List of spaceflight records
This is a list of spaceflight records. Most of these records relate to human spaceflights, but some unmanned and animal records are included.
First independent sub-orbital and orbital human spaceflight by country
Country | Mission | Crew | Spacecraft | Launch vehicle | Date | Type |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
USSR[1] | Vostok 1[1] | Yuri Gagarin[1] | Vostok 3KA[1] | Vostok-K[1] | 12 April 1961[1] | Orbital[1] |
USA[2] | Mercury-Redstone 3 (Freedom 7)[2] | Alan Shepard[2] | Mercury Spacecraft No.7[2] | Mercury-Redstone[2] | 5 May 1961[2] | Sub-orbital[2] |
USA[3] | Mercury-Atlas 6 (Friendship 7)[3] | John Glenn[3] | Mercury Spacecraft No.13[3] | Atlas LV-3B | 20 February 1962[3] | Orbital[3] |
China[4] | Shenzhou 5[4] | Yang Liwei[4] | Shenzhou spacecraft[4] | Long March 2F[4] | 15 October 2003[4] | Orbital[4] |
Most spaceflights
- 7 spaceflights
- Franklin Chang-Diaz – Costa Rica/USA*[5]
- Jerry L. Ross – USA[5]
- 6 spaceflights
- John W. Young[6] – USA
- Story Musgrave – USA
- Curtis Brown – USA
- James Wetherbee – USA
- Michael Foale – United Kingdom/USA*
- Sergei Krikalev – Russia[7]
- Yuri Malenchenko – Russia
Note: While Young has made six spaceflights, he was launched into orbit seven times if his moon ascent on Apollo 16 is counted.
* Dual citizen.
Duration of spaceflight
Most time in space
Gennady Padalka, who has spent 879 days in space over 5 missions, became the man who spent the most time in space when he surpassed, on 28 June 2015, the record of Sergei Krikalev who spent 803 days, 9 hours and 39 minutes, or 2.2 years in space over the span of six spaceflights on Soyuz, the Space Shuttle, Mir, and the International Space Station. Currently, second is Yuri Malenchenko who spent 828 days in space on six spaceflights.[7][8][9][10]
Ten longest human space flights
Longest single flight by a woman
- Peggy Whitson, NASA Astronaut, holds the record for the longest single spaceflight by a woman when she surpassed Samantha Cristoforetti of ESA's 199 days, 16 hours during Expedition 52 in 2017. She is due to return to Earth in September 2017, when her flight will have had a duration of approximately 290 days.[19][20] Third is American astronaut Sunita Williams with 195 days[21][22] on the ISS where she was a member of Expedition 14/Expedition 15 (2006–2007).
Longest continuous occupation of space
- An international partnership consisting of Russia, the United States, Canada, Japan and the member states of the European Space Agency have jointly maintained a continuous human presence in space since 31 October 2000 when Soyuz TM-31 was launched. Two days later it docked with the International Space Station.[5][23] Since then space has been continuously occupied for 16 years, 285 days.[5]
Longest continuous occupation of a spacecraft
- The International Space Station has been continuously occupied since 2 November 2000 (16 years, 283 days).[5][23] It broke the record of 9 years 358 days of the Soviet/Russian Space Station Mir on 23 October 2010.[23]
Longest solo flight
- Valery Bykovsky flew for 4 days and 23 hours solo in Vostok 5, 14–19 June 1963.[24] The flight set a space endurance record which was broken in 1965 by the (non-solo) Gemini 5 flight. The Apollo program included long solo spaceflight, and during the Apollo 16 mission, T.K. Mattingly orbited solo around the Moon for more than 3 days and 9 hours.
Longest time on lunar surface
- Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt of the Apollo 17 mission stayed for 74 hours 59 minutes 40 seconds (over 3 days) on the lunar surface after they landed on 11 December 1972.[25] They performed three EVAs (extra-vehicular activity) totaling 22 hours 3 minutes, 57 seconds (as commanders were always the first one out of the LM and the last to get back in, Cernan's EVA time was slightly longer).[25]
Longest time in lunar orbit
- Ronald Evans of Apollo 17 mission stayed in lunar orbit for 6 days and 4 hours (148 hours),[26] however for the solo portion of that flight around the Moon, T.K. Mattingly on Apollo 16 spent 1 hour 38 minutes longer than Evans' solo duration.
Animal records
First animals in space
- Fruit flies launched by the United States in 1947 aboard a V-2 rocket to an altitude of 68 miles (108 km).[27] Also the first animals to safely return from space.[27]
First animal in orbit
- Laika was a Soviet female canine launched on 3 November 1957 on Sputnik 2. The technology to deorbit had not yet been developed, so there was no expectation for survival. She died several hours into flight. Belka and Strelka were the first to successfully return to Earth from orbit on 19 August 1960.
Longest canine single flight
- Veterok (Ветерок, "Light Wind") and Ugolyok (Уголёк, "Ember") were launched on 22 February 1966 on board Cosmos 110 and spent 22 days in orbit before landing on 16 March.
