Astronomy:List of spaceflight records

From HandWiki
Short description: Extreme benchmarks set off Earth by astronauts, launchers and probes
The first space rendezvous was accomplished by Gemini 6A and Gemini 7 in 1965.

Records and firsts 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 follows a long tradition of firsts in aviation, but is also closely tied to the Space Race. During the 1950s and 1960s, the Soviet Union and the United States competed 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 Vostok 1 cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first person to enter space and orbit the Earth, and in 1969 American Apollo 11 astronaut Neil Armstrong became the first person to set foot on the Moon. No human has traveled beyond low Earth orbit since 1972, when the Apollo program ended.

During the 1970s, the Soviet Union directed its energies to human habitation of space stations of increasingly long durations. In the 1980s, the United States began launching its Space Shuttles, which carried larger crews and thus could increase the number of people in space at a given time. Following their first mission of détente on the 1975 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. In 1963, Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman in space, aboard Vostok 6. In the early 21st century, private companies joined government agencies in crewed spaceflight: in 2004, the sub-orbital spaceplane SpaceShipOne became the first privately funded crewed craft to enter space; in 2020, SpaceX's Dragon 2 became the first privately developed crewed vehicle to reach orbit when it ferried a crew to the ISS. As of 2024, the uncrewed probe Voyager 1 is the most distant artificial object from the Earth, part of a small class of vehicles that 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]
Soviet Union USSR Soyuz 18A Vasily Lazarev, Oleg Makarov Soyuz 7K-T Soyuz 11A511 5 April 1975 Sub-orbital
Russia Russia Soyuz TM-14 Aleksandr Viktorenko, Aleksandr Kaleri, Klaus-Dietrich Flade Soyuz-TM Soyuz-U2 17 March 1992 Orbital
China China[4] Shenzhou 5[4] Yang Liwei[4] Shenzhou spacecraft[4] Long March 2F[4] 15 October 2003[4] Orbital[4]
Russia Russia Soyuz MS-10 Aleksey Ovchinin, Nick Hague Soyuz-MS Soyuz-FG 11 October 2018 Sub-orbital

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 water (splashdown)
  • Person to manually pilot spacecraft.[6]
Alan Shepard Freedom 7 United States USA 5 May 1961
  • Person in space for over 24 hours[7]
  • Multiple orbits during a spaceflight
Gherman Titov Vostok 2 Soviet Union USSR 6 August 1961 –
7 August 1961
  • Group flight[8]
  • Adjacent orbits
  • Spacecraft-to-spacecraft communications
Soviet Union USSR 12 August 1962 –
15 August 1962
  • Woman in space
  • Civilian in space and in orbit (at the time of selection)
Valentina Tereshkova Vostok 6[9] Soviet Union USSR 16 June 1963 –
19 June 1963
  • Spaceflight (suborbital) by winged spacecraft
  • Civilian in space (at the time of flight)
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
  • Human spaceflight without pressurized spacesuits
Voskhod 1[5] Soviet Union USSR 12 October 1964 –
13 October 1964
Spacewalk 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
United States USA
  • 15 May 1963 –
    16 May 1963
  • 21 August 1965 –
    29 August 1965
Persons to spend one week in space
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
United States USA 15 December 1965 –
16 December 1965
Civilian in orbit (at the time of flight) Neil Armstrong Gemini 8 United States USA 16 March 1966 –
17 March 1966
Space docking
Gemini 8 docking.jpg
Gemini 8 and Agena[5] United States USA 16 March 1966
Multiple (dual) rendezvous (with Agena 10, then Agena 8)[10]
  • John W. Young
  • Michael Collins
Gemini 10 United States USA
  • 19 July 1966
  • 20 July 1966
Persons to exceed 1,000 km above Earth Gemini 11 United States USA 12 September 1966 –

