List of spaceflight records

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The first space rendezvous was accomplished by Gemini 6A and Gemini 7 in 1965

Several records and firsts in spaceflight have been documented since the field's beginnings in the 20th century. Achievements in spaceflight are broadly divided into crewed and uncrewed categories. Records involving animal spaceflight have also been noted in earlier experimental flights, typically to establish the feasibility of sending humans to outer space.

The notion of "firsts" in spaceflight is closely tied to the Space Race. During the 1950s and 1960s, the Soviet Union and the United States competed with each other to be the first countries to accomplish various feats. In 1957 the Soviet Union launched Sputnik 1, the first artificial orbital satellite. In 1961 Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first person to enter space aboard Vostok 1, and in 1969 American Apollo 11 astronaut Neil Armstrong was the first person to set foot on the Moon. Following the conclusion of the Apollo program in 1972, no human has since traveled beyond Low Earth Orbit.

During the 1970s the Soviet Union directed its energies to human habitation of space stations for increasing periods of time. In the 1980s the United States began launching its Space Shuttles, craft which allowed for larger crew sizes and thus larger numbers of people in space at a given time. Following their first mission of détente on the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project, the Soviet Union and the United States again collaborated with each other on the Shuttle-Mir initiative, efforts which led to the International Space Station (ISS) which has been continuously inhabited by humans for over 20 years.

Other firsts in spaceflight involve demographics, private enterprise, and distance. Dozens of countries have sent at least one traveler to space, and in 1963 Valentina Tereshkova was the first woman in space aboard Vostok 6. Throughout the 20th century spaceflight was the domain of government agencies, but this began to change in the early 21st century as private business engaged the field. In 2004 the sub-orbital spaceplane SpaceShipOne became the first privately funded craft to enter space; in 2020 SpaceX's Dragon 2 became the first privately developed orbital vehicle, ferrying a crew to the ISS. As of 2021 the uncrewed probe Voyager 1 is the most distant artificial object from the Earth, part of a small class of vehicles which are leaving the Solar System.

First independent suborbital and orbital human spaceflight by country[]

Country Mission Crew Spacecraft Launch vehicle Date Type
Soviet Union USSR[1] Vostok 1[1] Yuri Gagarin[1] Vostok 3KA[1] Vostok-K[1] 12 April 1961[1] Orbital[1]
United States 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]
United States 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 China[4] Shenzhou 5[4] Yang Liwei[4] Shenzhou spacecraft[4] Long March 2F[4] 15 October 2003[4] Orbital[4]

Human spaceflight firsts[]

Note: Some space records are disputed as a result of ambiguities surrounding the border of space. Most records follow the FAI definition of the space border which the FAI sets at an altitude of 100 km (62.14 mi). By contrast, the NASA-, USAF- and FAA-defined border of space is at 50 mi (80.47 km).

First Person(s) Mission Country Date
  • Person to reach space
  • Person in orbit
Gagarin in Sweden-2.jpg
Yuri Gagarin
Vostok 1[5] Soviet Union USSR 12 April 1961
  • Person to make suborbital flight
  • Person to land in a spacecraft after spaceflight (thus the first complete human spaceflight by FAI definitions)[6]
  • Person to land in water (splashdown)
  • Person to pilot a craft in space[7]
Alan Shepard Freedom 7 United States USA 5 May 1961
  • Person in space for over 24 hours[8]
  • Multiple orbits during a spaceflight
Gherman Titov Vostok 2 Soviet Union USSR 6 August 1961 –
7 August 1961
Person to land in a spacecraft after orbital flight John Glenn Friendship 7 United States USA 20 February 1962
  • Group flight[9]
  • Adjacent orbits
  • Spacecraft-to-spacecraft communications
  • Andrian Nikolayev
  • Pavel Popovich
Soviet Union USSR 12 August 1962 –
15 August 1962
  • Woman in space
  • Civilian in space
Valentina Tereshkova Vostok 6[10] Soviet Union USSR 16 June 1963 –
19 June 1963
Spaceflight (suborbital) by winged spacecraft Joe Walker X-15 Flight 90 United States USA 19 July 1963
Person to enter space twice (suborbital flights above 100 kilometres (62 mi)) Joe Walker X-15 Flights 90 and 91 United States USA 22 August 1963
  • Three-person spaceflight in a single spacecraft
  • Persons to land in a spacecraft on hard ground
  • Human spaceflight without pressurized spacesuits
  • Vladimir Komarov
  • Konstantin Feoktistov
  • Boris Yegorov
Voskhod 1[5] Soviet Union USSR 12 October 1964 –
13 October 1964
Spacewalk
Berkut spacesuit at Air and Space - back removed.jpg
Alexei Leonov
Voskhod 2[5] Soviet Union USSR 18 March 1965
Orbital maneuvers (change orbit) Gus Grissom, John W. Young Gemini 3[5] United States USA 23 March 1965
Person to fly two orbital spaceflights Gordon Cooper
  • Faith 7
  • Gemini 5
United States 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 United States USA 21 August 1965 –
29 August 1965
  • Space rendezvous (orbital maneuver and station-keeping)
  • Four people in space at the same time
  • Frank Borman, Jim Lovell
  • Walter Schirra, Thomas Stafford
  • Gemini 7
  • Gemini 6A[5]
United States USA 15 December 1965 –
16 December 1965
Space docking
Gemini 8 docking.jpg
  • Neil Armstrong
  • David Scott
Gemini 8 and Agena[5] United States USA 16 March 1966
Multiple (dual) rendezvous (with Agena 10, then Agena 8)[11]
  • John W. Young
  • Michael Collins
Gemini 10 United States USA
  • 19 July 1966
  • 20 July 1966
Spaceflight fatality (during landing) Vladimir Komarov Soyuz 1 Soviet Union USSR 23 April 1967 –
24 April 1967
  • Person to complete three spaceflights
  • Person to fly three different types of spacecraft
Walter Schirra
  • Mercury-Atlas 8
  • Gemini 6A
  • Apollo 7
United States USA 22 October 1968
  • Persons to leave low Earth orbit (LEO)
  • Persons to enter the gravitational influence of another celestial body
  • Persons to enter lunar orbit
Apollo8 Prime Crew2.jpg
  • Frank Borman
  • Jim Lovell
  • Bill Anders
Apollo 8 United States USA 24 December 1968 –
25 December 1968
  • Space docking of two crewed spacecraft
  • Dual spacewalk
  • Сrew transfer (Khrunov, Yeliseyev)[12]
  • Vladimir Shatalov
  • Boris Volynov
  • Aleksei Yeliseyev
  • Yevgeny Khrunov
  • Soyuz 4
  • Soyuz 5
Soviet Union USSR 16 January 1969
Solo flight around the Moon John Young Apollo 10 United States USA 22 May 1969
  • Moon landing
  • Planetary surface EVA
Aldrin Apollo 11 original.jpg
  • Neil Armstrong
  • Buzz Aldrin
Apollo 11 United States USA 20 July 1969
Five people in space at the same time
  • Georgi Shonin, Valeri Kubasov
  • Anatoly Filipchenko, Vladislav Volkov, Viktor Gorbatko
Soviet Union USSR 12 October 1969 –
13 October 1969
  • Triple spaceflight
  • Seven people in space at the same time
  • Shonin, Kubasov
  • Filipchenko, Volkov, Gorbatko
  • Vladimir Shatalov, Aleksei Yeliseyev
Soviet Union USSR 13 October 1969 –
16 October 1969
Person to complete four spaceflights James A. Lovell
  • Gemini 7
  • Gemini 12
  • Apollo 8
  • Apollo 13
United States USA 17 April 1970
  • Person to fly two lunar flights
  • Person to complete two flights beyond low Earth orbit
James A. Lovell
  • Apollo 8
  • Apollo 13
United States USA 11 April 1970 –
17 April 1970
  • Persons to fly a free-return trajectory around a celestial body
  • James A. Lovell
  • Jack Swigert
  • Fred Haise
  • Apollo 13
United States USA 11 April 1970 –
17 April 1970
  • People to spend two weeks in space
  • Night launch
  • Andrian Nikolayev
  • Vitali Sevastyanov
Soyuz 9 Soviet Union USSR 1 June 1970 –
19 June 1970
People to EVA out of sight of their spacecraft
  • Alan Shepard
  • Edgar Mitchell
Apollo 14 United States USA 6 February 1971
  • Docking with space station (soft dock)
  • Night landing
  • Vladimir Shatalov
  • Aleksei Yeliseyev
  • Nikolai Rukavishnikov
Soviet Union USSR 22 April 1971 –
24 April 1971
  • Crewed space station
  • In-space fatalities

