List of female spacefarers

The following is a list of women who have traveled into space, sorted by date of first flight. Although the first woman flew into space in 1963, very early in crewed space exploration, it would not be until almost twenty years later that another flew. Female astronauts went on to become commonplace in the 1980s. This list includes both cosmonauts and astronauts.

Gathering of current and past female NASA astronauts at Johnson Space Center, September 2012. Seated (from left): Carolyn Huntoon (JSC's first female director), Ellen Baker, Mary Cleave, Rhea Seddon, Anna Fisher, Shannon Lucid, Ellen Ochoa, Sandra Magnus.
Standing (from left): Jeanette Epps, Mary Ellen Weber, Marsha Ivins, Tracy Caldwell Dyson, Bonnie Dunbar, Tammy Jernigan, Cady Coleman, Janet Kavandi, Serena Auñón, Kate Rubins, Stephanie Wilson, Dottie Metcalf-Lindenburger, Megan McArthur, Karen Nyberg, Lisa Nowak

History

As of December 2019, of the 565 total space travelers, 65 have been women.[1] There have been one each from France, Italy, South Korea, and the United Kingdom; two each from Canada, China, and Japan; four from the Soviet Union/Russia; and 50 from the United States. The time between the first male and first female astronauts varied widely by country. The first astronauts originally from Britain, South Korea, and Iran were women, while there was a two-year gap in Russia from the first man in space on Vostok 1 to the first woman in space on Vostok 6. The time between the first American man and first American woman in space was 22 years between Freedom 7 and STS-7, respectively. For China, this interval was almost eight and a half years between the Shenzhou 5 and Shenzhou 9 space missions,[2] and for Italy, there was approximately twelve years between the STS-46 and Expedition 42 spaceflights.

A span of 19 years separated the first and second women in space. They were cosmonauts on the Vostok 6 and Soyuz T-7 missions. Though the Soviet Union sent the first two women into space, only four of the women in space have been Russian or Soviet citizens. However, British, French, Italian, dual-citizen Iranian-American and South Korean women have all flown as part of the Soviet and Russian space programs. Similarly, women from Canada, Japan, and America have all flown under the US space program. A span of one year separated the first and second American women in space, as well as the first and second Chinese women in space, taking place on consecutive missions, Shenzhou 9 and Shenzhou 10.

