List of spaceflight records
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 Template:Year, 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 | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Template:Flagicon USSR<ref name=Gar>Template:Cite web</ref> | Vostok 1<ref name=Gar/> | Yuri Gagarin<ref name=Gar/> | Vostok 3KA<ref name=Gar/> | Vostok-K<ref name=Gar/> | 12 April 1961<ref name=Gar/> | Orbital<ref name=Gar/> | |
| Template:Flagicon USA<ref name=F7>Template:Cite web</ref> | Mercury-Redstone 3 (Freedom 7)<ref name=F7/> | Alan Shepard<ref name=F7/> | Mercury Spacecraft No.7<ref name=F7/> | Mercury-Redstone<ref name=F7/> | 5 May 1961<ref name=F7/> | Sub-orbital<ref name=F7/> | |
| Template:Flagicon USA<ref name=Friend7>Template:Cite web</ref> | Mercury-Atlas 6 (Friendship 7)<ref name=Friend7/> | John Glenn<ref name=Friend7/> | Mercury Spacecraft No.13<ref name=Friend7/> | Atlas LV-3B | 20 February 1962<ref name=Friend7/> | Orbital<ref name=Friend7/> | |
| Template:Flagicon USSR | Soyuz 18A | Vasily Lazarev, Oleg Makarov | Soyuz 7K-T | Soyuz 11A511 | 5 April 1975 | Sub-orbital | The mission was intended to be orbital, but a fault in the launch vehicle prevented the spacecraft from reaching orbit. |
| Template:Flagicon Russia | Soyuz TM-14 | Aleksandr Viktorenko, Aleksandr Kaleri, Klaus-Dietrich Flade | Soyuz-TM | Soyuz-U2 | 17 March 1992 | Orbital | First Soyuz mission to occur after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. |
| Template:Flagicon China<ref name=ChinFirst>Template:Cite web</ref> | Shenzhou 5<ref name=ChinFirst/> | Yang Liwei<ref name=ChinFirst/> | Shenzhou spacecraft<ref name=ChinFirst/> | Long March 2F<ref name=ChinFirst/> | 15 October 2003<ref name=ChinFirst/> | Orbital<ref name=ChinFirst/> |
Human spaceflight firsts
Template:More citations needed section 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, US agencies define the border of space at 50 mi (80.47 km). Template:Sticky header
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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 (Template:Convert), but fall short of the Kármán line (Template:Convert), the definition used for FAI space recordkeeping.
Most orbital launches overall
- 7 launches
- John W. Young (USA<ref name="bio">Template:Cite web</ref>) 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<ref name=MostExtreme/>), Space Shuttle (1985–2002)
- Franklin Chang Díaz (Costa Rica/USA*<ref name=MostExtreme/>), Space Shuttle (1986–2002)
Most orbital launches from Earth
- 7 launches
- Jerry L. Ross (USA<ref name=MostExtreme/>), Space Shuttle (1985–2002)
- Franklin Chang Díaz (Costa Rica/USA<ref name=MostExtreme/>), Space Shuttle (1986–2002)
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 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)
- Michael Barratt (USA) – launched aboard a Soyuz, Space Shuttle, and SpaceX Crew Dragon (2009–2024)
- Barry Wilmore (USA) – launched aboard a Space Shuttle, Soyuz, and Boeing Starliner (2009–2024) (landed in a SpaceX Crew Dragon in 2025)
- Sunita Williams (USA) – launched aboard a Space Shuttle, Soyuz, and Boeing Starliner (2006–2024) (landed in a SpaceX Crew Dragon in 2025)
- Michael Fincke (USA) – launched aboard a Soyuz, Space Shuttle, and SpaceX Crew Dragon (2004–2025)
Largest number of different launch sites
- 3 sites – Any orbital launch
- 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).
- 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 1972).
- 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).
- 3 sites – Only orbital launches from Earth
- Sunita Williams (USA) – Kennedy Space Center (aboard a Space Shuttle in 2006), Baikonur Cosmodrome (aboard a Soyuz capsule in 2012), Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (aboard a Starliner capsule in 2024).
- Barry E. Wilmore (USA) – Kennedy Space Center (aboard a Space Shuttle in 2009), Baikonur Cosmodrome (aboard a Soyuz capsule in 2014), Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (aboard a Starliner capsule in 2024).
- 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).