15 September 1966

Spaceflight death (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 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
Apollo 8 United States USA 24 December 1968 –
25 December 1968
  • Space docking of two crewed spacecraft
  • Dual spacewalk
  • Сrew transfer (Khrunov, Yeliseyev)[11]
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 extra-vehicular activity (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 Soviet Union USSR 12 October 1969 –
13 October 1969
  • Triple spaceflight
  • Seven people in space at the same time
Soviet Union USSR 13 October 1969 –
16 October 1969
Person to complete four spaceflights James A. Lovell United States USA 17 April 1970
  • Person to fly two lunar flights
  • Person to complete two flights beyond low Earth orbit
James A. Lovell United States USA 11 April 1970 –
17 April 1970
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
Apollo 14 United States USA 6 February 1971
  • Docking with space station (soft dock)
  • Night landing
Soviet Union USSR 22 April 1971 –
24 April 1971
  • Crewed space station
  • In-space fatalities

Salyut 4 and Soyuz drawing.svg
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
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 United States USA 16 April 1972 –
27 April 1972
People in orbit for four weeks
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
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
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
  • First, and only, crew launched on a rocket's maiden flight
  • John W. Young
  • Robert L. Crippen
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 United States USA 14 April 1981
Re-use of previously flown spacecraft (orbital)
  • Joe H. Engle
  • Richard H. Truly
STS-2 United States USA 12 November 1981
Four-person spaceflight in a single spacecraft
STS-5 United States USA 11 November 1982 –
16 November 1982
Five-person spaceflight in a single spacecraft
  • Robert L. Crippen
  • Frederick H. Hauck
  • John M. Fabian
  • Sally K. Ride
  • Norman E. Thagard
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. Lichtenberg – USA
  • Ulf Merbold – Germany (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 United States USA 8 December 1983
Untethered spacewalk
EVAtion - GPN-2000-001087.jpg
Bruce McCandless II STS-41-B[12] United States USA 7 February 1984
Eight people in space at the same time (no docking)
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)
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
STS 41-G crew photo taken on the flight deck of the Challenger during flight - STS41G-19-006.jpg
  • 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
  • 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
STS-61-A
  • United States USA
  • West Germany West Germany
  • Netherlands Netherlands
30 October 1985 –
6 November 1985
Deaths during launch
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
Soyuz T-15 from Mir to Salyut 7 back to Mir[13] 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. Parker – USA
  • Mir: Gennady Manakov, Gennady StrekalovRussia
  • Soyuz and Soyuz/Mir:
    • Musa Manarov, Viktor Afanasyev – Russia
    • Toyohiro Akiyama – Japan
STS-35, Mir EO-7, Soyuz TM-10Soyuz TM-11
  • Soviet Union USSR
  • United States USA
  • Japan Japan
2 December 1990 –
10 December 1990
Civilian to use a commercial space flight, and journalist to report on space from outer space Toyohiro Akiyama – Japan 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 Parise – USA
  • Mir: Aleksandr Viktorenko, Yelena Kondakova, Valeriy Polyakov – Russia
  • Soyuz/Mir:
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. Thagard – USA
  • 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 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)[14]
STS-127 group picture 03.jpg
  • 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
  • United States USA
  • Russia Russia
  • Canada Canada
  • Belgium Belgium
  • Japan Japan
17 July 2009
Four women in space at the same time (docking)
STS-131 and Expedition 23 Group Portrait.jpg
  • Shuttle:
    • Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger, Stephanie Wilson – USA
    • Naoko Yamazaki – Japan
  • ISS: Tracy Caldwell Dyson – USA
  • 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

