Paolo Nespoli from the Soyuz TMA-20 following its undocking. less This May 23, 2011 file photo released by NASA shows the International Space Station at an altitude of approximately 220 miles above the Earth, taken by Expedition 27 crew member Paolo Nespoli from the Soyuz ... more Photo: Paolo Nespoli / Associated Press Image 8 of 9 This image provided by NASA-TV shows the SpaceX Dragon commercial cargo craft as it is backed away from the International Space Station, March 26, 2013 by the International Space Station's Canadarm2 robotic arm. less This image provided by NASA-TV shows the SpaceX Dragon commercial cargo craft as it is backed away from the International Space Station, March 26, 2013 by the International Space Station's Canadarm2 robotic ... more Photo: Associated Press Image 9 of 9 The space station's phone has a Houston area code 1 / 9 Back to Gallery

The Washington Post has a great new piece on the function of the International Space Station and what it will mean to the next few decades of manned spaceflight.

Still, few people think about what’s going on up there. Even the most famous astronaut in recent pop culture history, Chris Hadfield, says that the life of an ISS dweller is an anonymous one. He had to make cool viral videos for people to be reminded of it, and he did a good damned job of that.

The WashPo feature has lots of great color on the ISS. Satellite TV is spotty, though you can probably see one of the satellites beaming out Breaking Bad to homes across the world just a few miles in distance. You can’t smoke and you can’t knock back a cold (or stiff one) after one of your 12-hour shifts. Standard astronaut stuff.

But there was also the tidbit that the ISS has a phone number with a 281 area code. Remember back in May when we talked about area code superiority? At the time, I found that most Houstonians saw 281 as a dumpy scarlet letter which meant you lived outside the Inner Loop.

You cannot call the ISS though, but they can make calls out. All my prank call dreams are now dashed.

Dan Huot with the NASA Johnson Space Center says that the ISS has this number because the phone number is for a device at JSC that is then routed up to the ISS. Astronauts do need to dial ‘9’ to make calls too. You cannot escape that, even in space.

“It’s used when the astronauts use the IP phone up on station to make calls to Earth,” says Huot. “It shows up with a 281 area code.” This is because the JSC is located within the 281 area code. It could be a 281-483 number.

“The astronauts can use it to call family and friends during their off-duty time or for work related activities,” says Huot.

The calls from the space station make for some pretty amazing moments too.

“I had a colleague receive a call on his cell phone while we were over in Kazakhstan from Chris Cassidy while he was on-board the ISS giving us details on his camera setup for Karen Nyberg’s docking and hatch opening,” he says. A call from space while in Kazakhstan to your phone is probably pretty standard since that is where ISS crews touch back down to Earth, but it blows my mind. I would love to just get an email from space alone, never mind a phone call.

Do cell phones work on the ISS?

“No, unfortunately cell phones rely on ground based antennas for communication,” says Huot, shooting down the concept of being able to FaceTime with family at dinner while you are literally watching the world spin by your work station. “The ISS works on Greenwich Mean Time since it’s in a new time zone every few minutes.”

When you travel at 17,500 mph and orbit the Earth every 92 minutes or so that happens.