Notes:
- Seven of the twelve Apollo program moonwalkers launched from what was then called Cape Kennedy Air Force Station as part of the Mercury or Gemini programs. On their respective Lunar Landing Mission those seven launched twice. All Apollo Lunar Landing missions that landed on the moon launched from the Kennedy Space Center and when the lunar surface portion of their mission was complete, launched from the surface of the moon to meet up with the Apollo Command Module in lunar orbit.
- SpaceShipTwo flights are suborbital. SpaceShipTwo flights surpass the U.S. definition of spaceflight (Template:Convert), but fall short of the Kármán line (Template:Convert), the FAI definition used for most space recordkeeping.
Duration records
Total human spaceflight time by country
Template:TotalHumanSpaceFlightByNation
Most time in space
The record for most time in space is held by Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko, who has spent 1,111 days in space over five missions. He broke the record of Gennady Padalka on 4 February 2024 at 07:30:08 UTC during his fifth spaceflight aboard Soyuz MS-24/25 for a one year long-duration mission on the ISS.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He later became the first person to stay 900, 1,000, and 1,100 days in space on 25 February 2024, 4 June 2024, and 12 September 2024 respectively.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Gennady Padalka is currently second, having spent 878 days in space. He himself had broken the all-time duration record on 28 June 2015 when he 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.<ref name="skk2">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=p4n>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Russian astronaut record-breaker Padalka returns to Earth, BBC News, 12 September 2015</ref>
Template:As of,<ref name="Spacefacts">Template:Cite web 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:
Ten longest human spaceflights
Template:Further Template:Sticky header
| # | Time in space | Crew | Country | Launch date (Launch craft) | Landing date (Landing craft) | Space station or mission type |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 437.7 days<ref name=NYT>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=SpaceYearMis/> | Valeri Polyakov<ref name=NYT/> | Template:RUS | 1994-01-08 (Soyuz TM-18) | 1995-03-22 (Soyuz TM-20) | Mir<ref name=NYT/> |
| 2 | 379.6 days<ref name=SpaceYearMis/> | Sergey Avdeev<ref name=SpaceYearMis/> | Template:RUS | 1998-08-13 (Soyuz TM-28) | 1999-08-28 (Soyuz TM-29) | Mir<ref name=SpaceYearMis/> |
| 3 | 373.8 days | Oleg Kononenko | Template:RUS | 2023-09-15 (Soyuz MS-24) | 2024-09-23 (Soyuz MS-25) | International Space Station |
| Nikolai Chub | ||||||
| 4 | 370.9 days | Sergey Prokopyev | Template:RUS | 2022-09-21 (Soyuz MS-22) | 2023-09-27 (Soyuz MS-23) | International Space Station |
| Dmitry Petelin | ||||||
| Francisco Rubio | Template:USA | |||||
| 5 | 365.9 days<ref name=SpaceYearMis>Template:Cite web</ref> | Vladimir Titov<ref name=SpaceYearMis/> | Template:USSR | 1987-12-21 (Soyuz TM-4) | 1988-12-21 (Soyuz TM-6) | Mir<ref name=SpaceYearMis/> |
| Musa Manarov<ref name=SpaceYearMis/> | ||||||
| 6 | 355.2 days<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | Pyotr Dubrov | Template:RUS | 2021-04-09 (Soyuz MS-18) | 2022-03-30 (Soyuz MS-19) | International Space Station |
| Mark T. Vande Hei | Template:USA | |||||
| 7 | 340.4 days | Mikhail Kornienko | Template:RUS | 2015-03-27 (Soyuz TMA-16M) | 2016-03-01 (Soyuz TMA-18M) | International Space Station, ISS year-long mission |
| Scott Kelly | Template:USA | |||||
| 8 | 328.6 days<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="Kochrecords"/> | Christina Koch<ref name=Kochrecords>Template:Cite web</ref> | Template:USA | 2019-03-14 (Soyuz MS-12) | 2020-02-06 (Soyuz MS-13) | International Space Station |
| 9 | 326.5 days<ref name=GiantD>Template:Cite book</ref> | Yuri Romanenko<ref name=GiantD/> | Template:USSR | 1987-02-05 (Soyuz TM-2) | 1987-12-29 (Soyuz TM-3) | Mir<ref name=GiantD/> |
| 10 | 311.8 days<ref name=WarNYT>Template:Cite web</ref> | Sergei Krikalev<ref name=WarNYT/> | Template:USSR/Template:RUS | 1991-05-18 (Soyuz TM-12) | 1992-03-25 (Soyuz TM-13) | Mir<ref name=WarNYT/> |
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.<ref name="Kochrecords"/> During Expedition 61, she surpassed NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson's 289 days from 2016 to 2017.