Salyut 4 and Soyuz drawing.svg
  • Georgi Dobrovolski
  • Viktor Patsayev
  • Vladislav Volkov
  • Soyuz 11
  • Salyut 1
Soviet Union USSR 7 June 1971 –
29 June 1971
People to travel in a wheeled vehicle on a planetary body other than Earth
Scott on the Rover – GPN-2000-001306
  • Dave Scott
  • Jim Irwin
Apollo 15 United States USA 31 July 1971–
2 August 1971
Deep space EVA (trans-Earth trajectory) Al Worden Apollo 15 United States USA 5 August 1971
Person to be in lunar orbit twice (during separate lunar expeditions) John W. Young
  • Apollo 10
  • Apollo 16
United States USA 16 April 1972 –
27 April 1972
People in orbit for four weeks
  • Pete Conrad
  • Joseph Kerwin
  • Paul Weitz
Skylab 2 United States USA 25 May 1973 –
22 June 1973
People in orbit for eight weeks
  • Alan Bean
  • Jack Lousma
  • Owen Garriott
Skylab 3 United States USA 28 July 1973 –
25 September 1973
People in orbit for 12 weeks
  • Gerald Carr
  • William Pogue
  • Edward Gibson
Skylab 4 United States USA 16 November 1973 –
8 February 1974
  • Spaceflight aborted during liftoff (at 145 kilometers (90 mi) altitude)
  • Re-entry with 20g acceleration (emergency)
Vasily Lazarev, Oleg Makarov Soyuz 18a Soviet Union USSR 5 April 1975
First international docking Thomas P. Stafford, Vance D. Brand, Donald K. SlaytonUSA

