Happy Human Presence Anniversary, ISS!
To fully enjoy reading this post, listen to I.S.S. (Is Somebody Singing) by Chris Hadfield
Twenty-one years ago, on the 2nd of November 2000, the International Space Station (ISS) opened its door to the first astronauts of the Expedition-1 mission. Not a day has passed since then without at least one human being in orbit, reaching the record for human presence in space of fourteen people simultaneously on September 16, 2021 (seven on the ISS itself, four on the Inspiration4 Crew Dragon, three on the Tiangong-3 station).
For more then ten years, the ISS has been the only crewed outpost until the launch of the Chinese Tiangong-1 station in 2011. Currently, there are two space stations orbiting the Earth, the ISS itself and the Tiangong-3 station, and by the end of this decade there could be five human outposts in space, Lunar Gateway included.
So, let’s celebrate this incredible anniversary, the great achievements of human presence in space and the amazing future developments by reading the newly updated “Humans in Space” page of Becoming Spacepolitans blog, Italian version included (“Vivere nello Spazio”), and by shouting the Spacepolitans motto: Space for All, All for Space!
Becoming Spacepolitans 