  • United States USA
18 October 2019
  • Astronauts launched into orbit on commercial spacecraft
  • Astronauts flying to a space station on commercial spacecraft
[15][16]
Crew Dragon Demo-2 Bob and Doug.jpg
  • Bob Behnken
  • Doug Hurley
  • 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 Hoshide – Japan
  • Tiangong: Nie Haisheng, Liu Boming, Tang Hongbo, – China
  • Unity: David Mackay, Michael Masucci, Beth Moses, - USA
  • Sirisha Bandla – India
  • Richard Branson, Colin Bennett – United Kingdom
  • 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 Pesquet – France
  • Akihiko Hoshide – Japan
  • Tiangong: Nie Haisheng, Liu Boming, Tang Hongbo, – China
  • New Shepard: Jeff Bezos, Mark Bezos, Wally Funk - USA
  • Oliver Daemen – Netherlands
  • United States USA
  • China China
  • Russia Russia
  • France France
  • Japan Japan
  • Netherlands Netherlands
20 July 2021
  • Orbital spaceflight with an all private crew
  • Fully commercial orbital spaceflight

  • Jared Isaacman
  • Hayley Arceneaux
  • Christopher Sembroski
  • Sian Proctor
Inspiration4 United States USA 16 September 2021 –
18 September 2021

Inspiration4 United States USA 16 September 2021 –
18 September 2021

  • Hayley Arceneaux
Inspiration4 United States USA 16 September 2021 –
18 September 2021
14 people in orbit at the same time (no docking)
  • ISS: Mark Vande Hei, Shane Kimbrough, K. Megan McArthur, – USA
  • Oleg Novitsky, Pyotr DubrovRussia
  • Thomas Pesquet – France
  • Akihiko Hoshide – Japan
  • Tiangong: Nie Haisheng, Liu Boming, Tang Hongbo, – China
  • Inspiration4: Jared Isaacman, Hayley Arceneaux, Sian Proctor, Christopher Sembroski - USA
  • United States USA
  • China China
  • Russia Russia
  • France France
  • Japan Japan
16 September 2021 –
17 September 2021
19 people in space (100 km) at the same time (no docking)
  • ISS: Mark Vande Hei, Raja Chari, Thomas Marshburn, Kayla Barron – USA
  • Anton Shkaplerov, Pyotr Dubrov, Alexander Misurkin – Russia
  • Matthias Maurer – Germany
  • Yusaku Maezawa, Yozo Hirano – Japan
  • Tiangong: Zhai Zhigang, Wang Yaping, Ye Guangfu, – China
  • New Shepard: Laura Shepard Churchley, Michael Strahan, Dylan Taylor, Evan Dick, Lane Bess, Cameron Bess - USA
  • United States USA
  • China China
  • Russia Russia
  • Germany Germany
  • Japan Japan
11 December 2021
  • Flight to a space station with an all private crew
  • Fully commercial flight to a space station

  • Michael López-Alegría
  • Larry Connor
  • Mark Pathy
  • Eytan Stibbe
Axiom Mission 1 To ISS
  • United States USA
  • Spain Spain
  • Canada Canada
  • Israel Israel
8 April 2022 –
18 April 2022
  • Simultaneous continuous inhabitation of two crewed space stations

  • ISS
  • TSS
5 June 2022 –
5 women in space at the same time (no docking)
  • ISS : Jessica Watkins, Nicole Mann – USA
  • Anna Kikina – Russia
  • Samantha Cristoforetti – Italy
  • Tiangong : Liu Yang – China
  • United States USA
  • Russia Russia
  • Italy Italy
  • China China
5 October 2022 -
14 October 2022
20 people in space (50 miles) at the same time (no docking)
  • ISS: Stephen Bowen, Warren Hoburg, Peggy Whitson, John Shoffner, Francisco Rubio – USA
    Andrey Fedyaev, Dmitry Petelin, Sergey Prokopyev – Russia
    Ali AlQarni, Rayyanah Barnawi – Saudi Arabia
    Sultan Al Neyadi – UAE
  • TSS: Fei Junlong, Deng Qingming, Zhang Lu – China
  • Unity 25: Michael Masucci, Frederick W. “CJ”Sturckow, Beth Moses, Luke Mays, Jamila Gilbert, Christopher Huie – USA
  • United States USA
  • Russia Russia
  • China China
  • Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia
  • United Arab Emirates UAE
25 May 2023
17 people in orbit at the same time (no docking)
  • ISS: Stephen Bowen, Warren Hoburg, Peggy Whitson, John Shoffner, Francisco Rubio – USA
    Andrey Fedyaev, Dmitry Petelin, Sergey Prokopyev – Russia
    Ali AlQarni, Rayyanah Barnawi – Saudi Arabia
    Sultan Al Neyadi – UAE
  • TSS: Fei Junlong, Deng Qingming, Zhang Lu, Jing Haipeng, Zhu Yangzhu, Gui Haichao – China
  • United States USA
  • Russia Russia
  • China China
  • Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia
  • United Arab Emirates UAE
30 May 2023 -
31 May 2023
  1. crew replenished by direct or indirect handovers
  2. crew replenished by direct handovers