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.<ref name=MostExtreme/><ref name=10Year>Template:Cite web</ref> Since then space has been continuously occupied for Template:Age in years and days.<ref name=MostExtreme/>
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 (Template:Age in years and days).<ref name=MostExtreme/><ref name=10Year/> It broke the record of 9 years and 358 days of the Soviet/Russian Space Station Mir on 23 October 2010.<ref name=10Year/>
Longest solo flight
Valery Bykovsky flew solo for 4 days, 23 hours in Vostok 5 from 14 to 19 June 1963.<ref>Template:Cite web This only counts the duration of solo flight within a mission, so a longer mission with solo flight, such as Apollo 17 at 12d+13h duration is surpassed because the solo undocked duration was only 3d+7h.)</ref> 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.<ref name=NASAAP17>Template:Cite web</ref> 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.<ref name=NASAAP17/>
Longest time in lunar orbit
Ronald Evans of Apollo 17 mission stayed in lunar orbit for 6 days and 4 hours (148 hours)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 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
Fastest
Template:See also 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).<ref name=MostExtreme>Template:Cite web</ref> The record was set 26 May 1969, upon atmospheric entry interface after returning from the Moon.<ref name=MostExtreme/>
The record for uncrewed spacecraft is held by the Parker Solar Probe at 191.7 km/s, about 1/1600 (or 0.064%) the speed of light, relative to the Sun. This speed was first reached in December 2024.
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 Template:Convert from the lunar surface, were Template:Convert from Earth.<ref name="Apollo13History">Template:Cite web</ref> This record-breaking distance was reached at 00:21 UTC on 15 April 1970.<ref name="Apollo13History"/>
Highest altitude for crewed non-lunar mission
Polaris Dawn crew Jared Isaacman, Scott Poteet, Sarah Gillis and Anna Menon fired their Crew Dragon Resilience's Draco thrusters on 11 September 2024 at 00:27 UTC, at 15 hours and 4 minutes after liftoff and achieved a record apogee altitude of Template:Convert.<ref name="Polaris Dawn Mission Overview Briefing">Template:Cite AV media</ref>
Age records
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
- Man – Georgy Beregovoy (born 15 April 1921), on Soyuz 3 on 26 October 1968 (81 orbits in about 4 days.)
- Woman – Valentina Tereshkova (born 6 March 1937), on Vostok 6 on 16–19 June 1963 (48 orbits, about 3 days.)
Youngest
Suborbital flight
- Woman – Anastatia Mayers (aged Template:Age in years, months and days), on Galactic 02, on 10 August 2023 (about 5 minutes.)
- Man – Oliver Daemen (aged Template:Age in years, months and days), on Blue Origin NS-16, on 20 July 2021 (about 10 minutes.)
Orbital spaceflight
- Man – Gherman Titov (aged Template:Age in years, months and days), on Vostok 2 on 6 August 1961 (17.5 orbits, about 1 day.)<ref name=MostExtreme/>
- Woman – Valentina Tereshkova (aged Template:Age in years, months and days), on Vostok 6 on 16–19 June 1963 (48 orbits, about 3 days.)
Oldest
Suborbital flight
- Man: Ed Dwight (aged Template:Age in years, months and days), on Blue Origin NS-25, on 19 May 2024 (about 10 minutes).
- Woman: Wally Funk (aged Template:Age in years, months and days), on Blue Origin NS-16, on 20 July 2021 (about 10 minutes).
Orbital spaceflight
- Man: John Glenn (aged Template:Age in years, months and days), on STS-95 on 29 October 1998 (about 9 days, 20 hours).<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
- Woman: Peggy Whitson (aged Template:Age in years, months and days), on Axiom Mission 4 on 25 June 2025 (about 20 days, 2 hours and 59 minutes).<ref>Template:Cite press release</ref>
Spacewalk
Youngest
- Woman – Sarah Gillis, (aged Template:Age in years, months and days), during Polaris Dawn.
- Man – Alexei Leonov (aged Template:Age in years, months and days), during Voskhod 2.
Oldest
- Man – Michael Barratt (aged Template:Age in years, months and days), during ISS Expedition 71.