Spacefarers with completed spaceflights

# Image Name
Birth date
Country Comment Missions (Launch date)
1 Valentina Tereshkova
Mar. 6, 1937
 Soviet Union First woman in space.
Youngest woman in space (aged 26).
Only woman to make a solo spaceflight.
Vostok 6 (June 16, 1963)
2 Svetlana Savitskaya
Aug. 8, 1948
 Soviet Union First woman to fly on a space station (Salyut 7, 1982).
First woman to perform a spacewalk (July 25, 1984).
First woman to make two spaceflights.
Soyuz T-5 (July 19, 1982)
Soyuz T-12 (Jul. 17, 1984)
3 Sally Ride
May 26, 1951
died Jul. 23, 2012
 United States First American woman in space. STS-7 (June 18, 1983)
STS-41-G (October 5, 1984)
4 Judith Resnik
Apr. 5, 1949
died Jan. 28, 1986
 United States Fourth woman in space, second American woman in space. Died in the Challenger disaster. STS-41-D (Aug. 30, 1984)
STS-51-L (Jan. 28, 1986)
5 Kathryn D. Sullivan
Oct. 3, 1951
 United States Second woman to perform a spacewalk and the first American to do so (Oct. 11, 1984). STS-41-G (Oct. 5, 1984)
STS-31 (Apr. 24, 1990)
STS-45 (Mar. 24, 1992)
6 Anna Lee Fisher
Aug. 24, 1949
 United States First mother in space.[3] STS-51-A (Nov. 8, 1984)
7 Margaret Rhea Seddon
Nov. 8, 1947
 United States STS-51-D (Apr. 12, 1985)
STS-40 (Jun. 5, 1991)
STS-58 (Oct. 18, 1993)
8 Shannon Lucid
Jan. 14, 1943
 United States First American woman to fly on a space station (Mir, 1996). First Chinese-born woman in space. First woman to make a third, a fourth and a fifth spaceflight. STS-51-G (Jun. 17, 1985)
STS-34 (Oct. 18, 1989)
STS-43 (Aug. 2, 1991)
STS-58 (Oct. 18, 1993)
STS-76/79 (Mar. 22, 1996)
9 Bonnie J. Dunbar
Mar. 3, 1949
 United States STS-61-A (Oct. 30, 1985)
STS-32 (January 9, 1990)
STS-50 (Jun. 25, 1992)
STS-71 (Jun. 27, 1995)
STS-89 (Jan. 22, 1998)
10 Mary L. Cleave
Feb. 5, 1947
 United States STS-61-B (Nov. 26, 1985)
STS-30 (May 4, 1989)
11 Ellen S. Baker
Apr. 27, 1953
 United States STS-34 (Oct. 18, 1989)
STS-50 (Jun. 25, 1992)
STS-71 (Jun. 27, 1995)
12 Kathryn C. Thornton
Aug. 17, 1952
 United States Third woman to walk in space. First woman to make multiple EVAs (May 14–15, 1992, Dec. 6, 1993, Dec. 8, 1993) STS-33 (Nov. 22, 1989)
STS-49 (May 7, 1992)
STS-61 (Dec. 2, 1993)
STS-73 (Oct. 20, 1995)
13 Marsha Ivins
Apr. 15, 1951
 United States STS-32 (Jan. 9, 1990)
STS-46 (Jul. 31, 1992)
STS-62 (Mar. 4, 1994)
STS-81 (Jan. 12, 1997)
STS-98 (Feb. 7, 2001)
14 Linda M. Godwin
Jul. 2, 1952
 United States Fourth woman to walk in space (March 27, 1996, Dec. 10, 2001) STS-37 (Apr. 5, 1991)
STS-59 (Apr. 9, 1994)
STS-76 (Mar. 22, 1996)
STS-108 (Dec. 5, 2001)
15 Helen Sharman
May 30, 1963
 United Kingdom First British citizen in space. Second woman to fly on a space station (Mir, 1991). Soyuz TM-12/TM-11 (May 18, 1991)
16 Tamara E. Jernigan
May 7, 1959
 United States Fifth woman to walk in space (May 30, 1999) STS-40 (Jun. 5, 1991)
STS-52 (Oct. 22, 1992)
STS-67 (Mar. 2, 1995)
STS-80 (Nov. 19, 1996)
STS-96 (May 27, 1999)
17 Millie Hughes-Fulford
Dec. 21, 1945
 United States First female payload specialist. STS-40 (Jun. 5, 1991)
18 Roberta Bondar
Dec. 4, 1945
 Canada First Canadian woman in space. First Ukrainian Canadian woman in space. STS-42 (Jan. 22, 1992)
19 Jan Davis
Nov. 1, 1953
 United States Went to space with her husband, Mark C. Lee in 1992. They were the first married couple to go to space together. STS-47 (Sep. 12, 1992)