Most spaceflights

Most launches from Earth

  • 10 launches
    • Frederick W. Sturckow (USA), Space Shuttle and SpaceShipTwo (1998–2024)

Note: The six 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.

Most orbital launches from Earth

Most orbital launches overall

  • 7 launches
    • John W. Young (USA[17]) 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[14]), Space Shuttle (1985–2002)
    • Franklin Chang Díaz (Costa Rica/USA*[14]), 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)
    • Thomas Marshburn (USA) – launched aboard a Space Shuttle, Soyuz, and SpaceX Crew Dragon (2007–2021)
    • Koichi Wakata (Japan) – launched aboard a Space Shuttle, Soyuz, and SpaceX Crew Dragon (1996–2022)
    • Peggy Whitson (USA) – launched aboard a Space Shuttle, Soyuz, and SpaceX Crew Dragon (2002–2023)
    • Michael López-Alegría (USA) – launched aboard a Space Shuttle, Soyuz, and SpaceX Crew Dragon (1995–2024)

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, five times 2021-2024).
    • John Young (USA) - Cape Kennedy Air Force Station (now Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, twice aboard a Gemini capsule 1965-1966), Kennedy Space Center (four times, twice aboard an Apollo capsule 1969-1971, twice aboard a Space Shuttle 1981-1983), Descartes Highlands (from the Moon aboard an Apollo Lunar Module, in 1971).
    • Neil Armstrong (USA) - Cape Kennedy Air Force Station (aboard a Gemini capsule in 1966), Kennedy Space Center (aboard an Apollo capsule in 1969), Tranquility Base (from the Moon aboard an Apollo Lunar Module, in 1969).
    • Buzz Aldrin (USA) - Cape Kennedy Air Force Station (aboard a Gemini capsule in 1966), Kennedy Space Center (aboard an Apollo capsule in 1969), Tranquility Base (from the Moon aboard an Apollo Lunar Module, in 1969).
    • Pete Conrad (USA) - Cape Kennedy Air Force Station (twice aboard a Gemini capsule 1965-1966), Kennedy Space Center (twice aboard an Apollo capsule 1969-1973), Ocean of Storms (from the Moon aboard an Apollo Lunar Module, in 1969).
    • Alan Shepard (USA) - Cape Kennedy Air Force Station (aboard a Mercury capsule in 1961), Kennedy Space Center (aboard an Apollo capsule in 1971), Fra Mauro (from the Moon aboard an Apollo Lunar Module, in 1971).
    • David Scott (USA) - Cape Kennedy Air Force Station (aboard a Gemini capsule in 1966), Kennedy Space Center (twice aboard an Apollo capsule 1969-1971), Hadley Rille (from the Moon aboard an Apollo Lunar Module, in 1971).
    • Gene Cernan (USA) - Cape Kennedy Air Force Station (aboard a Gemini capsule in 1966), Kennedy Space Center (twice aboard an Apollo capsule 1969-1972), Taurus-Littrow (from the Moon aboard an Apollo Lunar Module, in 1972).

