Happy 25th Anniversary to Humankind

 25th Anniversary of the last time ALL of humankind was alone...on Earth.

On October 31, 2000, a momentous event marked a turning point in humanity’s presence in space. That day, the Soyuz TM-31 capsule launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, carrying three astronauts on a mission to the International Space Station (ISS). The crew included Bill Shepherd, a NASA astronaut, and Sergei Krikalev and Yuri Gidzenko, cosmonauts from Roscosmos. Their mission, Expedition One, would begin a continuous human presence in orbit—a milestone that remains in place nearly 25 years later.