I like websites that perform one function well. This website answers the question of how many people are in space at any given moment and where (on the International Space Station, aboard the Space Shuttle, etc.) Link
I like websites that perform one function well. This website answers the question of how many people are in space at any given moment and where (on the International Space Station, aboard the Space Shuttle, etc.) Link
So, as a example of "a webpage that performs one function well"... well... what is that one thing, gives out inaccurate info?
Assuming there is some automation to this (if it's pulling the number off NASA's website), next Monday the 23rd Soyuz TMA-20 will be landing, so even if it can't keep track of the shuttle astronauts, that 6 should change to 3.
Then 3 more will be going up in June 7 on Soyuz TMA-02M, bringing the number back to 6.
For the record, back in 2008 I started this blog with a similar idea:
http://whoisinspacerightnow.blogspot.com/
Because, even with NASA's website, and wikipedia, I found it surprisingly time-consuming to glean Just.Who.The.Heck.Was.Up.There.RIGHT.NOW. You could find crew manifests for various Space Station Expeditions, but sometimes they'd list people who'd landed a month ago, or weren't going up for another couple of months.
Of course, entropy set in, and I sort of forgot about the blog in 2009 and 2010. But I'm updating it now.
NASA's ISS page does list the current ISS crew:
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html
So presumably it'll change next Monday (when the 3 depart on the Soyuz), but it doesn't keep track of the guests (shuttle astronauts) on the ISS right now.
Once some of these private space ventures get off the ground, they'll be whizzing around up there like softballs.