First animals beyond low–Earth orbit
- An assortment of animals including a pair of Russian tortoises, as well as wine flies and mealworms launched with a number of other biological specimens including seeds and bacteria on a circumlunar mission aboard the Zond 5 spacecraft.[27] It was launched by a Proton-K rocket on 15 September 1968.[27] The capsule came within 2000 km of the moon and returned to Earth, the first spacecraft in history to return safely to Earth from the moon.[27]
Speed and altitude
Farthest humans from Earth
- Apollo 13 crew; Jim Lovell, Fred Haise, Jack Swigert while passing over the far side of the moon at an altitude of 254 km (158 mi) from the lunar surface, were 400,171 km (248,655 mi) from Earth.[28] This record breaking distance was reached at 0:21 UTC on 15 April 1970.[28]
Highest altitude for manned non-lunar mission
- Gemini 11 crew Charles Conrad, Jr and Richard F. Gordon, Jr. fired their Agena Target Vehicle rocket engine on 14 September 1966, at 40 hours 30 minutes after liftoff and achieved a record apogee altitude of 739.2 nautical miles (1,369.0 km).[29]
Fastest
- The Apollo 10 crew; Thomas Stafford, John W. Young and Eugene Cernan achieved the highest speed relative to Earth ever attained by humans; 39,897 km/h (11.082 km/s, 24,791 mph, approximately 32 times the speed of sound and approximately 0.0037 percent of the speed of light).[5] The record was set 26 May 1969.[5]
Age records
Earliest-born to reach space (suborbital flight)
- Joe Walker born 20 February 1921, on X-15 Flight 90 on 19 July 1963.
Earliest-born to go into space (orbital flight)
- Man – Georgy Beregovoy born 15 April 1921, on Soyuz 3 on 26 October 1968.
- Woman – Valentina Tereshkova born 6 March 1937, on Vostok 6 on 16–19 June 1963.
Youngest (age during space flight)
- Man – Gherman Titov, aged 25 years, on Vostok 2 on 6 August 1961.[5]
- Woman – Valentina Tereshkova, aged 26 years on Vostok 6 on 16–19 June 1963.
Oldest (age during space flight)
- Man – John Glenn at age 77, 29 October 1998 on STS-95.[5]
- Woman – Peggy Whitson at age 56, 17 November 2016 on Soyuz MS-03. Turned 57 while in space.[30]
Spacewalks
Most spacewalks
- Man – Anatoly Solovyev, 16 spacewalks for total of 77 hours, 41 minutes (which is also the duration record).[5]
- Woman – Peggy Whitson, 10 spacewalks for a total time of 60 hours, 21 minutes.[31][32][33]
Most spacewalks during a single mission
- 7: Anatoly Solovyev, during the 24th Expedition on the Soviet/Russian space station Mir, in 1997–98.
- Two were internal "spacewalks" inside a depressurized module.
- 6: Leonid Kizim and Vladimir Solovyov, the third crew on the Soviet space station Salyut 7.
Human spaceflight firsts
First | Person(s) | Mission | Country | Date |
---|---|---|---|---|
Person to reach space Person in orbit |
Yuri Gagarin | Vostok 1[34] | USSR | 12 April 1961 |
Person to make suborbital flight Person to (land) in a spacecraft after spaceflight thus achieving the first complete human spaceflight by FAI definitions Person to pilot a craft in space |
Alan Shepard | Freedom 7 | USA | 5 May 1961 |
Person in space for over 24 hours Multiple orbits during a spaceflight |
Gherman Titov | Vostok 2 | USSR | 6 August 1961 – 7 August 1961 |
Person to land (splashdown) in a spacecraft after orbital flight |
John Glenn | Friendship 7 | USA | 20 February 1962 |
Group flight Adjacent orbits Spacecraft-to-spacecraft communications |
Andrian Nikolayev Pavel Popovich |
Vostok 3 Vostok 4 |
USSR | 12 August 1962 – 15 August 1962 |
Woman in space Civilian in space |
Valentina Tereshkova | Vostok 6 | USSR | 16 June 1963 – 19 June 1963 |
Spaceflight (suborbital) by winged spacecraft | Joe Walker | X-15 Flight 90 | USA | 19 July 1963 |
Person to enter space twice (suborbital flights above 100 km) | Joe Walker | X-15 Flights 90 and 91 |
USA | 22 August 1963 |
Three-person spaceflight, single spacecraft Persons to land in a spacecraft on hard ground Manned flight without pressurized spacesuits |
Vladimir Komarov Konstantin Feoktistov Boris Yegorov |
Voskhod 1[34] | USSR | 12 October 1964 – 13 October 1964 |
Spacewalk |
Alexey Leonov | Voskhod 2[34] | USSR | 18 March 1965 |
Orbital maneuvers (change orbit) | Gus Grissom, John W. Young | Gemini 3[34] | USA | 23 March 1965 |
Person to fly two orbital spaceflights | Gordon Cooper | Faith 7 Gemini 5 |
USA | 15 May 1963 – 16 May 1963; 21 August 1965 – 29 August 1965 |
Persons to spend one week in space | Gordon Cooper Pete Conrad |