Alexei Leonov, Valeri KubasovUSSR

Apollo CSM, Soyuz 19 United StatesUSA

Soviet UnionUSSR

17 July 1975
Crew to visit occupied space station Vladimir Dzhanibekov, Oleg Makarov Soyuz 27 visits Salyut 6 EO-1 crew Soviet Union 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 Soviet Union 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 Soviet Union USSR 9 April 1980 –
11 October 1980
  • Spaceflight (orbital) by winged spacecraft
  • Reuseable spacecraft (partially expendable launch vehicle)
STS-1 United States USA 12 April 1981
Person to fly four different types of spacecraft John W. Young
  • Gemini
  • Apollo
  • Lunar Module
  • Space Shuttle
United States USA 12 April 1981
Person to complete five spaceflights John W. Young
  • Gemini 3
  • Gemini 10
  • Apollo 10
  • Apollo 16
  • STS-1
United States USA 14 April 1981
Four-person spaceflight in a single spacecraft
  • Vance Brand
  • Robert F. Overmyer
  • Joseph P. Allen
  • William B. Lenoir
STS-5 United States USA 11 November 1982 –
16 November 1982
Five-person spaceflight in a single spacecraft
STS-7 United States USA 18 June 1983 –
24 June 1983
Six-person spaceflight in a single spacecraft
  • John W. Young, Brewster H. Shaw, Owen K. Garriott, Robert A. Parker, Byron K. LichtenbergUSA
  • Ulf MerboldGermany (European Space Agency)
STS-9
  • United States USA
  • Germany West Germany
28 November 1983 –
8 December 1983
Person to complete six spaceflights John W. Young
  • Gemini 3
  • Gemini 10
  • Apollo 10
  • Apollo 16
  • STS-1
  • STS-9
United States USA 8 December 1983
Untethered spacewalk
EVAtion - GPN-2000-001087.jpg
Bruce McCandless II STS-41-B[13] United States USA 7 February 1984
Eight people in space at the same time (no docking)
  • Oleg Atkov, Leonid Kizim, Vladimir SolovyovUSSR
  • Vance D. Brand, Robert L. Gibson, Bruce McCandless II, Ronald McNair, Robert L. StewartUSA
Salyut 7 EO-3, Soyuz T-10, STS-41-B
  • Soviet Union USSR
  • United States USA
8 February 1984 –
11 February 1984
11 people in space at the same time (no docking)
  • Oleg Atkov, Leonid D. Kizim, Yury Malyshev, Vladimir Solovyov, Gennady StrekalovUSSR
  • Robert L. Crippen, Terry J. Hart, George Nelson, Francis Scobee, James van HoftenUSA
  • Rakesh SharmaIndia
STS-41-C, Salyut 7 EO-3, Soyuz T-10-Soyuz T-11
  • Soviet Union USSR
  • United States USA
  • India India
6 April 1984 –
11 April 1984
People to complete four spacewalks during the same mission Leonid Kizim, Vladimir Solovyov Salyut 7 Soviet Union USSR 26 April –
18 May 1984
Spacewalk by a woman Svetlana Savitskaya Soyuz T-12 Soviet Union USSR 25 July 1984
Welding in space Vladimir Dzhanibekov, Svetlana Savitskaya Salyut 7, Soyuz T-12 Soviet Union 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 Soviet Union USSR 8 February 1984 –
2 October 1984
Seven-person spaceflight in a single spacecraft
STS41G-19-006.jpg
  • Robert L. Crippen, Jon A. McBride, Kathryn D. Sullivan, Sally K. Ride, David C. Leestma, Paul D. Scully-PowerUSA
  • Marc GarneauCanada
STS-41-G
  • United States USA
  • Canada Canada
5 October 1984 –
13 October 1984
Two women in space at the same time Kathryn D. Sullivan, Sally K. Ride STS-41-G United States 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 Soviet Union USSR 17 September 1985 –
26 September 1985
Eight-person spaceflight in a single spacecraft
STS 61-A crew portrait onboard Challenger middeck.jpg
  • Henry W. Hartsfield, Steven R. Nagel, Bonnie J. Dunbar, James F. Buchli, Guion S. BlufordUSA
  • Reinhard Furrer, Ernst MesserschmidWest Germany
  • Wubbo OckelsNetherlands (European Space Agency)
STS-61-A
  • United States USA
  • West Germany West Germany
  • Netherlands 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 United States 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[14] Soviet Union 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 Soviet Union 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 Soviet Union USSR 21 December 1987 –
21 December 1988
12 people in space at the same time (no docking)
  • Shuttle: Vance Brand, Samuel Durrance, Guy S. Gardner, Jeffrey A. Hoffman, John M. Lounge, Ronald Parise, Robert A. ParkerUSA
  • Mir: Gennady Manakov, Gennady StrekalovRussia
  • Soyuz and Soyuz/Mir:
    • Musa Manarov, Viktor AfanasyevRussia
    • Toyohiro AkiyamaJapan
STS-35, Mir EO-7, Soyuz TM-10Soyuz TM-11
  • Soviet Union USSR
  • United States USA
  • Japan Japan
2 December 1990 –
10 December 1990
First civilian to use a commercial space flight, and the first journalist to report on space from outer space. Toyohiro AkiyamaJapan Soyuz TM-10, Soyuz TM-11 Japan Japan 2 December 1990 –
10 December 1990
Three women in space at the same time Millie Hughes-Fulford, Tamara E. Jernigan, M. Rhea Seddon STS-40 United States USA 5 June 1991 –
14 June 1991
Three-person spacewalk
Three Crew Members Capture Intelsat VI - GPN-2000-001035.jpg
  • Pierre J. Thuot
  • Richard J. Hieb
  • Thomas D. Akers
STS-49 United States USA 13 May 1992
13 people in space at the same time (no docking)
  • Shuttle: Steve Oswald, William Gregory, John Grunsfeld, Wendy Lawrence, Tammy Jernigan, Sam Durrance, Ron PariseUSA
  • Mir: Aleksandr Viktorenko, Yelena Kondakova, Valeriy PolyakovRussia
  • Soyuz/Mir:
    • Vladimir Dezhurov, Gennady Strekalov Russia
    • Norman E. ThagardUSA
STS-67, Mir, Soyuz TM-20, Soyuz TM-21
  • United States USA
  • Russia Russia
14 March 1995 –
18 March 1995
Ten people in a single spacecraft (docking)
Crewmembers of STS-71, Mir-18 and Mir-19 Pose for Inflight Picture - GPN-2002-000061 rotated.jpg
  • Robert L. Gibson, Charles J. Precourt, Ellen S. Baker, Bonnie J. Dunbar, Gregory J. Harbaugh Norman E. ThagardUSA
  • Anatoly Solovyev, Nikolai Budarin, Vladimir Dezhurov, Gennady StrekalovRussia
STS-71, Mir, Soyuz TM-21
  • United States USA
  • Russia Russia
29 June 1995 –
4 July 1995
Space tourist Dennis Tito Soyuz TM-32/31, ISS EP-1
  • United States USA
  • Russia Russia
April 28, 2001 –
May 6, 2001
Person to complete seven trips to space Jerry L. Ross
  • STS-61B
  • STS-27
  • STS-37
  • STS-55
  • STS-74
  • STS-88
  • STS-110
United States USA 19 April 2002
Privately funded human space flight (suborbital)
Kluft-photo-SS1-landing-June-2004-Img 1406c.jpg
Mike Melvill SpaceShipOne flight 15P United States USA 21 June 2004
13 people in a single spacecraft (docking)[15]
STS-127 group picture 03.jpg
  • Michael Barratt, Mark L. Polansky, Douglas G. Hurley, Christopher J. Cassidy, Thomas H. Marshburn, David Wolf, Timothy KopraUSA
  • Gennady Padalka, Roman RomanenkoRussia
  • Robert Thirsk, Julie PayetteCanada
  • Frank De WinneBelgium (European Space Agency)
  • Koichi WakataJapan
ISS, Soyuz TMA-14, Soyuz TMA-15, STS-127
  • United States USA
  • Russia Russia
  • Canada Canada
  • Belgium Belgium
  • Japan Japan
17 July 2009
Four women in space at the same time
STS-131 and Expedition 23 Group Portrait.jpg
  • Shuttle:
    • Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger, Stephanie WilsonUSA
    • Naoko YamazakiJapan
  • ISS: Tracy Caldwell DysonUSA
  • United States USA
  • Japan Japan
5 April 2010 –
20 April 2010
Six spacecraft docked to a space station
  • United States USA
  • Russia Russia
9 July 2018
  • All-woman spacewalk
  • Spacewalk by two women