STS-60 (Feb. 3, 1994)
STS-85 (Aug. 7, 1997)
20 Mae Jemison
Oct. 17, 1956
 United States First African-American woman in space STS-47 (Sep. 12, 1992)
21 Susan J. Helms
Feb. 26, 1958
 United States The sixth woman to walk in space (March 11, 2001). The longest duration EVA by a woman (8h 56m).[4] STS-54 (Jan. 13, 1993)
STS-64 (Sep. 9, 1994)
STS-78 (Jun. 20, 1996)
STS-101 (May 19, 2000)
STS-102/105 (Mar. 8, 2001)
22 Ellen Ochoa
May 10, 1958
 United States First Hispanic woman in space. STS-56 (Apr. 8, 1993)
STS-66 (Nov. 3, 1994)
STS-96 (May 27, 1999)
STS-110 (Apr. 8, 2002)
23 Janice E. Voss
Oct. 8, 1956
died Feb. 6, 2012
 United States STS-57 (Jun. 21, 1993)
STS-63 (Feb. 3, 1995)
STS-83 (Apr. 4, 1997)
STS-94 (Jul. 1, 1997)
STS-99 (Feb. 11, 2000)
24 Nancy J. Currie
Dec. 29, 1958
 United States STS-57 (Jun. 21, 1993)
STS-70 (Jul. 13, 1995)
STS-88 (Dec. 4, 1998)
STS-109 (Mar. 1, 2002)
25 Chiaki Mukai
May 6, 1952
 Japan First Japanese woman in space. STS-65 (Jul. 8, 1994)
STS-95 (Oct. 29, 1998)
26 Yelena V. Kondakova
Mar. 30, 1957
 Russia First Russian woman to travel in 2 different spacecraft, Soyuz TM-20 and STS-84 both were on trips to Mir Space Station, and 1st Russian woman to travel on the Space Shuttle. Soyuz TM-20 (Oct. 3, 1994)
STS-84 (May 15, 1997)
27 Eileen Collins
Nov. 19, 1956
 United States First female shuttle pilot and shuttle commander. STS-63 (Feb. 3, 1995)
STS-84 (May 15, 1997)
STS-93 (Jul. 23, 1999)
STS-114 (Jul. 26, 2005)
28 Wendy B. Lawrence
Jul. 2, 1959
 United States STS-67 (Mar. 2, 1995)
STS-86 (Sep. 25, 1997)
STS-91 (Jun. 2, 1998)
STS-114 (Jul. 26, 2005)
29 Mary E. Weber
Aug. 24, 1962
 United States STS-70 (Jul. 13, 1995)
STS-101 (May 19, 2000)
30 Catherine Coleman
Dec. 14, 1960
 United States STS-73 (Oct. 20, 1995)
STS-93 (Jul. 23, 1999)
Soyuz TMA-20 (15 December 2010)
31 Claudie Haigneré
May 13, 1957
 France First Frenchwoman in space. 1996 flight as Claudie André-Deshays Soyuz TM-24/TM-23 (Aug. 17, 1996)
Soyuz TM-33/32 (Oct. 21, 2001)
32 Susan Still Kilrain
Oct. 24, 1961
 United States Second female shuttle pilot. STS-83 (Apr. 4, 1997)
STS-94 (Jul. 1, 1997)
33 Kalpana Chawla
Jul. 1, 1961
died Feb. 1, 2003
 United States First Indian-Origin (naturalized U.S. citizen) woman in space. Died in the Columbia disaster. STS-87 (Nov. 19, 1997)
STS-107 (Jan. 16, 2003)
34 Kathryn P. Hire
Aug. 26, 1959
 United States STS-90 (Apr. 17, 1998)
STS-130 (Feb. 8, 2010)
35 Janet L. Kavandi
Jul. 17, 1959
 United States STS-91 (Jun. 2, 1998)
STS-99 (Feb. 11, 2000)
STS-104 (Jul. 12, 2001)
36 Julie Payette
Oct. 20, 1963
 Canada Second Canadian woman in space. First French Canadian woman in space. STS-96 (May 27, 1999)
STS-127 (July 15, 2009)
37 Pamela Melroy
Sep. 17, 1961
 United States Second female shuttle commander. STS-92 (Oct. 11, 2000)
STS-112 (Oct. 7, 2002)
STS-120 (Oct. 23, 2007)
38 Peggy Whitson
Feb. 9, 1960
 United States Most time in space (cumulative) for a US astronaut (665 days)
Seventh woman to walk in space (Aug. 16, 2002, Nov. 9, 2007, Nov. 20, 2007, Nov. 24, 2007, Dec. 18, 2007, Jan. 30, 2007, Jan. 6, 2017, Mar. 30, 2017, May 12, 2017, May 23, 2017).
Most EVAs (10) and most time spent on EVA (60 hrs 21 min)[5] of all female space travelers.
First female ISS commander (ISS Expedition 16).