Gemini 5 | USA | 21 August 1965 – 29 August 1965 |
Space rendezvous (orbital maneuver and station-keeping) Four people in space |
Frank Borman, Jim Lovell Walter Schirra, Thomas Stafford |
Gemini 7 Gemini 6A[34] |
USA | 15 December 1965 – 16 December 1965 |
Space docking |
Neil Armstrong David Scott |
Gemini 8 and Agena[34] | USA | 16 March 1966 |
Multiple rendezvous | John W. Young Michael Collins |
Gemini 10 with Agena 10 and Agena 8 | USA | 19 July 1966; 20 July 1966 |
Spaceflight fatality (during landing) | Vladimir Komarov | Soyuz 1 | USSR | 23 April 1967 – 24 April 1967 |
Person to complete three spaceflights | Walter Schirra | Apollo 7 (previous flights Mercury-Atlas 8, Gemini 6A) |
USA | 22 October 1968 |
Persons to leave Low Earth orbit (LEO) Persons to escape Earth's influence Persons to enter lunar orbit |
Frank Borman Jim Lovell Bill Anders |
Apollo 8 | USA | 24 December 1968 – 25 December 1968 |
Space docking of two manned spacecraft Dual spacewalk Сrew transfer (Khrunov, Yeliseyev) |
Vladimir Shatalov Boris Volynov Aleksei Yeliseyev Yevgeny Khrunov |
Soyuz 4 Soyuz 5 |
USSR | 16 January 1969 |
Solo flight around the Moon | John Young | Apollo 10 | USA | 22 May 1969 |
Moon landing/ planetary surface EVA |
Neil Armstrong Buzz Aldrin |
Apollo 11 | USA | 20 July 1969 |
Time five people are in space | Georgi Shonin, Valeri Kubasov Anatoly Filipchenko, Vladislav Volkov, Viktor Gorbatko |
Soyuz 6 Soyuz 7 |
USSR | 12 October 1969 – 13 October 1969 |
Triple spaceflight Seven-people in space |
Shonin, Kubasov Filipchenko, Volkov, Gorbatko Vladimir Shatalov, Aleksei Yeliseyev |
Soyuz 6 Soyuz 7 Soyuz 8 |
USSR | 13 October 1969 – 16 October 1969 |
Person to complete four spaceflights | James A. Lovell | Apollo 13 (previous flights Gemini 7, Gemini 12, Apollo 8) |
USA | 17 April 1970 |
Person to fly two lunar flights Person to complete two flights beyond low–Earth orbit |
James A. Lovell | Apollo 13 (previous flight Apollo 8) |
USA | 11 April 1970 – 17 April 1970 |
People to spend two weeks in space Night launch |
Andrian Nikolayev Vitali Sevastyanov |
Soyuz 9 | USSR | 1 June 1970 – 19 June 1970 |
People to EVA out of sight of their spacecraft |
Alan Shepard Edgar Mitchell |
Apollo 14 | USA | 6 February 1971 |
Docking with space station Night landing |
Vladimir Shatalov Aleksei Yeliseyev Nikolai Rukavishnikov |
Soyuz 10 docked with Salyut 1 (soft dock) |
USSR | 22 April 1971 – 24 April 1971 |
Manned space station |
Georgi Dobrovolski Viktor Patsayev Vladislav Volkov |
Soyuz 11 docked with Salyut 1 |
USSR | 7 June 1971 – 29 June 1971 |
In-space fatalities | Georgi Dobrovolski Viktor Patsayev Vladislav Volkov |
Soyuz 11 | USSR | 29 June 1971 |
People to travel in a wheeled vehicle on a planetary body other than Earth. | Dave Scott Jim Irwin |
Apollo 15 | USA | 31 July 1971– 2 August 1971 |
EVA in outer space outside Low Earth orbit (trans-Earth trajectory) | Al Worden | Apollo 15 | USA | 5 August 1971 |
Person twice in lunar orbit (during separate lunar expeditions) |
John W. Young | Apollo 16 (previous flight Apollo 10) | USA | 16 April 1972 – 27 April 1972 |
People in orbit for four weeks | Pete Conrad Joseph Kerwin Paul Weitz |
Skylab 2 | USA | 25 May 1973 – 22 June 1973 |
People in orbit for eight weeks | Alan Bean Jack Lousma Owen Garriott |
Skylab 3 | USA | 28 July 1973 – 25 September 1973 |
People in orbit for 12 weeks | Gerald Carr William Pogue Edward Gibson |
Skylab 4 | USA | 16 November 1973 – 8 February 1974 |
Spaceflight aborted during liftoff (at 145 kilometers (90 mi) altitude) Re-entry (emergency) with 20g acceleration |
Vasily Lazarev, Oleg Makarov | Soyuz 18a | USSR | 5 April 1975 |
Crew to visit occupied space station | Vladimir Dzhanibekov, Oleg Makarov | Soyuz 27 visits Salyut 6 EO-1 crew | USSR | 10 January 1978 – 16 January 1978 |
People in orbit 19 weeks (4 months) |
Vladimir Kovalyonok, Aleksandr Ivanchenkov | Salyut 6 EO-2, Soyuz 29-Soyuz 31 | USSR | 15 June 1978 – 2 November 1978 |
People in orbit 26 weeks (6 months) |
Leonid Popov, Valery Ryumin | Salyut 6 EO-4, Soyuz 35-Soyuz 37 | USSR | 9 April 1980 – 11 October 1980 |
Spaceflight (orbital) by winged spacecraft | John W. Young Robert L. Crippen |
STS-1 | USA | 12 April 1981 |
Person to fly four different types of spacecraft | John W. Young | STS-1 (previous flights in Gemini, Apollo, and Lunar Module) | USA | 12 April 1981 |
Person to complete five spaceflights | John W. Young | STS-1 (previous flights Gemini 3, Gemini 10, Apollo 10, Apollo 16) |