  • Christina Koch
  • Jessica Meir
  • United States USA
18 October 2019
  • Astronauts launched into orbit on commercial spacecraft
  • Astronauts flying to a space station on commercial spacecraft
[16][17]
Crew Dragon Demo-2 Bob and Doug.jpg
  • Bob Behnken
  • Doug Hurley
  • Crew Dragon Demo-2
  • United States USA
30 May 2020 –
31 May 2020
16 people in space (50 miles) at the same time (no docking)
  • ISS: Mark Vande Hei, Shane Kimbrough, K. Megan McArthur, – USA
  • Oleg Novitsky, Pyotr DubrovRussia
  • Thomas Pesquet ��� France
  • Akihiko HoshideJapan
  • Tiangong: Nie Haisheng, Liu Boming, Tang Hongbo, – China
  • Unity: David Mackay, Michael Masucci, Beth Moses, - USA
  • Sirisha BandlaIndia
  • Richard Branson, Colin Bennett – United Kingdom
  • Soyuz MS-18, SpaceX Crew-2, Shenzhou-12, Virgin Galactic Unity-22
  • United States USA
  • China China
  • Russia Russia
  • France France
  • India India
  • Japan Japan
  • United Kingdom UK
11 July 2021
14 people in space (100 km) at the same time (no docking)
  • ISS: Mark Vande Hei, Shane Kimbrough, K. Megan McArthur, – USA
  • Oleg Novitsky, Pyotr DubrovRussia
  • Thomas PesquetFrance
  • Akihiko HoshideJapan
  • Tiangong: Nie Haisheng, Liu Boming, Tang Hongbo, – China
  • New Shepard: Jeff Bezos, Mark Bezos, Wally Funk - USA
  • Oliver DaemenNetherlands
  • United States USA
  • China China
  • Russia Russia
  • France France
  • Japan Japan
  • Netherlands Netherlands
20 July 2021

Most spaceflights[]

Most orbital launches from Earth[]

Most orbital launches overall[]

  • 7 launches
    • John W. Young (USA[18]) launched from Earth 6 times (two Gemini, two Apollo Command Module, two Space Shuttle) and from the Moon once (Apollo Lunar Module Ascent Stage) (1965–1983)
    • Jerry L. Ross (USA[15]), Space Shuttle (1985–2002)
    • Franklin Chang Díaz (Costa Rica/USA*[15]), Space Shuttle (1986–2002)

Largest number of different spacecraft at launch (from Earth only)[]

  • 3 spacecraft
    • Walter Schirra (USA) – launched aboard a Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo (1962–1968)
    • John W. Young (USA) – launched aboard a Gemini, Apollo, and Space Shuttle (1965–1983)
    • Soichi Noguchi (Japan) – launched aboard a Space Shuttle, Soyuz, and SpaceX Crew Dragon (2005–2020)
    • Shane Kimbrough (USA) – launched aboard a Space Shuttle, Soyuz, and SpaceX Crew Dragon (2008–2021)
    • Akihiko Hoshide (Japan) – launched aboard a Space Shuttle, Soyuz, and SpaceX Crew Dragon (2008–2021)
  • 2 spacecraft with a third scheduled but not yet flown
    • Thomas Marshburn (USA) – launched aboard a Space Shuttle and Soyuz (2007–2013), scheduled to launch in a SpaceX Crew Dragon (SpaceX Crew-3) in 2021
    • Michael López-Alegría (USA) – launched aboard a Space Shuttle and Soyuz (1995–2007), scheduled for launch in a SpaceX Crew Dragon (SpaceX Axiom Space-1) in 2022
    • Michael Fincke (USA) – launched aboard a Space Shuttle and Soyuz (2004–2011), scheduled for launch in a Boeing Starliner (Boeing CFT) in 2022
    • Barry Wilmore (USA) – launched aboard a Space Shuttle and Soyuz (2009–2014), scheduled for launch in a Boeing Starliner (Boeing CFT) in 2022
    • Sunita Williams (USA) – launched aboard a Space Shuttle and Soyuz (2006–2012), scheduled for launch in a Boeing Starliner (Boeing Starliner-1) in 2022
    • Koichi Wakata (Japan) – launched aboard a Space Shuttle and Soyuz (1996–2014), scheduled for launch in a Boeing Starliner (Boeing Starliner-1) in 2022
    • Peggy Whitson (USA) – launched aboard a Space Shuttle and Soyuz (2002–2017), scheduled for launch in a SpaceX Crew Dragon (Axiom Mission 2) in 2022

Note: While many space fliers of various nations have launched in two different spacecraft vehicles, these people are scheduled for a third.

Largest number of different launch vehicles (overall)[]

  • 4 launch vehicles
    • John W. Young (USA) – launched from Earth aboard a Gemini, Apollo, and Space Shuttle, and launched from the Moon aboard the Apollo Lunar Module Ascent Stage

Largest number of different launch sites[]

  • 3 sites
    • Frederick W. Sturckow (USA) – Kennedy Space Center (four times aboard a Space Shuttle 1998–2010), Mojave Air and Space Port (aboard a Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo in 2018), and Spaceport America (also aboard a SpaceShipTwo, in 2021).

Note: SpaceShipTwo flights are suborbital. SpaceShipTwo flights surpass the U.S. definition of spaceflight (50 mi (80.47 km)), but fall short of the Kármán line (100 km (62.14 mi)), the FAI definition used for most space recordkeeping.