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

Most time in space

The record for most time in space is held by Russian cosmonaut Gennady Padalka, who has spent 878 days in space over five missions. On 28 June 2015, Padalka surpassed the previous record holder, cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev, who spent 803 days, 9 hours and 39 minutes (about 2.2 years) during six spaceflights on Soyuz, the Space Shuttle, Mir, and the International Space Station.[18][19][20] Second place is currently held by Oleg Kononenko, have been in space for Template:Sum days on five spaceflights. Oleg Kononenko, who launched on board Soyuz MS-24 to ISS on 15 September 2023, is on his fifth spaceflight currently and is assigned for a one year long duration ISS mission. If this mission lasts 300–365 days, Kononenko will have spent a total of 1,036-1,101 days in space, exceeding the current record by Padalka. It is expected that Oleg Kononenko will break this record on February 4, 2024 at 07:30:08 UTC.[21] He will thus also become the first person to stay 900 and 1,000 days in space.[22][23]

{{As of|2024| |12} pacefacts">"Astronauts and Cosmonauts (sorted by "Time in Space")". spacefacts.de. http://www.spacefacts.de/english/e_tis.htm.  The current missions are listed but not included in day count.</ref> the 50 space travelers with the most total time in space are:

Color key:

  •   Currently in space
  •   Active
  •   Retired
  •   Deceased
Rank Person Days Flights Status Nationality
1 Gennady Padalka 878.480 5 Retired  Russia
2 Oleg Kononenko Template:Sum 5 Active  Russia
3 Yuri Malenchenko 827.389 6 Retired  Russia
4 Sergei Krikalev 803.371 6 Retired  Soviet Union /  Russia
5 Aleksandr Kaleri 769.276 5 Retired  Russia
6 Sergei Avdeyev 747.593 3 Retired  Soviet Union /  Russia
7 Anton Shkaplerov 709.336 4 Retired  Russia
8 Valeri Polyakov 678.690 2 Deceased  Soviet Union /  Russia
9 Peggy Whitson 675.158 4 Active  United States
10 Fyodor Yurchikhin 672.860 5 Retired  Russia
11 Anatoly Solovyev 651.117 5 Retired  Soviet Union /  Russia
12 Sergey Prokopyev 567.633 2 Active  Russia
13 Oleg Artemyev 560.614 3 Active  Russia
14 Viktor Afanasyev 555.772 4 Retired  Soviet Union /  Russia
15 Yury Usachov 552.773 4 Retired  Russia
16 Sergey Volkov 547.931 3 Retired  Russia
17 Pavel Vinogradov 546.939 3 Retired  Russia
18 Aleksandr Skvortsov 545.964 3 Retired  Russia
19 Musa Manarov 541.021 2 Retired  Soviet Union ( Azerbaijan)
20 Oleg Skripochka 536.159 3 Retired  Russia
21 Jeffrey Williams 534.116 4 Retired  United States
22 Mikhail Tyurin 532.118 3 Retired  Russia
23 Oleg Novitsky 531.290 3 Active  Russia
24 Oleg Kotov 526.211 3 Retired  Russia
25 Mark T. Vande Hei 523.374 2 Active  United States
26 Scott Kelly 520.440 4 Retired[24]  United States
27 Mikhail Kornienko 516.417 2 Retired  Russia
28 Koichi Wakata 504.773 5 Active  Japan
29 Aleksandr Viktorenko 489.066 4 Deceased  Soviet Union /  Russia
30 Anatoli Ivanishin 476.195 3 Retired  Russia
31 Nikolai Budarin 444.060 3 Retired  Russia
32 Yuri Romanenko 430.765 3 Retired  Soviet Union
33 Thomas Pesquet 396.482 2 Active  France
34 Aleksandr Volkov 391.495 3 Retired  Soviet Union /  Russia
35 Yury Onufriyenko 389.282 2 Retired  Russia
36 Shane Kimbrough 388.728 3 Retired  United States
37 Vladimir Titov 387.036 4 Retired  Soviet Union /  Russia
38 Vasily Tsibliyev 381.662 2 Retired  Russia
39 Valery Korzun 381.653 2 Retired  Russia
40 Michael Fincke 381.633 3 Active  United States
41 Christopher Cassidy 377.742 3 Retired  United States
42 Aleksey Ovchinin 374.813 2 Active  Russia
43 Leonid Kizim 374.749 3 Deceased  Soviet Union
44 Michael Foale 373.763 6 Retired  United States /  United Kingdom[25]
45 Aleksandr Serebrov 372.954 4 Deceased  Soviet Union /  Russia
46 Valery Ryumin 371.725 4 Deceased  Soviet Union /  Russia
47 Dmitry Petelin 370.890 1 Active  Russia
Francisco Rubio 370.890 1 Active  United States
49 Samantha Cristoforetti 370.239 2 Active  Italy
50 Donald Pettit 369.696 3 Active  United States