- Woman – Sunita Williams (aged Template:Age in years, months and days), during ISS Expedition 72.
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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- Woman (number) – Peggy Whitson, 10 spacewalks for a total time of 60 hours, 21 minutes.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="evanine">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="EVA2017">Template:Cite web</ref>
- Woman (cumulative time) – Sunita Williams, 9 spacewalks for a total time of 62 hours, and 6 minutes.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
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 spacewalks
- Man – Cai Xuzhe and Song Lingdong, 9 hours 6 minutes, during the Shenzhou 19 mission on 17 December 2024, as they installed space debris protection devices on the exterior of the Tiangong Space Station.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- Woman – Susan Helms, 8 hours 56 minutes, along with James Voss on an ISS assembly mission during Shuttle mission STS-102 on 11 March 2001. The spacewalkers were delayed early in their excursion when a device to help hold an astronaut's feet to the shuttle's robot arm became untethered,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 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<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>): 7.6 kilometers<ref name="transcript">Template:Cite web</ref>Template:Reference page (4.7 miles, 25,029 feet<ref name="eva table">Template:Cite web</ref>), 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. Of all spacewalks to date, Bruce McCandless' first test of the MMU established an orbital EVA distance record from a spacecraft which remained unbroken by later untethered EVAs.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
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 Template:Convert.<ref name=spaceanimals/> They were also the first animals to safely return from space.<ref name=spaceanimals>Template:Cite web</ref> 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 Template:Cvt and safely parachuted back to Earth.<ref name="rsp">Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp
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 in space.<ref name="My steps for Bataan">Template:Cite web</ref>
Longest canine single flight
Soviet space dogs Template:Lang (Template:Lang, "Light Wind") and Template:Lang (Template:Lang, "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.<ref name=spaceanimals /> It had been launched by a Proton-K rocket on 14 September.<ref name=spaceanimals />
Zond 5 came within Template:Convert of the Moon and then successfully returned to Earth, the first spacecraft in history to return safely to Earth from the Moon.<ref name=spaceanimals />
Notable uncrewed or non-human spaceflights
Template:Further Template:Sticky header
| In reference to: | Spacecraft | Event | Origin | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Earth | MW 18014 (A-4(V-2)) | First rocket to reach space (suborbital flight). | Template:Flagicon Germany | 20 June 1944 |
| Earth | V-2 No. 20 | First living organisms (fruit flies) in space (suborbital flight). Successfully recovered. | Template:Flagicon 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. | Template:Flagicon USA | 14 June 1949 |
| Earth | R-1V<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | First dogs in space (suborbital flight). Successfully recovered. | Template:Flagicon USSR | 22 July 1951 |
| Earth | Sputnik 1 | First satellite in orbit.<ref name="flight1967-03-23" /> | Template:Flagicon USSR | 4 October 1957 |
| Earth | Sputnik 2 | First animal in orbit, Laika, a dog. | Template:Flagicon 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. | Template:Flagicon USA | 17 March 1958 |
| Earth | Pioneer 1 | Failed to reach the Moon as intended, but reached a record–setting distance of Template:Convert from Earth. | Template:Flagicon USA | 11 October 1958 |
| Earth | Luna 1 | First spacecraft to achieve Earth's escape velocity. | Template:Flagicon USSR | 4 January 1959 |
| Moon | Luna 1 | First flyby. Distance of Template:Convert. | Template:Flagicon USSR | 4 January 1959 |
| Sun | Luna 1 | First spacecraft in heliocentric orbit. | Template:Flagicon USSR | 4 January 1959 |
| Moon | Luna 2 | First impact on another celestial body.<ref name="flight1967-03-23" /> | Template:Flagicon USSR | 14 September 1959 |
| Moon | Luna 3 | First image of lunar far-side.<ref name="flight1967-03-23" /> | Template:Flagicon USSR | 7 October 1959 |