USA | 14 April 1981 |
Four-person spaceflight, single spacecraft |
Vance Brand, Robert F. Overmyer Joseph P. Allen, William B. Lenoir |
STS-5 | USA | 11 November 1982 – 16 November 1982 |
Five-person spaceflight, single spacecraft |
Robert L. Crippen, Frederick H. Hauck John M. Fabian, Sally K. Ride, Norman E. Thagard |
STS-7 | USA | 18 June 1983 – 24 June 1983 |
Six-person spaceflight, single spacecraft |
John W. Young, Brewster H. Shaw, Owen K. Garriott, Robert A. Parker, Byron K. Lichtenberg – USA Ulf Merbold – Germany (European Space Agency) |
STS-9 | USA West Germany |
28 November 1983 – 8 December 1983 |
Person to complete six spaceflights | John W. Young | STS-9 (previous flights Gemini 3, Gemini 10, Apollo 10, Apollo 16, STS-1) |
USA | 8 December 1983 |
Untethered spacewalk |
Bruce McCandless II | STS-41-B | USA | 7 February 1984 |
Time eight people in space, no docking | Oleg Atkov, Leonid Kizim, Vladimir Solovyov – USSR Vance D. Brand, Robert L. Gibson, Bruce McCandless II, Ronald McNair, Robert L. Stewart – USA |
Salyut 7 EO-3, Soyuz T-10, STS-41-B | USSR USA |
8 February 1984 – 11 February 1984 |
Time 11 people in space, no docking | Oleg Atkov, Leonid D. Kizim, Yury Malyshev, Vladimir Solovyov, Gennady Strekalov – USSR Robert L. Crippen, Terry J. Hart, George Nelson, Francis Scobee, James van Hoften – USA Rakesh Sharma – India |
STS-41-C, Salyut 7 EO-3, Soyuz T-10-Soyuz T-11 | USSR USA India |
6 April 1984 – 11 April 1984 |
People to complete four spacewalks during the same mission | Leonid Kizim, Vladimir Solovyov | Salyut 7 | USSR | 26 April – 18 May 1984 |
Spacewalk by woman | Svetlana Savitskaya | Soyuz T-12 | USSR | 25 July 1984 |
People in orbit 33 weeks (7 months) |
Leonid Kizim, Vladimir Solovyov, Oleg Atkov | Salyut 7 EO-3, Soyuz T-10-Soyuz T-11 | USSR | 8 February 1984 – 2 October 1984 |
Seven person spaceflight, single spacecraft | Robert L. Crippen, Jon A. McBride, Kathryn D. Sullivan, Sally K. Ride, David C. Leestma, Paul D. Scully-Power – USA Marc Garneau – Canada |
STS-41-G | USA Canada |
5 October 1984 – 13 October 1984 |
Time two women in space | Kathryn D. Sullivan, Sally K. Ride | STS-41-G | USA | 5 October 1984 – 13 October 1984 |
Partial crew exchange at a space station | Alexander Volkov, Vladimir Vasyutin replace Vladimir Dzhanibekov | Soyuz T-14, Salyut 7 | USSR | 17 September 1985 – 26 September 1985 |
Eight person spaceflight, single spacecraft | Henry W. Hartsfield, Steven R. Nagel, Bonnie J. Dunbar, James F. Buchli, Guion S. Bluford – USA Reinhard Furrer, Ernst Messerschmid – West Germany Wubbo Ockels – Netherlands (European Space Agency) |
STS-61-A | USA West Germany Netherlands |
30 October 1985 – 6 November 1985 |
Fatalities during launch | Francis "Dick" Scobee Michael J. Smith Ellison Onizuka Judith Resnik Ronald McNair Sharon Christa McAuliffe Gregory Jarvis |
STS-51-L | USA | 28 January 1986 |
Space station to space station flight/ Space station to space station return flight/ Expedition on two space stations |
Leonid Kizim Vladimir Solovyov |
Soyuz T-15 from Mir to Salyut 7 back to Mir[16] | USSR | 15 March 1986 – 16 July 1986 |
Complete crew exchange at a space station | Vladimir Titov, Musa Manarov replace Yuri Romanenko, Alexander Alexandrov | Soyuz TM-4-Soyuz TM-2, Soyuz TM-3, at Mir | USSR | 21 December 1987 – 29 December 1987 |
People in orbit 52 weeks (one year) |
Vladimir Titov, Musa Manarov | Mir EO-3, Soyuz TM-4-Soyuz TM-6 | USSR | 21 December 1987 – 21 December 1988 |
Time 12 people in space; no docking | Shuttle: Vance Brand, Samuel Durrance, Guy S. Gardner, Jeffrey A. Hoffman, John M. Lounge, Ronald Parise, Robert A. Parker – USA Mir: Gennady Manakov, Gennady Strekalov – Russia Soyuz and Soyuz/Mir: |
STS-35, Mir EO-7, Soyuz TM-10-Soyuz TM-11 | USSR USA Japan |
2 December 1990 – 10 December 1990 |
Time three women in space | Millie Hughes-Fulford, Tamara E. Jernigan, M. Rhea Seddon | STS-40 | USA | 5 June 1991 – 14 June 1991 |
Three-person spacewalk |
Pierre J. Thuot, Richard J. Hieb Thomas D. Akers |
STS-49 | USA | 13 May 1992 |
Time 13 people in space; no docking | Shuttle: Steve Oswald, William Gregory, John Grunsfeld, Wendy Lawrence, Tammy Jernigan, Sam Durrance, Ron Parise – USA Mir: Aleksandr Viktorenko, Yelena Kondakova, Valeriy Polyakov – Russia Soyuz/Mir: |
STS-67, Mir, Soyuz TM-20, Soyuz TM-21 | USA Russia |
14 March 1995 – 18 March 1995 |
Time ten people in one spacecraft; docking |