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[26][27] Valeri Polyakov[26]  Russia 1994-01-08 (Soyuz TM-18) 1995-03-22 (Soyuz TM-20) Mir[26]
2 379.6 days[27] Sergei Avdeyev[27]  Russia 1998-08-13 (Soyuz TM-28) 1999-08-28 (Soyuz TM-29) Mir[27]
3 370.9 days Sergey Prokopyev  Russia 2022-09-21 (Soyuz MS-22) 2023-09-27 (Soyuz MS-23) International Space Station
Dmitry Petelin  Russia
Francisco Rubio  United States
4 365.9 days[27] Vladimir Titov[27]  Soviet Union 1987-12-21 (Soyuz TM-4) 1988-12-21 (Soyuz TM-6) Mir[27]
Musa Manarov[27]  Soviet Union
5 355.2 days[28] Pyotr Dubrov  Russia 2021-04-09 (Soyuz MS-18) 2022-03-30 (Soyuz MS-19) International Space Station
Mark T. Vande Hei  United States
6 340.4 days Mikhail Kornienko  Russia 2015-03-27 (Soyuz TMA-16M) 2016-03-01 (Soyuz TMA-18M) International Space Station,
ISS year-long mission
Scott Kelly  United States
7 328.6 days[29][30] Christina Koch[30]  United States 2019-03-15 (Soyuz MS-12) 2020-02-06 (Soyuz MS-13) International Space Station
8 326.5 days[31] Yuri Romanenko[31]  Soviet Union 1987-02-05 (Soyuz TM-2) 1987-12-29 (Soyuz TM-3) Mir[31]
9 311.8 days[32] Sergei Krikalev[32]  Soviet Union/ Russia 1991-05-18 (Soyuz TM-12) 1992-03-25 (Soyuz TM-13) Mir[32]
10 289.2 days[33] Peggy Whitson[33]  United States 2016-11-17 (Soyuz MS-03) 2017-09-03 (Soyuz MS-04) International Space Station[33]

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.[34]

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.[14][35] Since then space has been continuously occupied for 23 years, 255 days.[14]

Longest continuous occupation of a spacecraft

The International Space Station has been continuously occupied by a Russian and US crew member since 2 November 2000 (23 years, 253 days).[14][35] It broke the record of 9 years and 358 days of the Soviet/Russian Space Station Mir on 23 October 2010.[35]

Longest solo flight

Valery Bykovsky flew solo for 4 days, 23 hours in Vostok 5 from 14 to 19 June 1963.[36] 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, Ken 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.[37] They performed three EVAs (extra-vehicular activity) totaling 22 hours 3 minutes, 57 seconds. As Apollo commanders were the first to leave the LM and the last to get back in, Cernan's EVA time was slightly longer.[37]