Duration records[]

Total human spaceflight time by country[]

Total human spaceflight statistics by nation[19][20]
Nation Total people Total person flights Total in orbit (@ update)* Total person days*+ % of total person days
 Russia
 Soviet Union
126 279 2 29460.69
50.3
 United States 346 866 3 22878.47
39.1
Not the esa logo.svg  ESA 39 66 1 3299.96
5.6
 Japan 12 22 1 1651.79
2.8
 Italy 7 13 - 966.62
1.7
 Germany 11 16 - 856.71
1.5
 France 10 19 1 758.69
1.3
 Canada 10 18 - 709.78
1.2
 China 12 17 3 390.69
0.7
 Netherlands 2 3 - 210.69
0.4
 Belgium 2 3 - 207.65
0.4
 United Kingdom 2 2 - 193.81
0.3
  Switzerland 1 4 - 42.50
0.1
 Sweden 1 2 - 26.73
0.0
 Spain 1 2 - 18.78
0.0
 Israel 1 1 - 15.93
0.0
 Ukraine 1 1 - 15.69
0.0
 Bulgaria 2 2 - 11.80
0.0
 South Korea 1 1 - 10.88
0.0
 Malaysia 1 1 - 10.88
0.0
 South Africa 1 1 - 9.89
0.0
 Brazil 1 1 - 9.89
0.0
 Denmark 1 1 - 9.84
0.0
 Kazakhstan 1 1 - 9.84
0.0
 Afghanistan 1 1 - 8.85
0.0
 Syria 1 1 - 7.96
0.0
 Czechoslovakia 1 1 - 7.93
0.0
 Austria 1 1 - 7.93
0.0
 Poland 1 1 - 7.92
0.0
 Slovakia 1 1 - 7.91
0.0
 India 1 1 - 7.90
0.0
 United Arab Emirates 1 1 - 7.88
0.0
 Hungary 1 1 - 7.86
0.0
 Cuba 1 1 - 7.86
0.0
 Mongolia 1 1 - 7.86
0.0
 Vietnam 1 1 - 7.86
0.0
 Romania 1 1 - 7.86
0.0
 Saudi Arabia 1 1 - 7.07
0.0
 Mexico 1 1 - 6.88
0.0
TOTAL 567 1290 10 58580.11
100.0
Astronauts currently in space:
  • China Haisheng Nie
  • United States Katherine Megan McArthur
  • Russia Pyotr Valerievich Dubrov
  • United States Robert Shane Kimbrough
  • Japan Akihiko Hoshide
  • United States Mark Thomas Vande Hei
  • France Thomas Gautier Pesquet
  • Russia Oleg Viktorovich Novitsky
  • China Hongbo Tang
  • China Boming Liu
Crew vehicles currently in space:
  • SpaceX Crew-2
  • Soyuz MS-18
  • Shenzhou-12
Table data accurate as of 2021-08-31 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


Most time in space[]

Russian cosmonaut Gennady Padalka, who has spent 878 days in space over five missions, became the record holder for the most time spent in space when he surpassed, on 28 June 2015, the record of cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev, who spent 803 days, 9 hours and 39 minutes (about 2.2 years) in space over the span of six spaceflights on Soyuz, the Space Shuttle, Mir, and the International Space Station. Yuri Malenchenko is currently in second place, having spent 828 days in space on six spaceflights.[21][22][23]

The following is a list of the 50 space travelers with the most total time in space, as of 2 May 2021.,[24] most of it acquired from spaceflight on long-duration missions. Travelers currently in space are ranked by total time in space of their completed missions only.

Color key:

  •   Currently in space
  •   Active
  •   Retired
  •   Deceased
Rank Person Days Flights Status Nationality
1 Gennady Padalka 878.480 5 Retired  Russia
2 Yuri Malenchenko 827.389 6 Retired  Russia
3 Sergei Krikalev 803.371 6 Retired  Soviet Union /  Russia
4 Aleksandr Kaleri 769.276 5 Active  Russia
5 Sergei Avdeyev 747.593 3 Retired  Soviet Union /  Russia
6 Oleg Kononenko 736.780 4 Active  Russia /  Turkmenistan
7 Valeri Polyakov 678.690 2 Retired  Soviet Union /  Russia
8 Fyodor Yurchikhin 672.860 5 Retired  Russia
9 Peggy Whitson 665.932 3 Retired  United States
10 Anatoly Solovyev 651.117 5 Retired  Soviet Union /  Russia
11 Viktor Afanasyev 555.772 4 Retired  Soviet Union /  Russia
12 Yury Usachov 552.773 4 Retired  Russia
13 Sergey Volkov 547.931 3 Retired  Russia
14 Pavel Vinogradov 546.939 3 Active  Russia
15 Aleksandr Skvortsov 545.964 3 Active  Russia
16 Musa Manarov 541.021 2 Retired  Soviet Union ( Azerbaijan)
17 Oleg Skripochka 536.159 3 Active  Russia
18 Jeffrey Williams 534.116 4 Retired  United States
19 Anton Shkaplerov 533.230 3 Active  Russia
20 Mikhail Tyurin 532.118 3 Retired  Russia
21 Oleg Kotov 526.211 3 Retired  Russia
22 Scott Kelly 520.440 4 Retired[25]  United States
23 Mikhail Kornienko 516.417 2 Retired  Russia
24 Aleksandr Viktorenko 489.066 4 Retired  Soviet Union /  Russia
25 Anatoli Ivanishin 476.195 3 Active  Russia
26 Nikolai Budarin 444.060 3 Retired  Russia
27 Yuri Romanenko 430.765 3 Retired  Soviet Union
28 Aleksandr Volkov 391.495 3 Retired  Soviet Union /  Russia
29 Yury Onufriyenko 389.282 2 Retired  Russia
30 Vladimir Titov 387.036 4 Retired  Soviet Union /  Russia
31 Vasily Tsibliyev 381.662 2 Retired  Russia
32 Valery Korzun 381.653 2 Retired  Russia
33 Michael Fincke 381.633 3 Active  United States
34 Christopher Cassidy 377.742 3 Active  United States
35 Aleksey Ovchinin 374.813 2 Active  Russia
36 Leonid Kizim 374.749 3 Deceased  Soviet Union
37 Michael Foale 373.763 6 Retired  United States /  United Kingdom[26]
38 Aleksandr Serebrov 372.954 4 Deceased  Soviet Union /  Russia
39 Valery Ryumin 371.725 4 Retired  Soviet Union /  Russia
40 Donald Pettit 369.696 3 Active  United States
41 Luca Parmitano 366.959 2 Active  Italy
42 Oleg Artemyev 365.962 2 Active  Russia
43 Alexander Gerst 362.076 2 Active  Germany
44 Vladimir Solovyov 361.952 2 Retired  Soviet Union
45 Sergey Ryzhikov 358.101 2 Active  Russia
46 Thomas Reiter 350.239 2 Retired  Germany
47 Koichi Wakata 347.356 4 Active  Japan
48 Soichi Noguchi 344.398 3 Active  Japan
49 Talgat Musabayev 341.408 3 Retired  Russia
50 Oleg Novitsky 340.419 2 Active  Russia

