List of human spaceflights, 1961–70

This is a detailed listing of human spaceflights from 1961 to 1970, spanning the Soviet Vostok and Voskhod programs, the start of the Soviet Soyuz program, the American Mercury and Gemini programs, and the first lunar landings of the American Apollo program.

# Crew Launch
Spacecraft
Habitation Return
Spacecraft
Brief Mission Summary
1 Soviet Union Yuri Gagarin 12 April 1961
Soviet Union Vostok 1
First manned spaceflight. Completed one Earth orbit.
2 United States Alan B. Shepard 5 May 1961
United States Mercury-Redstone 3 (Freedom 7)
First American manned suborbital spaceflight (altitude 187 kilometres, 116 miles).
3 United States Virgil I. Grissom 21 July 1961
United States Mercury-Redstone 4 (Liberty Bell 7)
Second American manned suborbital flight (altitude 118.26 mi, 190 km).
4 Soviet Union Gherman Titov 6 August 1961
Soviet Union Vostok 2
7 August 1961
Soviet Union Vostok 2
Day-long flight. Completed 17 Earth orbits. Brief manual control by pilot.
5 United States John H. Glenn 20 February 1962
United States Mercury-Atlas 6 (Friendship 7)
First American manned orbital flight. Completed three orbits.
6 United States M. Scott Carpenter 24 May 1962
United States Mercury-Atlas 7 (Aurora 7)
First manual retrofire. Earth photography and study of liquids in weightless conditions.
7 Soviet Union Andriyan Nikolayev 11 August 1962
Soviet Union Vostok 3
15 August 1962
Soviet Union Vostok 3
First instance of two manned spacecraft in orbit simultaneously.
8 Soviet Union Pavel Popovich 12 August 1962
Soviet Union Vostok 4
15 August 1962
Soviet Union Vostok 4
First instance of two manned spacecraft in orbit simultaneously.
9 United States Walter M. Schirra 3 October 1962
United States Mercury-Atlas 8 (Sigma 7)
First flawless Mercury mission.
10 United States L. Gordon Cooper 15 May 1963
United States Mercury-Atlas 9 (Faith 7)
16 May 1963
United States Mercury-Atlas 9 (Faith 7)
First live TV from U.S. astronaut.
11 Soviet Union Valery Bykovsky 14 June 1963
Soviet Union Vostok 5
19 June 1963
Soviet Union Vostok 5
Longest solo spaceflight.
12 Soviet Union Valentina Tereshkova 16 June 1963
Soviet Union Vostok 6
19 June 1963
Soviet Union Vostok 6
First woman in space.
13 United States Joseph A. Walker 19 July 1963
United States Flight 90, X-15
First winged craft in space. Reached altitude of 106 km.
14 United States Joseph A. Walker 22 August 1963
United States Flight 91, X-15
Reached altitude of 108 km. Walker becomes first person to fly into space twice. X-15 #3 (serial 56-6672) becomes first vehicle to fly into space twice.
15 Soviet Union Vladimir Komarov
Soviet Union Konstantin Feoktistov
Soviet Union Boris Yegorov
12 October 1964
Soviet Union Voskhod 1
13 October 1964
Soviet Union Voskhod 1
First multiple person spaceflight. Biomedical research.
16 Soviet Union Alexey Leonov
Soviet Union Pavel Belyayev
18 March 1965
Soviet Union Voskhod 2
19 March 1965
Soviet Union Voskhod 2
First EVA.
17 United States Virgil I. Grissom
United States John W. Young
23 March 1965
United States Gemini 3
First to perform orbital maneuvers.
18 United States James A. McDivitt
United States Edward H. White
3 June 1965
United States Gemini 4
7 June 1965
United States Gemini 4
First American EVA.
19 United States L. Gordon Cooper
United States Charles P. Conrad
21 August 1965
United States Gemini 5
29 August 1965
United States Gemini 5
First one week spaceflight. Cooper becomes the first person to orbit the Earth on two different missions.
20 United States Frank F. Borman
United States James A. Lovell
4 December 1965
United States Gemini 7
18 December 1965
United States Gemini 7
First two-week spaceflight. First space rendezvous in history with Gemini 6A.
21 United States Walter M. Schirra
United States Thomas P. Stafford
15 December 1965
United States Gemini 6A
16 December 1965
United States Gemini 6A
First space rendezvous in history with Gemini 7.
22 United States Neil A. Armstrong
United States David R. Scott
16 March 1966
United States Gemini 8
17 March 1966
United States Gemini 8
First docking in space in history with Agena Target Vehicle Planned EVA canceled due to early re-entry necessitated by stuck thruster.
23 United States Thomas P. Stafford
United States Eugene A. Cernan
3 June 1966