| Earth | Discoverer 13 | First satellite recovered from orbit.<ref name="flight1967-03-23" /> | Template:Flagicon USA | 11 August 1960 |
| Earth | Korabl-Sputnik 2 | First living beings recovered from orbit.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | Template:Flagicon USSR | 19 August 1960 |
| Earth | Mercury-Redstone 2 | First great ape or Hominidae in space, Ham, a chimpanzee (suborbital flight).<ref name="My steps for Bataan"/> | Template:Flagicon USA | 31 January 1961 |
| Venus | Venera 1 | First flyby. Distance of Template:Convert (lost communication contact before).<ref name="flight1967-03-23" /> | Template:Flagicon USSR | 19 May 1961 |
| Moon | Ranger 4 | First spacecraft to impact the far side of the Moon.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> | Template:Flagicon 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).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | Template:Flagicon Canada | 29 September 1962 |
| Venus | Mariner 2 | First planetary flyby with communication contact. Distance of Template:Convert. | Template:Flagicon USA | 14 December 1962 |
| Earth | Lincoln Calibration Sphere 1 | Oldest spacecraft still in use (59 years Template:As of). | Template:Flagicon USA | 6 May 1965 |
| Mars | Mariner 4 | First flyby and first planetary imaging. Distance of Template:Convert. | Template:Flagicon 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). | Template:Flagicon France | 26 November 1965 |
| Moon | Luna 9 | First soft landing and first pictures from the lunar surface.<ref name="flight1967-03-23" /> | Template:Flagicon USSR | 3 February 1966 |
| Earth | Kosmos 110 | First seeds to germinate in space. | Template:Flagicon USSR | 22 February 1966 |
| Venus | Venera 3 | First impact.<ref name="flight1967-03-23" /> | Template:Flagicon USSR | 1 March 1966 |
| Moon | Luna 10 | First orbiter.<ref name="flight1967-03-23" /> | Template:Flagicon USSR | 3 April 1966 |
| Docking | Cosmos 186, Cosmos 188 | First automated docking of uncrewed spacecraft. | Template:Flagicon USSR | 30 October 1967 |
| Moon | Surveyor 6 | First planned, controlled, powered flight from the surface of another body. | Template:Flagicon USA | 17 November 1967 |
| Moon | Zond 5 | Template:Unbulleted list | Template:Flagicon USSR | 15 September 1968 |
| Moon | Luna 16 | First automated sample return. | Template:Flagicon USSR | 24 September 1970 |
| Moon | Luna 17 | First robotic roving vehicle, Lunokhod 1. | Template:Flagicon USSR | 17 November 1970 |
| Venus | Venera 7 | First soft landing on another planet. | Template:Flagicon USSR | 15 December 1970 |
| Earth | Salyut 1 | First space station. | Template:Flagicon USSR | 19 April 1971 |
| Mars | Mariner 9 | First orbiter. | Template:Flagicon USA | 14 November 1971 |
| Mars | Mars 2 | First impact. | Template:Flagicon USSR | 27 November 1971 |
| Mars | Mars 3 | First soft landing. Maintained telemetry signal for 20 seconds before transmissions ceased. | Template:Flagicon USSR | 2 December 1971 |
| Sun | Pioneer 10 | First spacecraft to achieve the Sun's escape velocity. | Template:Flagicon USA | 3 March 1972 |
| Jupiter | Pioneer 10 | First flyby. Distance of Template:Convert. | Template:Flagicon USA | 4 December 1973 |
| Mercury | Mariner 10 | First flyby. Distance of Template:Convert. | Template:Flagicon USA | 29 March 1974 |
| Venus | Venera 9 | Template:Unbulleted list | Template:Flagicon USSR | 22 October 1975 |
| Mars | Viking 1 | First surface-level imaging of Mars. | Template:Flagicon USA | 20 July 1976 |
| Saturn | Pioneer 11 | First flyby. Distance of Template:Convert. | Template:Flagicon USA | 1 September 1979 |
| Venus | Venera 13 | First sound recording made on another planet. | Template:Flagicon USSR | 1 March 1982 |
| Orbital Space Station | Soyuz T-5, Salyut 7 | First species of plant to flower in space.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Arabidopsis thaliana Valentin Lebedev. | Template:Flagicon USSR | 1 July 1982 |
| Trans-Neptunian region | Pioneer 10 | First to travel past the orbit of Neptune, the furthest major planet from the Sun. | Template:Flagicon USA | 13 June 1983 |
| Venus | Vega 1 | First helium balloon atmospheric probe. First flight (as opposed to atmospheric entry) in another planet's atmosphere. | Template:Flagicon USSR | 11 June 1985 |
| Comet Giacobini-Zinner | International Cometary Explorer (ICE) | First flyby through a comet tail (no pictures). Distance of Template:Convert. | Template:Flagicon USA | 11 September 1985 |
