This cool overhead photo of the International Space Station (ISS), orbiting the space high above the Caspian Sea, was taken by the Discovery Space Shuttle crew.
The ISS is the largest human-made object to orbit the earth and is the result of a joint cooperation of space agencies of many countries. Because the space station always has at least 2 crew members, there has been a continuous presence of mankind in space since November 2000.
Now, some fun stuff about the ISS:
The ISS has seen the first space tourist, Dennis Tito, who spent USD 20 million to fly aboard a Russian supply mission and the first space wedding when Yuri Malenchenko on the station married Ekaterina Dmitriev who was in Texas. Another planned curiosity will be a planned EVA by Russian cosmonaut Pavel Vinogradov in summer 2006 in order to hit a golf ball from the station, an event sponsored by a Canadian golf equipment manufacturer.