Robert L. Gibson, Charles J. Precourt, Ellen S. Baker, Bonnie J. Dunbar, Gregory J. Harbaugh Norman E. Thagard – USA Anatoly Solovyev, Nikolai Budarin, Vladimir Dezhurov, Gennady Strekalov – Russia |
STS-71, Mir, Soyuz TM-21 | USA Russia |
29 June 1995 – 4 July 1995 |
Space tourist | Dennis Tito | Soyuz TM-32/31, ISS EP-1 | USA Russia |
April 28, 2001 – May 6, 2001 |
Person to complete seven trips to space | Jerry L. Ross | STS-110 (previous flights STS-61B, STS-27, STS-37, STS-55, STS-74, STS-88) |
USA | 19 April 2002 |
Citizen of an independent African country in space | Mark Shuttleworth | Soyuz TM-34 | South Africa | 25 April 2002 - 5 May 2002 |
Privately funded human space flight (suborbital) |
Mike Melvill | SpaceShipOne flight 15P | USA | 21 June 2004 |
Time 13 people in one spacecraft; docking[5] |
Michael Barratt, Mark L. Polansky, Douglas G. Hurley, Christopher J. Cassidy, Thomas H. Marshburn, David Wolf, Timothy Kopra – USA Gennady Padalka, Roman Romanenko – Russia Robert Thirsk, Julie Payette – Canada Frank De Winne – Belgium (European Space Agency) Koichi Wakata – Japan |
ISS, Soyuz TMA-14, Soyuz TMA-15, STS-127 | USA Russia Canada Belgium Japan |
17 July 2009 |
Four women in space at once |
Shuttle: Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger, Stephanie Wilson – USA Naoko Yamazaki – Japan ISS: Tracy Caldwell Dyson – USA |
STS-131 ISS Expedition 23 |
USA Japan |
5 April 2010 – 20 April 2010 |
Total time in space
The following is a list of the 50 space travelers with the most total time in space, as of 3 June 2017.[35] Travelers currently in space are ranked by total time in space of their completed missions only.
Color-key:
- Currently in space
- Active
- Retired
- Deceased
Total human spaceflight time by country
Nation | Total persons | Total person flights | Total in orbit (@ update)* | Total person days*+ | % of Total person days |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
TOTAL | 550 | 1244 | 6 | 50400.99 | - |
Russia Soviet Union | 122 | 265 | 2 | 26723.85 | |
United States | 337 | 845 | 3 | 18990.68 | |
39 | 63 | 1 | 2647.57 | ||
Japan | 11 | 19 | - | 1186.54 | |
Germany | 11 | 15 | - | 658.97 | |
Italy | 7 | 12 | 1 | 641.73 | |
France | 10 | 18 | - | 628.92 | |
Canada | 9 | 17 | - | 506.14 | |
Netherlands | 2 | 3 | - | 210.69 | |
Belgium | 2 | 3 | - | 207.65 | |
United Kingdom | 2 | 2 | - | 193.81 | |
China | 11 | 14 | - | 165.35 | |
Switzerland | 1 | 4 | - | 42.50 | |
Sweden | 1 | 2 | - | 26.73 | |
Spain | 1 | 2 | - | 18.78 | |
Israel | 1 | 1 | - | 15.93 | |
Ukraine | 1 | 1 | - | 15.69 | |
Bulgaria | 2 | 2 | - | 11.80 | |
Malaysia | 1 | 1 | - | 10.88 | |
South Korea | 1 | 1 | - | 10.88 | |
South Africa | 1 | 1 | - | 9.89 | |
Brazil | 1 | 1 | - | 9.89 | |
Kazakhstan | 1 | 1 | - | 9.84 | |
Denmark | 1 | 1 | - | 9.84 | |
Afghanistan | 1 | 1 | - | 8.85 | |
Syria | 1 | 1 | - | 7.96 | |
Czechoslovakia | 1 | 1 | - | 7.93 | |
Austria | 1 | 1 | - | 7.93 | |
Poland | 1 | 1 | - | 7.92 | |
Slovakia | 1 | 1 | - | 7.91 | |
India | 1 | 1 | - | 7.90 | |
Hungary | 1 | 1 | - | 7.86 | |
Cuba | 1 | 1 | - | 7.86 | |
Vietnam | 1 | 1 | - | 7.86 | |
Mongolia | 1 | 1 | - | 7.86 | |
Romania | 1 | 1 | - | 7.86 | |
Saudi Arabia | 1 | 1 | - | 7.07 | |
Mexico | 1 | 1 | - | 6.88 | |
Astronauts currently in space: Sergei Nikolayevich Ryazansky Fyodor Nikolayevich Yurchikhin Peggy Annette Whitson Randolph James "Randy" Bresnik Paolo Angelo Nespoli Jack David "2fish" Fischer |
Crew Vehicles currently in space: Soyuz MS-04 Soyuz MS-05 | ||||
Table data accurate as of 2017-08-12 04:05 UTC | |||||
* includes those in orbit at time table was updated +TOTAL person days in orbit will not match the sum of the totals for individual nations as some individuals are dual citizens (based solely on those identified as such by spacefacts.de - see table references). |
Notable unmanned spaceflights
In reference to: | Spacecraft | Event | Origin | Date |
---|---|---|---|---|
Earth | MW 18014 (A-4(V-2)) | First rocket to reach space (suborbital flight). | Germany | 20 June 1944 |
Earth | V-2 No. 20 | First living organisms (fruit flies) in space (suborbital flight) successfully recovered. | USA | 20 February 1947 |
Earth | R-1V[40] | First mammals (dogs) in space (suborbital flight) successfully recovered. | USSR | 22 July 1951 |
Earth | Sputnik 1 | First satellite in orbit.[34] | USSR | 4 October 1957 |
Earth | Sputnik 2 | First animal in orbit, Laika the dog. | USSR | 3 November 1957 |