Oldest female in space (aged 57).
STS-111/113 (Jun. 5, 2002)
Soyuz TMA-11 (Oct. 10, 2007)
Soyuz MS-03/04 (Nov. 17, 2016)
39 Sandra Magnus
Oct. 30, 1964
 United States STS-112 (Oct. 7, 2002)
STS-126/119 (Nov. 14, 2008)
STS-135 (July 8, 2011)
40 Laurel B. Clark
Mar. 10, 1961
died Feb. 1, 2003
 United States Died in the Columbia disaster. STS-107 (Jan. 16, 2003)
41 Stephanie Wilson
Sep. 27, 1966
 United States STS-121 (Jul. 4, 2006)
STS-120 (Oct. 23, 2007)
STS-131 (Apr. 5, 2010)
42 Lisa Nowak
May 10, 1963
 United States STS-121 (Jul. 4, 2006)
43 Heidemarie M. Stefanyshyn-Piper
Feb. 7, 1963
 United States Eighth woman to walk in space (Sep. 12, 2006, Sep. 15, 2006, Nov. 18-19, 2008, Nov. 20-21, 2008, Nov. 22-23, 2008). First Ukrainian American woman in space. STS-115 (Sep. 9, 2006)
STS-126 (Nov. 14, 2008)
44 Anousheh Ansari
Sep. 12, 1966
 Iran /  United States Fourth space tourist and first female space tourist. First Iranian in space. Soyuz TMA-9/8 (Sep. 18, 2006)
45 Sunita Williams
Sep. 19, 1965[6]
 United States Ninth woman to walk in space (Dec. 16, 2006, Jan. 31, 2007, Feb. 4, 2007, Feb. 8, 2007, Aug. 30, 2012, Sep. 5, 2012).[6] STS-116/117 (Dec. 9, 2006)[6]
Soyuz TMA-05M (July 15, 2012)
46 Joan Higginbotham
Aug. 3, 1964
 United States STS-116 (Dec. 9, 2006)
47 Tracy Caldwell Dyson
Aug. 14, 1969
 United States Eleventh woman to walk in space (Aug. 7, 2010, Aug. 11, 2010, Aug. 16, 2010). First astronaut born after Apollo 11 flight.[7] STS-118 (Aug. 8, 2007)
Soyuz TMA-18 (April 2, 2010).
48 Barbara Morgan
Nov. 28, 1951
 United States First educator astronaut (Teacher in Space Project)
Oldest woman in space by the time of first flight (aged 55).
STS-118 (Aug. 8, 2007)
49 Yi So-yeon
Jun. 2, 1978
 South Korea First Korean in space. Soyuz TMA-12 (Apr. 8, 2008)
50 Karen L. Nyberg
Oct. 7, 1969
 United States STS-124 (May 31, 2008)
Soyuz TMA-09M (May 28, 2013)
51 K. Megan McArthur
Aug. 30, 1971
 United States STS-125 (May 11, 2009)
52 Nicole P. Stott
Nov. 11, 1962
 United States Tenth woman to walk in space (September 1–2, 2009). STS-128/129 (August 28, 2009)
STS-133 (February 24, 2011)
53 Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger
May 15, 1975
 United States First Space Camp alumna to become an astronaut. STS-131 (April 5, 2010)
54 Naoko Yamazaki
Dec. 27, 1970
 Japan STS-131 (April 5, 2010)
55 Shannon Walker
Jun. 4, 1965
 United States First Native Houstonian to go aboard the International Space Station. She returned to space for her second long duration mission on 15 November 2020, onboard SpaceX Crew-1, the first operational flight of SpaceX's Crew Dragon spacecraft. Soyuz TMA-19 (June 15, 2010) SpaceX Crew-1 (November 15, 2020)
56 Liu Yang
Oct. 6, 1978
 China First Chinese woman in space. Shenzhou 9 (June 16, 2012)
57 Wang Yaping
Jan. 27, 1980
 China Shenzhou 10 (June 11, 2013)
58 Yelena Serova
Apr. 22, 1976
 Russia Member of ISS Expedition 41. First Russian woman to visit the ISS.[8] Soyuz TMA-14M (September 25, 2014)
59 Samantha Cristoforetti
Apr. 26, 1977
 Italy ESA Astronaut. First Italian woman in space and first Italian woman on ISS. Expedition 42/43. Soyuz TMA-15M (November 23, 2014)
60 Kathleen Rubins
Oct. 14, 1978
 United States Twelfth woman to walk in space (Aug. 19, 2016, Sep. 01, 2016) during ISS Expedition 48. Soyuz MS-01 (July 6, 2016)

