
New record! 17 people are in Earth orbit right now
The total number of people in Earth orbit is now at a record high, though only for a short time. With Monday's (May 29) launch of China's Shenzhou 16 mission, the population in orbit grew to 17.
The International Space Station is a $100 billion research outpost in low-Earth orbit. It was built by 15 different countries and overseen by 5 space agencies, among them NASA, Russia's Roscosmos agency, the European Space Agency, the Canadian Space Agency and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. Construction began in 1998 and rotating astronaut crews have lived on the ISS continuously since 2000. Today, the ISS is the largest human-built structure in space. See the latest news, photos and videos from ISS missions here.
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