| Uranus | Voyager 2 | First flyby. Distance of Template:Convert. | Template:Flagicon USA | 24 January 1986 |
| Comet Halley | Vega 1 | First comet flyby (with pictures returned). Distance of Template:Convert. | Template:Flagicon USSR | 6 March 1986 |
| Earth | Mir Core Module, Kvant-1 | First modular space station. | Template:Flagicon USSR | 9 April 1987 |
| Orbital Spaceplane | Buran | First fully automated orbital flight of a spaceplane (with airstrip landing). | Template:Flagicon USSR | 15 November 1988 |
| Phobos | Phobos 2 | First flyby. Distance of Template:Convert. | Template:Flagicon USSR | 21 February 1989 |
| Neptune | Voyager 2 | First flyby. Distance of Template:Convert. | Template:Flagicon USA | 25 August 1989 |
| Moon | Hiten | First lunar probe launched by a country other than the USA or USSR. | Template:Flagicon Japan | 18 March 1990 |
| 951 Gaspra | Galileo | First asteroid flyby. Distance of Template:Convert. | Template:Flagicon USA | 29 October 1991 |
| Jupiter | Galileo probe | First impact. | Template:Flagicon USA | 7 December 1995 |
| Jupiter | Galileo | First orbiter. | Template:Flagicon USA | 8 December 1995 |
| Mars | Mars Pathfinder | First automated roving vehicle, Sojourner. | Template:Flagicon USA | 4 July 1997 |
| 433 Eros | NEAR Shoemaker | First asteroid orbiter. | Template:Flagicon USA | 14 February 2000 |
| 433 Eros | NEAR Shoemaker | First asteroid soft landing. | Template:Flagicon USA | 12 February 2001 |
| Saturn | Cassini orbiter | First orbiter. | Template:Unbulleted list | 1 July 2004 |
| Solar wind | Genesis | First sample return from farther than the Moon. | Template:Flagicon USA | 8 September 2004 |
| Titan | Huygens probe | First soft landing. | Template:Unbulleted list | 14 January 2005 |
| Comet Tempel 1 | Deep Impact | First comet impact. | Template:Flagicon USA | 4 July 2005 |
| 25143 Itokawa | Hayabusa | Template:Unbulleted list | Template:Flagicon Japan | 19 November 2005 |
| 81P/Wild | Stardust | First sample return from comet. | Template:Flagicon USA | 15 January 2006 |
| Earth | Voyager 1 | Template:Unbulleted list | Template:Flagicon USA | Template:As of<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> |
| Longest time in operation | Voyager 2 | Longest continually operating space probe (since August 1977). | Template:Flagicon USA | Template:As of |
| Moon | Moon Impact Probe | First impact on Lunar south pole and discovery of water on Moon.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | Template:Flagicon India | 14 November 2008 |
| Earth to Venus trajectory | IKAROS | First interplanetary solar sail. | Template:Flagicon Japan | Set sail on 10 June 2010 |
| 25143 Itokawa | Hayabusa | First sample return from an asteroid. | Template:Flagicon Japan | 13 June 2010 |
| Mercury | MESSENGER | First orbiter. | Template:Flagicon USA | 17 March 2011 |
| Earth–Sun L2 Lagrange point | Chang'e 2 | First spacecraft to reach the L2 Lagrangian point directly from lunar orbit.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> | Template:Flagicon China | 25 August 2011 |
| International Space Station | SpaceX Dragon 1 | First commercial spacecraft to berth with the International Space Station. | Template:Flagicon USA | 25 May 2012 |
| Interstellar medium | Voyager 1 | First spacecraft to cross the heliopause, thereby exiting the heliosphere and entering interstellar space. | Template:Flagicon USA | 25 August 2012 |
| 4179 Toutatis | Chang'e 2 | Template:Unbulleted list | Template:Flagicon China | 13 December 2012 |
| 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko | Rosetta | First comet orbiter.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | File: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.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> | Template:Flagicon India | 24 September 2014 |
| 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko | Philae | First comet soft landing.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> | File:ESA logo simple.svg ESA | 12 November 2014 |
| Ceres | Dawn | First dwarf planet orbiter.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | Template:Flagicon USA | 6 March 2015 |
| Mars | Opportunity | Longest distance traveled on surface of another world (Template:Convert, marathon-length).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | Template:Flagicon USA | 23 March 2015 |
| Mercury | MESSENGER | First impact.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> | Template:Flagicon USA | 30 April 2015 |