Longest time in lunar orbit

Ronald Evans of Apollo 17 mission stayed in lunar orbit for 6 days and 4 hours (148 hours)[38] along with five mice. For the solo portion of a flight around the Moon, Ken 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.[39] This record-breaking distance was reached at 00:21 UTC on 15 April 1970.[39]

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).[40]

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 meters per second or 24,791 miles per hour, about 32 times the speed of sound and 0.0037% of the speed of light).[14] The record was set 26 May 1969.[14]

The record for uncrewed spacecraft is held by the Parker Solar Probe at 176 km/s, about 1/1700 (or 0.06%) the speed of light, relative to the Sun. This speed was first reached in September 2023.

Age records

Wally Funk flew in July, 2021
William Shatner flew in October, 2021

Earliest-born to reach space

Suborbital flight

  • Man - Joe Walker (born 20 February 1921), on X-15 Flight 90 on 19 July 1963 (about 12 minutes.)
  • Woman - Wally Funk (born 1 February 1939), on Blue Origin NS-16, on 20 July 2021 (about 10 minutes.)

Orbital spaceflight

Youngest

Suborbital flight

  • Man - Oliver Daemen (aged 18 years and 11 months), on Blue Origin NS-16, on 20 July 2021 (about 10 minutes.)
  • Woman - Anastatia Mayers (aged 18 years, 10 months, and 14 days), on Galactic 02, on 10 August 2023 (about 5 minutes.)

Orbital spaceflight

Oldest

Suborbital flight

Orbital spaceflight

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 Expedition 24 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 device to help hold an astronaut's feet to the shuttle's robot arm became untethered,[48] and Voss had to retrieve a spare from storage on the exterior of the station's Unity module. After about six hours of work, the pair reentered Space Shuttle Discovery’s airlock.

Greatest distance from a spacecraft during a spacewalk

  • All-time (and while on a planetary body[49]): 7.6 kilometers[50]:1144 (4.7 miles, 25,029 feet[51]), Apollo 17, Gene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt, EVA-2, December 12, 1972. During their second of three moonwalks, Cernan and Schmitt rode the Lunar Roving Vehicle to geological station 2, Nansen Crater, at the foot of the South Massif. As all spacewalks not occurring on a planetary body (the Moon) have involved short maximum distances from the spacecraft (see below), this remains the furthest distance that humans have traveled away from the safety of a pressurizable spacecraft, during an EVA of any type.
  • Orbital flight: about 100 meters (or 330 feet), Bruce McCandless, STS-41-B, February 7, 1984. With the exception of six Manned Maneuvering Unit (MMU) sorties in 1984 and a test of the Simplified Aid For EVA Rescue (SAFER) in 1994, all other orbital spacewalks have involved a safety tether, anchoring the spacefarer to the spacecraft at a short distance. Among the former untethered spacewalks, Bruce McCandless' first test of the MMU established an orbital EVA distance record from a spacecraft which remained unbroken by later untethered EVAs.[52]

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).[53] They were also the first animals to safely return from space.[53] Albert II, a rhesus monkey, became the first mammal in space aboard a U.S. V-2 rocket on June 14, 1949, and died on reentry due to a parachute failure. The first dogs in space were launched 22 July 1951 aboard a Soviet R-1V. "Tsygin" and "Dezik" reached a height of 100 km (62 mi) and safely parachuted back to Earth. This flight preceded the first American canine space mission by two weeks.[54]:21

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.