Soyuz MS-17 (October 14, 2020)

61 Serena Auñón-Chancellor
Apr. 9, 1976
 United States Soyuz MS-09 (June 6, 2018)
62 Anne McClain
June 7, 1979
 United States Thirteenth woman to walk in space (Mar. 22, 2019, Apr. 08, 2019) during ISS Expedition 59. Soyuz MS-11 (December 3, 2018)
63 Beth Moses
 United States The first woman to make a spaceflight (US Department of Defense classification i.e. >50 mi (80.47 km)) on a commercially launched vehicle. The maximum altitude achieved was 295,007 ft (55.87 mi, 89.92 km).[9] VSS Unity VF-01 (February 22, 2019)
64 Christina Koch
Feb. 2, 1979
 United States Fourteenth woman to walk in space (Mar. 29, 2019) during ISS Expedition 59. Jointly with Jessica Meir, became the first two women to undertake an all-female EVA during ISS Expedition 61. Location: ISS (11:38 UTC, Oct 18, 2019)[10] Greatest continuous number of days in space for a female. She returned to Earth on Thursday, February 6, 2020 after 328 days in space. [11][12] Soyuz MS-12/13 (March 14, 2019)
65 Jessica Meir
July 15, 1977
 United States /  Sweden Fifteenth woman to walk in space (Oct. 18, 2019) during ISS Expedition 61. Jointly with Christina Hammock Koch, became the first two women to undertake an all-female EVA. Location: ISS (11:38 UTC, Oct 18, 2019) Soyuz MS-15 (September 25, 2019)

Other astronauts and astronaut candidates

# Image Name Birth date
Death date
Country Comment
1 Nicole Aunapu Mann June 27, 1977  United States NASA Astronaut Group 21, "The 8 Balls", 2013. Currently set to travel on Boe-CFT.
2 Jeanette J. Epps Nov. 2, 1970  United States NASA Astronaut Group 20, "The Chumps", 2009. Epps had been selected for Expedition 56, set to travel by Soyuz MS-09 to the International Space Station in May 2018, but on January 16, 2018, NASA announced that Epps had been replaced by her backup Serena M. Auñón-Chancellor. Currently set to travel on Boeing Starliner-1.
3 Patricia Robertson Mar. 12, 1963
Died May 24, 2001.
 United States NASA Astronaut Group 17, "The Penguins", 1998
4 Nadezhda Kuzhelnaya Nov. 6, 1962  Russia Retired May 27, 2004.
5 Marianne Merchez Nov. 25, 1960  Belgium Retired 1995.
6 Yvonne Cagle Apr. 24, 1959  United States Retired with the rank of Colonel in 2008.[13]
7 Christa McAuliffe September 2, 1948
died Jan. 28, 1986
 United States Died on the Challenger, January 28, 1986. Mission launched, but did not cross the Kármán line. The crew cabin peaked approx. 70,000 ft (above the Armstrong limit)
8 Tatyana Kuznetsova Jul. 14, 1941  Soviet Union Retired 1969.
9 Zhanna Yorkina May 6, 1939  Soviet Union Retired 1969.
10 Irina Solovyova Sep. 6, 1937  Soviet Union Retired 1969.
11 Valentina Ponomaryova Sep. 18, 1933  Soviet Union Retired 1969.
12 Jennifer Sidey-Gibbons August 3, 1988  Canada 2017 CSA Group
13 Kayla Barron September 19, 1987  United States NASA Astronaut Group 22, "The Turtles", 2017
14 Zena Cardman October 26, 1987  United States NASA Astronaut Group 22, "The Turtles", 2017
15 Jasmin Moghbeli June 24, 1983  United States NASA Astronaut Group 22, "The Turtles", 2017
16 Loral O'Hara May 3, 1983  United States NASA Astronaut Group 22, "The Turtles", 2017
17 Jessica Watkins May 14, 1988  United States NASA Astronaut Group 22, "The Turtles", 2017

See also

References

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