International Space Station makes 100,000th orbit of Earth

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Monday, May 16, 2016
This image taken from a time lapse sequence aboard the space station shows the Milky Way and a lightning strike on Earth.
This image taken from a time lapse sequence aboard the space station shows the Milky Way and a lightning strike on Earth.
kgo-Photo by @Space_Station/Twitter

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- One-hundred-thousand laps around Earth, and the International Space Station is still sailing right along.

The space station reached the orbital milestone - 17 years in the making - Monday morning. NASA says these 100,000 orbits are akin to traveling more than 2.6 billion miles. That's equivalent to 10 round trips to Mars, or almost one way to Neptune.

Astronauts have been living continuously aboard the 250-mile-high complex since 2000. Construction began two years before that. Since then, more than 220 people have lived or visited there.

RELATED: International Space Station captures stunning footage of Aurora Borealis from space

Two Americans, three Russians and one Englishman currently call the space station home. They recently achieved a photographic milestone, snapping the 3 millionth picture taken over the years from the scientific outpost.

RELATED: Astronaut Scott Kelly returns to Earth after 340 days in space

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