United States Gemini 9A
6 June 1966
United States Gemini 9A
First backup crew to fly space mission.
24 United States John W. Young
United States Michael Collins
18 July 1966
United States Gemini 10
21 July 1966
United States Gemini 10
First rendezvous with two different objects.
25 United States Charles P. Conrad
United States Richard F. Gordon, Jr.
12 September 1966
United States Gemini 11
15 September 1966
United States Gemini 11
Held altitude record prior to lunar missions (1374 km).
26 United States James A. Lovell
United States Edwin E. Aldrin
11 November 1966
United States Gemini 12
15 November 1966
United States Gemini 12
First manual rendezvous. Miscellaneous scientific experiments.
27 Soviet Union Vladimir Komarov 23 April 1967
Soviet Union Soyuz 1
24 April 1967
Soviet Union Soyuz 1
Crashed on re-entry. First fatality during spaceflight.
28 United States Walter M. Schirra
United States Donn F. Eisele
United States R. Walter Cunningham
11 October 1968
United States Apollo 7
22 October 1968
United States Apollo 7
First three person U.S. crew. Launched over 20 months after Apollo 1 fatalities.
29 Soviet Union Georgy Beregovoy 26 October 1968
Soviet Union Soyuz 3
30 October 1968
Soviet Union Soyuz 3
Failed to dock with unmanned Soyuz 2.
30 United States Frank F. Borman
United States James A. Lovell
United States William A. Anders
21 December 1968
United States Apollo 8
27 December 1968
United States Apollo 8
First manned lunar orbit.
31 Soviet Union Vladimir Shatalov 14 January 1969
Soviet Union Soyuz 4
17 January 1969
Soviet Union Soyuz 4
First crew transfer between space vehicles. First docking of two manned spacecraft.
32 Soviet Union Aleksei Yeliseyev
Soviet Union Yevgeny Khrunov
15 January 1969
Soviet Union Soyuz 5
17 January 1969
Soviet Union Soyuz 4
First crew transfer between space vehicles. First docking of two manned spacecraft.
Soviet Union Boris Volynov 18 January 1969
Soviet Union Soyuz 5
33 United States James A. McDivitt
United States David R. Scott
United States Russell L. Schweickart
3 March 1969
United States Apollo 9
13 March 1969
United States Apollo 9
Tested Lunar Module in low Earth orbit.
34 United States Thomas P. Stafford
United States John W. Young
United States Eugene A. Cernan
18 May 1969
United States Apollo 10
26 May 1969
United States Apollo 10
Tested Lunar Module in low lunar orbit.
35 United States Neil A. Armstrong
United States Michael Collins
United States Edwin E. Aldrin
16 July 1969
United States Apollo 11
Moon 24 July 1969
United States Apollo 11
First lunar landing.
36 Soviet Union Georgy Shonin
Soviet Union Valeri Kubasov
11 October 1969
Soviet Union Soyuz 6
16 October 1969
Soviet Union Soyuz 6
First three-craft spaceflight.
37 Soviet Union Anatoly Filipchenko
Soviet Union Vladislav Volkov
Soviet Union Viktor Gorbatko
12 October 1969
Soviet Union Soyuz 7
17 October 1969
Soviet Union Soyuz 7
First three-craft spaceflight.
38 Soviet Union Vladimir Shatalov
Soviet Union Aleksei Yeliseyev
13 October 1969
Soviet Union Soyuz 8
18 October 1969
Soviet Union Soyuz 8
First three-craft spaceflight.
39 United States Charles P. Conrad
United States Richard F. Gordon, Jr.
United States Alan Bean
14 November 1969
United States Apollo 12
Moon 24 November 1969
United States Apollo 12
Second lunar landing. Precision landing near Surveyor 3.
40 United States James A. Lovell
United States John L. Swigert
United States Fred W. Haise
11 April 1970
United States Apollo 13
17 April 1970
United States Apollo 13
Lunar landing aborted following explosion en route.
41 Soviet Union Andriyan Nikolayev
Soviet Union Vitaliy Sevastyanov
1 June 1970
Soviet Union Soyuz 9
19 June 1970
Soviet Union Soyuz 9
Investigations into effects of prolonged spaceflight. Record duration mission for single spacecraft.

See also

A chart showing relative accomplishments in human spaceflights (along with probes) visually graphing how the Soviet Union was far ahead of the U.S. in the early 1960s, but lost that lead in the middle of the decade. By the end of the decade, the U.S. had established unquestioned superiority by accomplishing President Kennedy's Moon challenge.
A chart showing U.S. astronaut assignments during the 1960s through the Apollo era.
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