Earth | Vanguard 1 | Oldest satellite still in orbit— expected to stay in orbit 240 years. Ceased transmission in May 1964. | USA | 17 March 1958 |
Earth | Pioneer 1 | Failed to reach the moon as intended, but reached a record–setting distance of 113,800 km from Earth. | USA | 11 October 1958 |
Earth | Jupiter AM-13 | First monkey in space. | USA | 13 December 1958 |
Earth | Luna 1 | First spacecraft to reach Earth's escape velocity. | USSR | 4 January 1959 |
Moon | Luna 1 | First flyby, dist. of 5,995 km. | USSR | 4 January 1959 |
Sun | Luna 1 | First spacecraft in heliocentric orbit. | USSR | 4 January 1959 |
Moon | Luna 2 | First impact.[34] | USSR | 14 September 1959 |
Moon | Luna 3 | First image of lunar far-side.[34] | USSR | 7 October 1959 |
Earth | Discoverer 13 | First satellite recovered from orbit.[34] | USA | 11 August 1960 |
Earth | Korabl-Sputnik 2 | First living beings recovered from orbit.[41] | USSR | 19 August 1960 |
Venus | Venera 1 | First flyby, dist. of 100,000 km (lost communication contact before).[34] | USSR | 19 May 1961 |
Venus | Mariner 2 | First planetary flyby, dist. of 34,762 km (with communication contact). | USA | 14 December 1962 |
Earth | Lincoln Calibration Sphere 1 | Oldest spacecraft still in use, 50 yrs as of 2015 | USA | 6 May 1965 |
Mars | Mariner 4 | First Mars flyby, first planetary imaging, dist. of 9,846 km. | USA | 14 July 1965 |
Earth | Astérix | First satellite launched independently by a nation other than the US or USSR (other nations had previously flown satellites launched on American rockets). | France | 26 November 1965 |
Moon | Luna 9 | First soft landing, first pictures from lunar surface.[34] | USSR | 3 February 1966 |
Venus | Venera 3 | First impact.[34] | USSR | 1 March 1966 |
Moon | Luna 10 | First orbiter.[34] | USSR | 3 April 1966 |
Docking | Cosmos 186, Cosmos 188 | First automated docking of unmanned spacecraft. | USSR | 30 October 1967 |
Moon | Zond 5 | First to circle the Moon and return to land on Earth. First animals to circle the Moon. |
USSR | 15 September 1968 |
Moon | Luna 16 | First automated sample return. | USSR | 24 September 1970 |
Moon | Luna 17 | First automated roving vehicle – Lunokhod 1. | USSR | 17 November 1970 |
Venus | Venera 7 | First soft landing. | USSR | 15 December 1970 |
Mars | Mariner 9 | First orbiter. | USA | 14 November 1971 |
Mars | Mars 2 | First impact. | USSR | 27 November 1971 |
Mars | Mars 3 | First soft landing, telemetry signal for 20 seconds before transmissions ceased. |
USSR | 2 December 1971 |
Sun | Pioneer 10 | First spacecraft to reach Sun's escape velocity. | USA | 3 March 1972 |
Jupiter | Pioneer 10 | First flyby, dist. of 132,000 km. | USA | 4 December 1973 |
Mercury | Mariner 10 | First flyby, dist. of 703 km. | USA | 29 March 1974 |
Venus | Venera 9 | First orbiter. First surface-level imaging of another planet. |
USSR | 22 October 1975 |
Sun | Helios 2 | Highest velocity of a spacecraft relative to the sun, 252,792 km/h. Closest ever approach to the sun at a record distance of 0.29 AU (43 million km), slightly inside the orbit of Mercury. Record still unbeaten as of November 2009 but to be beaten by the future Solar Orbiter probe (0.23 AU / 33 million km). |
West Germany USA |
17 April 1976 |
Mars | Viking 1 | First surface-level imaging of Mars. | USA | 20 July 1976 |
Saturn | Pioneer 11 | First flyby, dist. of 21,000 km. | USA | 1 September 1979 |
Venus | Venera 13 | First sound record on another planet. | USSR | 1 March 1982 |
Trans-Neptunian region | Pioneer 10 | First spacecraft to travel past the orbit of Neptune, the furthest major planet from the sun. | USA | 13 June 1983 |
Venus | Vega 1 | First helium balloon atmospheric probe. | USSR | 11 June 1985 |
Comet Giacobini-Zinner | International Cometary Explorer (ICE) | First flyby through comet tail, dist. of 7,800 km, no pictures. | USA | 11 September 1985 |
Uranus | Voyager 2 | First flyby, dist. of 81,500 km. | USA | 24 January 1986 |
Comet Halley | Vega 1 | First comet flyby with pictures returned, dist. of 8,890 km. | USSR | 6 March 1986 |
Orbital Spaceplane | Buran | First fully automated orbital flight of a spaceplane (with airstrip landing). | USSR | 15 November 1988 |
Phobos | Phobos 2 | First flyby, dist. of 860 km. | USSR | 21 February 1989 |
Neptune | Voyager 2 | First flyby, dist. of 40,000 km. | USA | 25 August 1989 |
951 Gaspra | Galileo | First asteroid flyby, dist. of 1,600 km. | USA | 29 October 1991 |