Ten longest human spaceflights[]

# Time in space Crew Country Launch date (Launch craft) Landing date (Landing craft) Space station or mission type
1 437.7 days[27][28] Valeri Polyakov[27]  Russia 1994-01-08 (Soyuz TM-18) 1995-03-22 (Soyuz TM-20) Mir[27]
2 379.6 days[28] Sergei Avdeyev[28]  Russia 1998-08-13 (Soyuz TM-28) 1999-08-28 (Soyuz TM-29) Mir[28]
3 365.0 days[28]
 Soviet Union 1987-12-21 (Soyuz TM-4) 1988-12-21 (Soyuz TM-6) Mir[28]
4 340.4 days
  • Mikhail Kornienko
  • Scott Kelly
  •  Russia
  •  United States
2015-03-27 (Soyuz TMA-16M) 2016-03-01 (Soyuz TMA-18M) International Space Station,
ISS year-long mission
5 328.6 days[29][30] Christina Koch[30]  United States 2019-03-15 (Soyuz MS-12) 2020-02-06 (Soyuz MS-13) International Space Station
6 326.5 days[31] Yuri Romanenko[31]  Soviet Union 1987-02-05 (Soyuz TM-2) 1987-12-29 (Soyuz TM-3) Mir[31]
7 311.8 days[32] Sergei Krikalev[32]  Soviet Union/ Russia 1991-05-18 (Soyuz TM-12) 1992-03-25 (Soyuz TM-13) Mir[32]
8 289.2 days[33] Peggy Whitson[33]  United States 2016-11-17 (Soyuz MS-03) 2017-09-03 (Soyuz MS-04) International Space Station[33]
9 271.5 days[34] Andrew R. Morgan  United States 2019-07-20 (Soyuz MS-13) 2020-04-17 (Soyuz MS-15) International Space Station
10 240.9 days[35] Valeri Polyakov[35]  Soviet Union 1988-08-29 (Soyuz TM-6) 1989-04-7 (Soyuz TM-7) Mir[35]

Longest single flight by a woman[]

NASA astronaut Christina Koch holds the record for the longest single spaceflight by a woman (328 days), returning on February 6, 2020.[30] She surpassed NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson's 289 days during Expedition 61 in 2019. In third place is American astronaut Anne McClain with 204 days.[36]

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.[15][37] Since then space has been continuously occupied for 20 years, 304 days.[15]

Longest continuous occupation of a spacecraft[]

The International Space Station has been continuously occupied since 2 November 2000 (20 years, 302 days).[15][37] It broke the record of 9 years and 358 days of the Soviet/Russian Space Station Mir on 23 October 2010.[37]

Longest solo flight[]

Valery Bykovsky flew solo for 4 days, 23 hours in Vostok 5 from 14 to 19 June 1963.[38] 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 the lunar surface[]

Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt of the Apollo 17 mission stayed for 74 hours 59 minutes and 40 seconds (over 3 days) on the lunar surface after they landed on 11 December 1972.[39] 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).[39]

Longest time in lunar orbit[]

Ronald Evans of Apollo 17 mission stayed in lunar orbit for 6 days and 4 hours (148 hours);[40] 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.

Speed and altitude records[]

Farthest humans from Earth[]

The Apollo 13 crew (Jim Lovell, Fred Haise, and 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.[41] This record-breaking distance was reached at 0:21 UTC on 15 April 1970.[41]

Highest altitude for crewed 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).[42]

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 kilometers per hour (11.082 kilometers per second or 24,791 miles per hour, approximately 32 times the speed of sound and 0.0037% of the speed of light).[15] The record was set 26 May 1969.[15]

Age records[]

Wally Funk 2012

Earliest-born to reach space[]

  • Joe Walker (born 20 February 1921), on X-15 Flight 90 on 19 July 1963.

Earliest-born to reach 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 spaceflight)[]

Youngest (age during suborbital spaceflight)[]

  • Man - Oliver Daemen (aged 18 years), on Blue Origin NS-16, on 20 July 2021.
  • Woman - Sirisha Bandla (aged 33 years), on Virgin Galactic Unity 22, on 11 July 2021.

Youngest (age during orbital spaceflight)[]

  • Man – Gherman Titov (aged 25 years), on Vostok 2 on 6 August 1961.[15]
  • Woman – Valentina Tereshkova (aged 26 years), on Vostok 6 on 16–19 June 1963.

Oldest (age during spaceflight)[]

Oldest (age during suborbital spaceflight)[]

  • Man - Sir Richard Branson (aged 71 years), on Virgin Galactic Unity 22, on 11 July 2021.
  • Woman - Wally Funk (aged 82), on Blue Origin NS-16, on 20 July 2021.

Oldest (age during orbital spaceflight)[]

  • Man – John Glenn (aged 77), on STS-95 on 29 October 1998.[15]
  • Woman – Peggy Whitson (aged 56), on Soyuz MS-03 on 17 November 2016. She turned 57 on 9 February 2017, while still in space.[43]

Spacewalk records[]

Most spacewalks (number and duration)[]

Both of these are the record for the largest total number of spacewalks by a male and a female, and the most cumulative time spent on spacewalks by a male and a female.

  • Man – Anatoly Solovyev, 16 spacewalks for a total time of 82 hours, 21 minutes.[44]
  • Woman – Peggy Whitson, 10 spacewalks for a total time of 60 hours, 21 minutes.[45][46][47]

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.)
  • 7: Andrew Morgan, during his first spaceflight on board the ISS for Expedition 60/61/62 in 2019–2020. He spent 45 hours and 48 minutes outside the station.

Longest single spacewalk[]

  • 8 hrs 56 min, by James Voss and Susan Helms, 11 March 2001 on an ISS assembly mission during Shuttle mission STS-102. The space walkers were delayed early in their excursion when a portable foot restraint attachment device became untethered, and Voss had to retrieve a spare from its storage location on the outside of the station's Unity module. After approximately six hours of work the pair reentered Space Shuttle Discovery’s airlock and waited for a docking port to be maneuvered to its new location, but remained at the ready to assist if needed.

