On September 11, 2024, Earth reached a brand new milestone in house journey, with a document 19 folks at the moment orbiting our planet. This new document was set when a Russian Soyuz rocket launched three new astronauts in the direction of the Worldwide Area Station (ISSNThe earlier document of 17 was set final 12 months. This important improve in human presence in house highlights the rising exercise and collaboration within the realm of house exploration.

Soyuz Launches New Crew

The Soyuz mission took off on September 11, 2024, carrying NASA astronaut Don Pettit and Russian cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin and Ivan Wagner. Their arrival on the ISS is predicted to happen round 3:30 pm EDT (1930 GMT) on the identical day.

This trio joins the prevailing 9 astronauts aboard the ISS, together with NASA’s Michael Barratt, Tracy Caldwell-Dyson, Matthew Dominick, Jeanette Epps, Barry Wilmore, and Suni Williams, together with cosmonauts Nikolai Chub, Alexander Grebenkin, and Oleg Kononenko.

Worldwide and Non-public Area Missions

At present, three astronauts are residing on China’s Tiangong house station: Li Cong, Li Guangsu, and Ye Guangfu. Moreover, 4 astronauts are on the Polaris Daybreak mission aboard a Crew Dragon capsule. This mission, which started on September 10, 2024, goals to set new records in non-public house exploration, together with a deliberate spacewalk by Jared Isaacman and Sarah Gillis on September 12, 2024.

Information and Milestones

The document for the most individuals in house at one time was 20, set briefly in Could 2023 after which once more on January 26, 2024. This document was achieved when six house vacationers joined 14 astronauts in orbit. For individuals who think about the Kármán line because the boundary of house, the document for most individuals in house stays at 19, tied by the Soyuz launch and Blue Origin’s suborbital New Shepard mission on December 11, 2021.

This achievement displays the rising tempo of human house exploration and worldwide cooperation in orbit.