Jupiter | Galileo probe | First impact. | USA | 7 December 1995 |
Jupiter | Galileo | First orbiter. | USA | 8 December 1995 |
Mars | Mars Pathfinder | First automated roving vehicle – Sojourner. | USA | 4 July 1997 |
433 Eros | NEAR Shoemaker | First asteroid orbiter. | USA | 14 February 2000 |
433 Eros | NEAR Shoemaker | First asteroid soft landing. | USA | 12 February 2001 |
Saturn | Cassini orbiter | First orbiter. | ESA USA |
1 July 2004 |
Solar wind | Genesis | First sample return from farther than the Moon. | USA | 8 September 2004 |
Titan | Huygens probe | First soft landing. | ESA USA |
14 January 2005 |
Comet Tempel 1 | Deep Impact | First comet impact. | USA | 4 July 2005 |
25143 Itokawa | Hayabusa | First asteroid ascent. First interplanetary escape without undercarriage cutoff. |
Japan | 19 November 2005 |
81P/Wild | Stardust | First sample return from comet. | USA | 15 January 2006 |
Farthest distance from Earth | Voyager 1 | At greatest distance from Sun, 20.479 billion km. | USA | As of November 2016[42] |
Longest time in operation | Voyager 2 | Longest operating space probe, since August 1977 | USA | As of 2015 |
Earth to Venus trajectory | IKAROS | First interplanetary solar sail. | Japan | set sail on 10 June 2010 |
25143 Itokawa | Hayabusa | First sample return from asteroid. | Japan | 13 June 2010 |
Mercury | MESSENGER | First orbiter. | USA | 17 March 2011 |
Earth–Sun L2 Lagrangian point | Chang'e 2 | First object to reach the L2 Lagrangian point directly from lunar orbit.[43] | China | 25 August 2011 |
International Space Station | SpaceX Dragon | First commercial spacecraft to berth with the International Space Station. | SpaceX | 25 May 2012 |
Interstellar Medium | Voyager 1 | First spacecraft to cross the Heliopause, exiting the Heliosphere and entering interstellar space. | USA | 25 August 2012 |
4179 Toutatis | Chang'e 2 | First object to reach asteroid directly from Sun-Earth Langrangian point. First probe to explore both Moon and asteroid.[44] |
China | 13 December 2012 |
67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko | Rosetta | First comet orbiter.[45] | ESA |
6 August 2014 |
67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko | Philae | First comet soft landing.[46] | ESA |
12 November 2014 |
Ceres | Dawn | First dwarf planet orbiter.[47] | USA |
6 March 2015 |
Mars | Opportunity | Longest distance traveled on surface of another world – 26.219 miles (42.195 km) (marathon-length)[48] | USA |
23 March 2015 (ongoing) |
Mercury | MESSENGER | First impact.[49] | USA | 30 April 2015 |
Pluto | New Horizons | First flyby of Pluto, Charon, Nix, Hydra, Kerberos, and Styx, first up-close images of Pluto system, first images of Pluto and Charon's surfaces, first spacecraft to explore the Kuiper belt. | USA | 14 July 2015 |
All 9 planets in the pre-IAU 2006 redefinition version of the Solar System | All United States spacecrafts including New Horizons | With the New Horizons flyby of Pluto, the United States is the first nation to have its space probes to explore all 9 planets in the pre-2006 IAU redefinition version of the Solar System. | USA | 14 July 2015 |
Earth | Juno | Fastest man-made object relative to Earth, ca. 265,000 km/h.[50] | USA | 4 July 2016 |
Earth | Falcon 9 | First reflight of orbital class rocket.[51] | SpaceX | 30 March 2017 |
See also
- List of cumulative spacewalk records
- List of International Space Station spacewalks
- List of Mir spacewalks
- List of spacewalkers
- List of spacewalks 2000–2014
- List of spacewalks and moonwalks 1965–1999
- List of spacewalks since 2015
- Manned Maneuvering Unit
- Omega Speedmaster
- Simplified Aid For EVA Rescue
- Space suit
- Suitport
References
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- 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Mercury-Atlas 6 (Friendship 7)". NASA. 20 November 2006. Retrieved 22 June 2015.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Making History: China's First Human Spaceflight". Space.com. 28 September 2005. Retrieved 22 June 2015.
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- ↑ "Astronaut Biography". NASA.
- 1 2 NASA (2005). "Sergei Konstantinovich Krikalev Biography". NASA. Retrieved 2007-10-04.
- ↑ NASA (2005). "Krikalev Sets Time-in-Space Record". NASA. Retrieved 2007-10-04.
- ↑ Thompson, Curtiss (29 June 2015). "Russian Cosmonaut Sets Record For Most Time Spent In Space". Penny4NASA. Retrieved 1 July 2015.