Animal records[]

First animals in space[]

The first animals to enter space were fruit flies launched by the United States in 1947 aboard a V-2 rocket to an altitude of 68 miles (109 km).[48] They were also the first animals to safely return from space.[48] Albert II, a rhesus monkey, became the first primate in space aboard a U.S. V-2 rocket on June 14, 1949, and died on reentry due to a parachute failure.

First animal in orbit[]

Laika was a Soviet female canine launched on 3 November 1957 on Sputnik 2. The technology to de-orbit had not yet been developed, so there was no expectation for survival. She died several hours into flight. Belka and Strelka became the first canines to safely return to Earth from orbit on 19 August 1960.

Longest canine single flight[]

Soviet space dogs 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 Soviet Zond 5 spacecraft on 15 September 1968.[48] It was launched by a Proton-K rocket.[48] The capsule came within 2,000 kilometres (1,200 mi) of the Moon and later successfully returned to Earth, the first spacecraft in history to return safely to Earth from the Moon.[48]

Notable uncrewed spaceflights[]

In reference to: Spacecraft Event Origin Date
Earth MW 18014 (A-4(V-2)) First rocket to reach space (suborbital flight). Nazi Germany Germany 20 June 1944
Earth V-2 No. 20 First living organisms (fruit flies) in space (suborbital flight). Successfully recovered. United States USA 20 February 1947
Earth [49] First mammals (dogs) in space (suborbital flight). Successfully recovered. Soviet Union USSR 22 July 1951
Earth Sputnik 1 First satellite in orbit.[5] Soviet Union USSR 4 October 1957
Earth Sputnik 2 First animal in orbit, Laika the dog. Soviet Union USSR 3 November 1957
Earth Vanguard 1 Oldest satellite still in orbit, in addition to its upper launch stage. Expected to stay in orbit 240 years. Ceased transmission in May 1964. United States USA 17 March 1958
Earth Pioneer 1 Failed to reach the Moon as intended, but reached a record–setting distance of 113,800 kilometres (70,700 mi) from Earth. United States USA 11 October 1958
Earth Jupiter AM-13 First monkey in space, Gordo, a squirrel monkey. United States USA 13 December 1958
Earth Luna 1 First spacecraft to achieve Earth's escape velocity. Soviet Union USSR 4 January 1959
Moon Luna 1 First flyby. Distance of 5,995 kilometres (3,725 mi). Soviet Union USSR 4 January 1959
Sun Luna 1 First spacecraft in heliocentric orbit. Soviet Union USSR 4 January 1959
Moon Luna 2 First impact.[5] Soviet Union USSR 14 September 1959
Moon Luna 3 First image of lunar far-side.[5] Soviet Union USSR 7 October 1959
Earth Discoverer 13 First satellite recovered from orbit.[5] United States USA 11 August 1960
Earth Korabl-Sputnik 2 First living beings recovered from orbit.[50] Soviet Union USSR 19 August 1960
Venus Venera 1 First flyby. Distance of 100,000 kilometres (62,000 mi) (lost communication contact before).[5] Soviet Union USSR 19 May 1961
Moon Ranger 4 First spacecraft to impact the far side of the Moon.[51] United States USA 26 April 1962
Earth Alouette 1 First satellite designed and constructed by a country other than the USA or USSR (the British satellite Ariel 1, launched five months earlier, was designed and constructed by the USA).[52] Canada Canada 29 September 1962
Venus Mariner 2 First planetary flyby. Distance of 34,762 kilometres (21,600 mi) (with communication contact). United States USA 14 December 1962
Earth Lincoln Calibration Sphere 1 Oldest spacecraft still in use (50 years as of 2015). United States USA 6 May 1965
Mars Mariner 4 First flyby and first planetary imaging. Distance of 9,846 kilometres (6,118 mi). United States USA 14 July 1965
Earth Astérix First satellite launched independently by a nation other than the USA or USSR (other nations had previously flown satellites launched on American rockets). France France 26 November 1965
Moon Luna 9 First soft landing and first pictures from the lunar surface.[5] Soviet Union USSR 3 February 1966
Earth Kosmos 110 First seeds to germinate in space. Soviet Union USSR 22 February 1966
Venus Venera 3 First impact.[5] Soviet Union USSR 1 March 1966
Moon Luna 10 First orbiter.[5] Soviet Union USSR 3 April 1966
Docking Cosmos 186, Cosmos 188 First automated docking of uncrewed spacecraft. Soviet Union USSR 30 October 1967
Moon Surveyor 6 First planned, controlled, powered flight from the surface of another body. United States USA 17 November 1967
Moon Zond 5
  • First to circle the Moon and return to land on Earth.
  • First animals to circle the Moon.
Soviet Union USSR 15 September 1968
Moon Luna 16 First automated sample return. Soviet Union USSR 24 September 1970
Moon Luna 17 First robotic roving vehicle, Lunokhod 1. Soviet Union USSR 17 November 1970
Venus Venera 7 First soft landing on another planet. Soviet Union USSR 15 December 1970
Earth Salyut 1 First space station. Soviet Union USSR 19 April 1971
Mars Mariner 9 First orbiter. United States USA 14 November 1971
Mars Mars 2 First impact. Soviet Union USSR 27 November 1971
Mars Mars 3 First soft landing. Maintained telemetry signal for 20 seconds before transmissions ceased. Soviet Union USSR 2 December 1971
Sun Pioneer 10 First spacecraft to achieve the Sun's escape velocity. United States USA 3 March 1972
Jupiter Pioneer 10 First flyby. Distance of 132,000 kilometres (82,000 mi). United States USA 4 December 1973
Mercury Mariner 10 First flyby. Distance of 703 kilometres (437 mi). United States USA 29 March 1974
Venus Venera 9
  • First orbiter.
  • First surface-level imaging of another planet.
Soviet Union USSR 22 October 1975
Mars Viking 1 First surface-level imaging of Mars. United States USA 20 July 1976
Saturn Pioneer 11 First flyby. Distance of 21,000 kilometres (13,000 mi). United States USA 1 September 1979
Venus Venera 13 First sound recording made on another planet. Soviet Union USSR 1 March 1982
Orbital Space Station Soyuz T-5, Salyut 7 First species of plant to flower in space.[53] Arabidopsis thaliana Valentin Lebedev. Soviet Union USSR 1 July 1982
Trans-Neptunian region Pioneer 10 First to travel past the orbit of Neptune, the furthest major planet from the Sun. United States USA 13 June 1983
