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Blastoff! - Space Shuttle Endeavour lifts off with a crew of seven astronauts in November 2002 at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida.

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Launching - The launch of a spacecraft can be one of the most nerve-racking moments of the entire mission. Here, Endeavour mission specialist Rick Mastracchio (center) reads the ascent checklist while the rest of the crew prepare for launch in August 2007.

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Staying healthy - Space life can be fun too! Aboard the ISS, Scott Kelly plays around with the newest supply of fresh fruit that just arrived aboard a cargo ship.

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Growing flowers -

Plants can thrive on the ISS too, as seen here in this photograph of a blooming zinnia flower.

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Drifting - Living in space makes for some pretty cool photo ops, like this one of NASA's Carl Meade floating untethered and Mark Lee hanging from the Space Shuttle Discovery's robot arm.

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Maintenance and repair - Constant maintenance on the ISS is required. Here, astronaut Christopher Cassidy smiles for the camera as he takes part in a extravehicular activity in June 2009.

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Northern Lights - One of the best things about being in space is getting to absorb the surrounding view. Here, incredibly colorful Northern Lights are spotted just above Canada in 2016.

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All shades of blue - Scott Kelly takes a selfie inside the Cupola, a special module that provides a 360º view of the Earth, with a spectacular view in the background.

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Preparing for deliveries - December 2015: Scott Kelly performs a spacewalk during which he and flight engineer Tim Kopra moved the ISS's mobile transporter rail car so that a Russian cargo supply spaceship could deck.

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Sunrise - Before returning home, astronauts must take in as much of the view as they can. Sunrises are quite possibly one of the most beautiful parts of their day.

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Spacewalk -

In this picture taken in June 1965, astronaut Ed White is seen floating in space, with the Earth in the background, during the first US spacewalk.

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Relaxing - NASA Astronaut Scott Kelly hangs out inside a Soyuz simulator at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Russia in 2015.

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Space music - Canadian Space Agency astronaut and former commander of the ISS Chris Hadfield recorded a cover of David Bowie's hit 'Space Oddity' while in space. The 2013 video went viral and has since garnered over 40 million hits on YouTube.

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Say cheese! - Astronauts Dale Gardner and Joseph P. Allen were light years ahead when it came to mirror selfies! Allen takes a picture of Gardner holding a "For Sale" sign, referring to the two satellites they retrieved from orbit in November 1984.

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Fish-eye effect - Commander Hadfield smiles as he watches a water bubble float in the Unity node of the ISS.

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The best perspective - Astronaut Karen Nyberg takes in the view of Earth from the ISS's newly installed Kibo laboratory during her first space mission in June 2008.

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Basic hygiene - Zero gravity is not an excuse to not clean properly! Here Nyberg shows how she washes her hair in space.

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Moments before - International Space Station crew members Yuri Malenchenko, Timothy Kopra, and Tim Peake get ready to board a spacecraft that would take them to the ISS in December 2015.

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Team work - Dave Wolf (center) helps Tom Marshburn with the final touches on his extravehicular mobility unit spacesuit as he and Christopher Cassidy (right) get ready to begin their spacewalk on July 24, 2009.

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Mission accomplished! - Mike Barratt (top) and Dave Wolf (bottom) help Tom Marshburn (left) and Christopher Cassidy (right) after they complete their spacewalk.

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Munchies - Endeavour mission specialist Alvin Drew (right) and space teacher Barbara Morgan (left) show students at the Challenger Center for Space Science Education how astronauts eat peanut M&Ms in space.

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Zero gravity - During an educational event in August 2007, Morgan and Drew also demonstrated what it's like to live without gravity.

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Tragedy looming - The devastating Hurricane Harvey that caused massive destruction in the southern United States can be seen from space off the coast of Texas.

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Privileged view - NASA astronaut Randy Bresnik took this photo of the rising moon from a low Earth orbit point while aboard the ISS.

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Space tourist - Private space explorer Anousheh Ansari while en route to the ISS in September 2006. Ansari was the fourth private space explorer but the first female to earn the title.

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Homecoming - A Soyuz capsule carrying ISS crew members Scott Kelly, Sergei Volkov, and Mikhail Korniyenko descends towards the town of Jezkazgan, Kazakhstan.

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Back to Earth -

Returning home is a huge part of an astronaut's life. Here, Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Korniyenko is seen inside the capsule that had just landed in Kazakhstan, in 2016.

See also: Space tourism and the otherworldly future of travel

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