- ↑ Russian astronaut record-breaker Padalka returns to Earth, BBC News, 12 September 2015
- 1 2 3 Schwirtz, Michael (2009-03-30). "Staying Put on Earth, Taking a Step to Mars". The New York Times. Retrieved 2009-04-15.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Pearlman, Robert (26 March 2015). "One Year in Space: A History of Ultra-Long Missions Off Planet Earth". Space.com. Retrieved 13 April 2015.
- 1 2 3 Carroll, Michael (2015). Living Among Giants: Exploring and Settling the Outer Solar System. Springer. p. 195. ISBN 3319106732.
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- 1 2 3 4 5 6 Pearlman, Robert (17 June 2010). "Cosmonaut Leonid Kizim, Who Visited 2 Space Stations in 1 Mission, Dies". Space.com. Retrieved 13 April 2015.
- 1 2 3 4 Wenz, John (27 March 2015). "5 Things You Must Know About Scott Kelly's Year in Space". Popular Mechanics. Retrieved 13 April 2015.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Soviet-era cosmonaut Anatoly Berezovoy, commanded Salyut space station, dies". collectSpace. 20 Sep 2014. Retrieved 13 April 2015.
- ↑ , NPR
- ↑ American Astronaut Peggy Whitson Sets Record for Women in Space, James Rogers, Fox News Channel, Apr 24 2017
- ↑ Tariq Malik (2007). "Orbital Champ: ISS Astronaut Sets New U.S. Spacewalk Record". Space.com.
- ↑ "Astronaut Bio: Sunita Williams (5/2008)". NASA Logo National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Retrieved 2009-05-07.
- 1 2 3 "10 Years and Counting". NASA. 28 October 2010. Retrieved 22 June 2015.
- ↑ "Astronautic World Records: Spacecraft with one astronaut – General category". Fédération Aéronautique Internationale. This only counts the duration of solo flight within a mission, so a longer mission with solo flight, such as Apollo 17 at 12d+13h duration is surpassed because the solo undocked duration was only 3d+7h.)
- 1 2 "Mission Report: Apollo 17 – The Most Productive Lunar Expedition" (PDF). NASA. Retrieved 21 June 2015.
- ↑ "Ronal Evans Biographical Data". NASA. April 1990. Retrieved 21 June 2015.
longest time in lunar orbit, 147 hours, 48 minutes
- 1 2 3 4 5 Tate, Karl. "Cosmic Menagerie: A History of Animals in Space (Infographic)" (infographic). Space.com. Retrieved June 28, 2014.
- 1 2 "Apollo 13 The Seventh Mission: The Third Lunar Landing Attempt 11 April–17 April 1970". NASA. Retrieved 7 November 2015.
- ↑ Dumoulin, Jim (August 25, 2000), NASA Project Gemini-XI, retrieved April 12, 2010
- ↑ News, ABC. "ABC News".
- ↑ Spacewalking astronauts pull off urgent station repairs, May 23, 2017
- ↑ "ISS astronauts complete 200th station EVA for maintenance tasks". NASASpaceflight.com. 12 May 2017. Retrieved 13 May 2017.
- ↑ Spacefacts (2017). "Astronauts and Cosmonauts with EVA Experience (sorted by "EVA Time")". Spacefacts. Retrieved May 13, 2017.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 "MAJOR SPACE "FIRSTS'-AN AMERICAN ASSESSMENT" (PDF). Flight. 91 (3028): 459. 1967-03-23. Retrieved 2009-04-15.
- ↑ "Astronauts and Cosmonauts (sorted by "Time in Space")". spacefacts.de. The current missions are listed but not included in day count.
- ↑ Northon, Karen (2016-03-11). "Astronaut Scott Kelly to Retire from NASA in April". NASA. Retrieved 2016-06-01.
- ↑ Michael Foale holds dual U.S./British citizenship.
- ↑ "Astronauts and Cosmonauts flown in space (in alphabetical order)". spacefacts.de. The alphabetical list of astronauts provides the "Total Persons" "Total Person Flights" as well as the "Total person days", excepting the time of astronauts currently in orbit
- ↑ "Manned spaceflights". spacefacts.de. The flight list allows is searched to determine which flight is in orbit, and when it reached orbit. This allows determination of "Total in orbit (@ update) and update the "Total person days" accordingly.
- ↑ "R-1V". Retrieved 30 September 2014.
- ↑ Asif A. Siddiqi. "Challenge to Apollo" (PDF). NASA.; see page. 253
- ↑ "Where are the Voyagers?". Retrieved 2016-11-27.
Because Earth moves around the sun faster than Voyager 1 is traveling from Earth, the distance between Earth and the spacecraft actually decreases at certain times of the year.
- ↑ "Ching'e 2 to reaches liberation point 2". 2011-08-27.
- ↑ "China's space probe flies by asteroid Toutatis". Chinadaily.com.cn.16 December 2012.
- ↑ esa. "Rosetta arrives at comet destination".
- ↑ "Philae probe makes historic comet landing". 12 November 2014 – via www.bbc.com.
- ↑ CNN, Amanda Barnett. "NASA's Dawn spacecraft begins orbiting Ceres".
- ↑ CNN, Euan McKirdy. "Opportunity rover celebrates marathon milestone".
- ↑ Corum, Jonathan (30 April 2015). "Messenger’s Collision Course With Mercury" – via NYTimes.com.
- ↑ "Fastest-Ever Spacecraft to Arrive at Jupiter Tonight".
- ↑ "Used SpaceX Rocket Launches Satellite, Then Lands in Historic 1st Reflight".