Venus Vega 1 First helium balloon atmospheric probe. First flight (as opposed to atmospheric entry) in another planet's atmosphere. Soviet Union USSR 11 June 1985
Comet Giacobini-Zinner International Cometary Explorer (ICE) First flyby through a comet tail (no pictures). Distance of 7,800 kilometres (4,800 mi). United States USA 11 September 1985
Uranus Voyager 2 First flyby. Distance of 81,500 kilometres (50,600 mi). United States USA 24 January 1986
Comet Halley Vega 1 First comet flyby (with pictures returned). Distance of 8,890 kilometres (5,520 mi). Soviet Union USSR 6 March 1986
Earth Mir Core Module, Kvant-1 First modular space station. Soviet Union USSR 9 April 1987
Orbital Spaceplane Buran First fully automated orbital flight of a spaceplane (with airstrip landing). Soviet Union USSR 15 November 1988
Phobos Phobos 2 First flyby. Distance of 860 kilometres (530 mi). Soviet Union USSR 21 February 1989
Neptune Voyager 2 First flyby. Distance of 40,000 kilometres (25,000 mi). United States USA 25 August 1989
951 Gaspra Galileo First asteroid flyby. Distance of 1,600 kilometres (990 mi). United States USA 29 October 1991
Jupiter Galileo probe First impact. United States USA 7 December 1995
Jupiter Galileo First orbiter. United States USA 8 December 1995
Mars Mars Pathfinder First automated roving vehicle, Sojourner. United States USA 4 July 1997
433 Eros NEAR Shoemaker First asteroid orbiter. United States USA 14 February 2000
433 Eros NEAR Shoemaker First asteroid soft landing. United States USA 12 February 2001
Saturn Cassini orbiter First orbiter.
  • ESA logo simple.svg ESA
  • United States USA
  •  Italy
1 July 2004
Solar wind Genesis First sample return from farther than the Moon. United States USA 8 September 2004
Titan Huygens probe First soft landing.
  • ESA logo simple.svg ESA
  • United States USA
14 January 2005
Comet Tempel 1 Deep Impact First comet impact. United States USA 4 July 2005
25143 Itokawa Hayabusa
  • First asteroid ascent.
  • First interplanetary escape without undercarriage cutoff.[clarification needed]
Japan Japan 19 November 2005
81P/Wild Stardust First sample return from comet. United States USA 15 January 2006
Earth Voyager 1
  • Farthest distance from Earth (13,820,000,000 miles (2.224×1010 km; 148.7 AU)).
  • Farthest distance from the Sun (13,751,000,000 miles (2.2130×1010 km; 147.93 AU)).
United States USA As of December 2019[54]
Longest time in operation Voyager 2 Longest continually operating space probe (since August 1977). United States USA As of 2015
Earth to Venus trajectory IKAROS First interplanetary solar sail. Japan Japan Set sail on 10 June 2010
25143 Itokawa Hayabusa First sample return from an asteroid. Japan Japan 13 June 2010
Mercury MESSENGER First orbiter. United States USA 17 March 2011
Earth–Sun L2 Lagrange point Chang'e 2 First object to reach the L2 Lagrangian point directly from lunar orbit.[55] China China 25 August 2011
International Space Station SpaceX Dragon First commercial spacecraft to berth with the International Space Station. United States USA 25 May 2012
Interstellar medium Voyager 1 First spacecraft to cross the heliopause, thereby exiting the heliosphere and entering interstellar space. United States USA 25 August 2012
4179 Toutatis Chang'e 2
  • First object to reach an asteroid directly from a Sun-Earth Langrangian point.
  • First probe to explore both the Moon and an asteroid.[56]
China China 13 December 2012
67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko Rosetta First comet orbiter.[57] ESA logo simple.svg ESA 6 August 2014
67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko Philae First comet soft landing.[58] ESA logo simple.svg ESA 12 November 2014
Ceres Dawn First dwarf planet orbiter.[59] United States USA 6 March 2015
Mars Opportunity Longest distance traveled on surface of another world (26.219 miles (42.195 km), marathon-length).[60] United States USA 23 March 2015
Mercury MESSENGER First impact.[61] United States USA 30 April 2015
Pluto New Horizons
  • First flyby of Pluto, Charon, Nix, Hydra, Kerberos, and Styx.
  • First up-close images of the Pluto system and of Pluto and Charon's surfaces.
  • First to explore the Kuiper belt.
United States USA 14 July 2015
All 9 planets in the pre-IAU redefinition version of the Solar System All United States spacecraft including New Horizons With the New Horizons flyby of Pluto, the United States is the first nation to have its space probes explore all nine planets in the pre-2006 IAU redefinition version of the Solar System. United States USA 14 July 2015
Earth Falcon 9 First re-flight of orbital class rocket.[62] United States USA 30 March 2017
Earth
  • Falcon 9
  • H-IIA-202
Shortest period between orbital launches (launched 72 seconds apart).[63]
  • United States USA
  • Japan Japan
23 December 2017
Moon Chang'e 4 First soft landing at the far side of the Moon. China China 3 January 2019
101955 Bennu OSIRIS-REx Smallest body to be orbited by spacecraft (492 m (1,600 ft) diameter) and closest ever orbit (680 m (2,230 ft) altitude).[64][65] United States USA 12 June 2019
Moon Chang'e 5 First rendezvous and docking by a robotic spacecraft in lunar orbit.[66] China China 5 December 2020
Mars Ingenuity First controlled, powered flight by a rotary wing aircraft on another planet.[67] United States USA 19 April 2021
Sun
  • Parker Solar Probe
Highest velocity of a spacecraft relative to the Sun: 147.8 km/s (532,000 km/h; 330,000 mph).

Closest ever approach to the Sun: distance of 0.070 AU (11,100,000 kilometres; 6,500,000 mi).[68] Spacecraft will continue to lower its perihelion by multiple Venus gravity assists until its closest approach in 2024, which is expected to bring the probe within 9.86 solar radii (6,900,000 km; 4,300,000 mi) of the Sun's surface at a velocity of 191.7 km/s (690,000 km/h; 430,000 mph),[69] by which point it will have become the fastest object in the Solar System apart from comets (overtaking asteroid 2005 HC4).

  • United States USA
29 April 2021

See also[]

References[]

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