First Hominidae in space

On 31 January 1961, through NASA's Mercury-Redstone 2 mission the chimpanzee Ham became the first great ape or Hominidae in space.[55]

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 flew around the Moon with a number of other biological specimens including seeds and bacteria on a circumlunar mission aboard the Soviet Zond 5 spacecraft on 18 September 1968.[53] It had been launched by a Proton-K rocket on 14 September.[53]

Zond 5 came within 2,000 kilometres (1,200 mi) of the Moon and then successfully returned to Earth, the first spacecraft in history to return safely to Earth from the Moon.[53]

Notable uncrewed or non-human 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 V-2 No. 47 First mammal in space, Albert II, a rhesus monkey (suborbital flight). Died in capsule parachute failure. United States USA 14 June 1949
Earth R-1V[56] First 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, a 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 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 on another celestial body.[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.[57] Soviet Union USSR 19 August 1960
Earth Mercury-Redstone 2 First great ape or Hominidae in space, Ham, a chimpanzee.[55] United States USA 31 January 1961
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.[58] 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).[59] Canada Canada 29 September 1962
Venus Mariner 2 First planetary flyby with communication contact. Distance of 34,762 kilometres (21,600 mi). United States USA 14 December 1962
Earth Lincoln Calibration Sphere 1 Oldest spacecraft still in use (59 years (As of 2024)). 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.[60] 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 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 (14,841,000,000 miles (2.3884×1010 km; 159.66 AU)).
  • Farthest distance from the Sun (14,912,000,000 miles (2.3999×1010 km; 160.42 AU)).
United States USA (As of July 2023)[61]
Longest time in operation Voyager 2 Longest continually operating space probe (since August 1977). United States USA (As of 2015)
Moon Moon Impact Probe First hard landing on Lunar south pole and discovery of water on Moon.[62] India India 14 November 2008
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.[63] China China 25 August 2011
International Space Station SpaceX Dragon 1 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.[64]
China China 13 December 2012
67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko Rosetta First comet orbiter.[65] ESA logo simple.svg ESA 6 August 2014
Mars MOM First Asian nation to achieve Mars orbit and first in the world to do so in first attempt.[66] India India 24 September 2014
67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko Philae First comet soft landing.[67] ESA logo simple.svg ESA 12 November 2014
Ceres Dawn First dwarf planet orbiter.[68] United States USA 6 March 2015
Mars Opportunity Longest distance traveled on surface of another world (26.219 miles (42.195 km), marathon-length).[69] United States USA 23 March 2015
Mercury MESSENGER First impact.[70] 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 (B1021) First re-flight of an orbital class rocket stage.[71] United States USA 30 March 2017
Earth Shortest period between orbital launches (launched 72[72][73][74][75][76] seconds apart).
  • United States USA
  • Japan Japan
23 December 2017
1.66 au heliocentric orbit Elon Musk's Tesla Roadster on Falcon Heavy Test Flight First successful Deep Space mission launched successfully on a rocket's maiden flight United States USA 6 February 2018
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).[77][78] United States USA 12 June 2019
Moon Chang'e 5 First robotic rendezvous and docking by two spacecraft (lunar orbiter attached with reentry-capsule and lunar ascent vehicle) in lunar orbit or any orbit other than Earth's.[79] China China 5 December 2020
Moon Chang'e 5 First robotic transfer of payload (lunar samples from lunar ascent vehicle to reentry capsule) between two docked spacecraft in lunar orbit or any orbit other than Earth's.[80] China China 5 December 2020
Mars Ingenuity First controlled, powered flight by a rotary wing aircraft on another planet.[81] United States USA 19 April 2021
Moon Chandrayaan-3 First soft landing at Lunar south polar region. India India 23 August 2023
Sun Parker Solar Probe Highest velocity of a spacecraft relative to the Sun: 176 km/s (635,000 km/h; 395,000 mph).

Closest approach to the Sun: distance of 0.049 AU (7,260,000 kilometres; 4,510,000 mi).[82] Spacecraft will continue to lower its perihelion with one more Venus gravity assist before 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),[83] by which point it will have become the fastest object in the Solar System apart from comets (overtaking asteroid 2005 HC4).

  • United States USA
27 September 2023
Earth Falcon 9 (B1058) Most flights, and landings, of a single orbital rocket stage: 19. United States USA 23 December 2023

See also


References

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