Current:Home > NewsA record-setting 19 people are in orbit around Earth at the same time-DB Wealth Institute B2 Expert Reviews
A record-setting 19 people are in orbit around Earth at the same time
View Date:2025-01-12 17:13:20
On the same day that a crew of private spacefarers completed the first ever spacewalk by commercial astronauts, Earth’s orbit is more populated than ever.
With the arrival of three people to the International Space Station on Wednesday – NASA astronaut Don Pettit and Roscosmos cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner – there are now a record-breaking 19 people in orbit around Earth.
Since 2000, there has been an enduring presence at the International Space Station, with at least one person in orbit at all times. The previous record of people in orbit was set in May 2023, when for a brief period of time there were 17 people aboard both the International Space Station and China’s Tiangong space station.
And when counting suborbital travel, the record was set earlier this year. For just a few minutes on Jan. 26, the launch of a Virgin Galactic space tourism flight carrying four passengers, and two crewmembers brought the total number of people in space to 20.
19 people currently in space
Pettit, Ovchinin and Vagner join nine other astronauts and cosmonauts currently aboard the International Space Station.
Matthew Dominick, Michael Barratt, Jeanette Epps, and Alexander Grebnekin launched on March 4. They were soon joined by Oleg Konenko, Tracy Caldwell Dyson and Nikolai Chub, who launched on March 2024. Also aboard the International Space Station are NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore, the crew of Boeing’s troubled Starliner spacecraft.
Aboard China’s Tiangong Space Station are Li Guangsu, Li Cong, and Ye Guangfu.
Finally, there is SpaceX’s Polaris Dawn mission, which launched Sept. 10. Polaris Dawn’s crew – pilot Scott “Kidd” Poteet, mission specialists Sarah Gillis and Anna Menon, and mission commander and billionaire entrepreneur Jason Isaacman – reached a height of 870 miles, a higher altitude than any other mission since the end of the Apollo lunar program in the 1970s. On Thursday, Gillis and Isaacman completed the first spacewalk by commercial astronauts.
Menon also took a few minutes to read a book, “Kisses from Space,” to her children as well as an audience from St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital.
Max Hauptman is a Trending Reporter for USA TODAY. He can be reached at MHauptman@gannett.com
veryGood! (8548)
Related
- 32-year-old Maryland woman dies after golf cart accident
- Pakistani court convicts jailed ex-Prime Minister Imran Khan of revealing secrets ahead of elections
- Taylor Swift attends Kansas City Chiefs, Baltimore Ravens AFC championship game
- At trial, NRA leader LaPierre acknowledges he wrongly expensed private flights, handbag for wife
- Everard Burke Introduce
- Grief and mourning for 3 US soldiers killed in Jordan drone strike who were based in Georgia
- Europe’s economic blahs drag on with zero growth at the end of last year
- Republican-led Kentucky House passes bill aimed at making paid family leave more accessible
- 'Underbanked' households more likely to own crypto, FDIC report says
- Light It Up With This Gift Guide Inspired by Sarah J. Maas’ Universe
Ranking
- Get well, Pop. The Spurs are in great hands until your return
- The job market is getting more competitive. How to write a resume that stands out.
- Toyota group plant raided in test cheating probe as automaker says it sold 11.2M vehicles in 2023
- India’s navy rescues second Iranian-flagged fishing boat hijacked by Somali pirates
- Driver dies after crashing on hurricane-damaged highway in North Carolina
- Gambling busts at Iowa State were the result of improper searches, athletes’ attorneys contend
- The Bahamas pushes to reduce violence as the US Embassy warns of a spike in killings
- Pennsylvania high court revives a case challenging Medicaid limits for abortions
Recommendation
-
Barbora Krejcikova calls out 'unprofessional' remarks about her appearance
-
France’s government prepares new measures to calm farmers’ protests, with barricades squeezing Paris
-
Expletive. Fight. More expletives. Chiefs reach Super Bowl and win trash-talking battle
-
US Steel agrees to $42M in improvements and fines over air pollution violations after 2018 fire
-
Chris Evans Shares Thoughts on Starting a Family With Wife Alba Baptista
-
Life without parole for homeless Nevada man in deadly Jeep attack outside Reno homeless center
-
South Korea says North Korea fired cruise missiles in 3rd launch of such weapons this month
-
Arkansas authorities capture man charged with murder who escaped local jail