International Space Station: Which countries have been to the ISS?
Four astronauts are going into space this week, and three of them will make history for the same reason. The mission, called Axiom Mission 4, will include the first astronauts from India, Poland and Hungary to go on a mission to the International Space Station (ISS). Whilst for these countries having an astronaut visit the ISS is a first, over 280 individuals representing 23 countries have visited the ISS. Read on to find out more about this history making mission, and which other countries have visited the ISS...
Axiom Mission 4 - how is it making history?
Axiom Mission 4 will include the first astronauts to the ISS from India (Shubhanshu Shukla), Poland (Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski) and Hungary (Tibor Kapu).This will add three more countries to the total number that have visited the International Space Station. The flight has gained huge interest in India, as the Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla is India's second ever astronaut to reach space. The fourth astronaut of the mission is Peggy Whitson, a former NASA astronaut. She is America's most experienced astronaut, totalling 675 days in space, and became the first female commander of the ISS. The four-member crew will spend about 14 days on ISS and carry out more than 60 science experiments.
What countries have sent astronauts to the International Space Station?
The ISS has by visited by astronauts from many countries across the World, as shown on the map above. The most frequent visitors include the United States, who have sent 163 astronauts and Russia, who have sent 57. The 163 US astronauts that have visited ISS include Nasa astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore who recently returned back to Earth after being stuck at ISS for an unexpected nine months. The pair were originally only meant to be on board the space station for eight days but technical issues meant they instead remained in space for 286.
The UK have had a lot less presence at the ISS than some countries, having only sent one astronaut to the ISS... so farHowever, they are planning to send the first ever all-UK astronaut team to space in the near future. Tim Peake, who is so far the only Brit to stay on the ISS , was announced as a strategic advisor for this team last year. Whilst the names of the crew members are yet to be confirmed, there are currently only three people in the UK who have the training and qualifications to take part.
One astronaut with those qualifications is Rosemary Coogan.Rosemary graduated from a special training programme last year, becoming the UK's third-ever astronaut.She recently took part in spacewalk training lasting six hours where she's lowered, in full astronaut kit, into a 12m pool containing a life-sized replica of the space station.We met Rosemary during her training, check it out above!
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