| Pluto | New Horizons | Template:Unbulleted list | Template:Flagicon 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. | Template:Flagicon USA | 14 July 2015 |
| Earth | Falcon 9 (B1021) | First re-flight of an orbital class rocket stage after a vertical propulsive landing.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | Template:Flagicon USA | 30 March 2017 |
| Earth | Template:Unbulleted list | Shortest period between orbital launches (launched 72<ref>Template:Cite webTemplate:Cbignore</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> seconds apart). | Template:Unbulleted list | 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 | Template:Flagicon USA | 6 February 2018 |
| Moon | Chang'e 4 | First soft landing at the far side of the Moon. | Template:Flagicon China | 3 January 2019 |
| Moon | Yutu-2 | First lunar rover traversing the far side of the Moon. | Template:Flagicon China | 3 January 2019 |
| Moon | Beresheet | First commercial/privately funded spacecraft to enter lunar orbit. | Template:Flagicon Israel | 4 April 2019 |
| 101955 Bennu | OSIRIS-REx | Smallest body to be orbited by spacecraft (Template:Cvt diameter) and closest ever orbit (Template:Cvt altitude).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | Template:Flagicon USA | 12 June 2019 |
| Moon | Yutu-2 | Longest operational lunar rover after breaking the longevity record of 321 Earth days held by Soviet Union's Lunokhod 1 rover.<ref name="LD-20191218">Template:Cite web</ref> | Template:Flagicon China | 20 November 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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | Template:Flagicon 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.<ref>Template:Cite news
</ref> |
Template:Flagicon China | 5 December 2020 |
| Mars | Ingenuity | First controlled, powered flight by a rotary wing aircraft on another planet.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> | Template:Flagicon USA | 19 April 2021 |
| Earth | Zhuque-2 | First methane-fueled rocket to reach orbit<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | Template:Flagicon China | 12 July 2023 |
| Moon | Chandrayaan-3 | First soft landing at Lunar south polar region. | Template:Flagicon India | 23 August 2023 |
| Moon | IM-1 Odysseus | First successful commercial and first cryogenic propelled lunar landing.<ref name="im1">Template:Cite web</ref> First soft landing within the lunar south pole region at Template:Lunar coords and quad cat<ref name="coords">Template:Cite web
</ref> |
Template:Flagicon USA | 22 February 2024 |
| Moon | Chang'e 6 | First sample collection and return from the far side of the Moon.<ref name=SN240625>Template:Citation</ref> | Template:Flagicon China | 3 June, 25 June 2024 |
| Earth | Falcon 9 | Most consecutive launch successes of a single type of rocket: 365. | Template:Flagicon USA | 14 January 2017 – 8 July 2024 |
| Earth | Falcon 9 | Most consecutive landing successes of a single type of rocket stage: 267. | Template:Flagicon USA | 4 March 2021 – 20 August 2024 |
| Earth | Falcon 9 (B1067) | Most vertical landings of a single orbital rocket stage: 29. | Template:Flagicon USA | 3 June 2021 – 2 July 2025 |
| Earth | Falcon 9 (B1088) | Shortest time between two flights of the same orbital rocket stage: 9 days, 3 hours, 49 minutes | Template:Flagicon USA | 12 March 2025 - 21 March 2025 |
| Sun | Parker Solar Probe | Highest velocity of a spacecraft relative to the Sun: 191.7 km/s (690,000 km/h; 430,000 mph).
Closest approach to the Sun: distance of 0.041 AU (6,000,000 kilometres; 3,800,000 mi).<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> This makes the probe the fastest object in the Solar System apart from comets (overtaking asteroid 2005 HC4). |
Template:Unbulleted list | 24 December 2024 |
See also
Template:Portal Template:Div col
- First images of Earth from space
- Human presence in space
- List of crewed spacecraft
- List of cumulative spacewalk records
- List of International Space Station spacewalks
- List of Mir spacewalks
- List of spacewalkers
- List of spacewalks 2000–2014
- List of spacewalks and moonwalks 1965–1999
- List of spacewalks since 2015
- Manned Maneuvering Unit
- Omega Speedmaster
- Simplified Aid For EVA Rescue
- Space suit
- Suitport
- Timeline of space exploration, list of firsts in space exploration
Notes
Template:NotelistTemplate:Reflist
References
External links
Template:Clear Template:Extreme motion Template:Spaceflight Template:Space exploration lists and timelines Template:Politics of outer space