List of spaceflight records

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

The first space rendezvous was accomplished by Gemini 6A and Gemini 7 in 1965

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

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

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

First independent suborbital and orbital human spaceflight by country
Country Mission Crew Spacecraft Launch vehicle Date Type
USSR[1] Vostok 1[1] Yuri Gagarin[1] Vostok 3KA[1] Vostok-K[1] 12 April 1961[1] Orbital[1]
USA[2] Mercury-Redstone 3 (Freedom 7)[2] Alan Shepard[2] Mercury Spacecraft No.7[2] Mercury-Redstone[2] 5 May 1961[2] Sub-orbital[2]
USA[3] Mercury-Atlas 6 (Friendship 7)[3] John Glenn[3] Mercury Spacecraft No.13[3] Atlas LV-3B 20 February 1962[3] Orbital[3]
China[4] Shenzhou 5[4] Yang Liwei[4] Shenzhou spacecraft[4] Long March 2F[4] 15 October 2003[4] Orbital[4]

Human spaceflight firsts

Note: The following list holds to 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
 Yuri Gagarin Vostok 1[5] USSR 12 April 1961
  • Person to make suborbital flight
  • Person to land in a spacecraft after spaceflight (thus the first complete human spaceflight by FAI definitions)[6]
  • Person to land in water (splashdown)
  • Person to pilot a craft in space[7]
 Alan Shepard Freedom 7 USA 5 May 1961
  • Person in space for over 24 hours[8]
  • Multiple orbits during a spaceflight
 Gherman Titov Vostok 2 USSR 6 August 1961 –
7 August 1961
Person to land in a spacecraft after orbital flight John Glenn Friendship 7 USA 20 February 1962
  • Group flight[9]
  • Adjacent orbits
  • Spacecraft-to-spacecraft communications
USSR 12 August 1962 –
15 August 1962
  • Woman in space
  • Civilian in space
 Valentina Tereshkova Vostok 6[10] USSR 16 June 1963 –
19 June 1963
Spaceflight (suborbital) by winged spacecraft Joe Walker X-15 Flight 90 USA 19 July 1963
Person to enter space twice (suborbital flights above 100 kilometres (62 mi)) Joe Walker X-15 Flights 90 and 91 USA 22 August 1963
  • Three-person spaceflight in a single spacecraft
  • Persons to land in a spacecraft on hard ground
  • Human spaceflight without pressurized spacesuits
Voskhod 1[5] USSR 12 October 1964 –
13 October 1964
Spacewalk
 Alexei Leonov Voskhod 2[5] USSR 18 March 1965
Orbital maneuvers (change orbit) Gus Grissom, John W. Young Gemini 3[5] USA 23 March 1965
Person to fly two orbital spaceflights Gordon Cooper
USA
  • 15 May 1963 –
    16 May 1963
  • 21 August 1965 –
    29 August 1965
Persons to spend one week in space
Gemini 5 USA 21 August 1965 –
29 August 1965
  • Space rendezvous (orbital maneuver and station-keeping)
  • Four people in space at the same time
USA 15 December 1965 –
16 December 1965
Space docking
Gemini 8 and Agena[5] USA 16 March 1966
Multiple (dual) rendezvous (with Agena 10, then Agena 8)[11]
Gemini 10 USA
  • 19 July 1966
  • 20 July 1966
Spaceflight fatality (during landing) Vladimir Komarov Soyuz 1 USSR 23 April 1967 –
24 April 1967
  • Person to complete three spaceflights
  • Person to fly three different types of spacecraft
 Walter Schirra
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
Apollo 8 USA 24 December 1968 –
25 December 1968
  • Space docking of two crewed spacecraft
  • Dual spacewalk
  • Сrew transfer (Khrunov, Yeliseyev)[12]
USSR 16 January 1969
Solo flight around the Moon John Young Apollo 10 USA 22 May 1969
  • Moon landing
  • Planetary surface EVA
Apollo 11 USA 20 July 1969
Five people in space at the same time
USSR 12 October 1969 –
13 October 1969
  • Triple spaceflight
  • Seven people in space at the same time
USSR 13 October 1969 –
16 October 1969
Person to complete four spaceflights James A. Lovell
USA 17 April 1970
  • Person to fly two lunar flights
  • Person to complete two flights beyond low Earth orbit
 James A. Lovell
USA 11 April 1970 –
17 April 1970
USA 11 April 1970 –
17 April 1970
  • People to spend two weeks in space
  • Night launch
Soyuz 9 USSR 1 June 1970 –
19 June 1970
People to EVA out of sight of their spacecraft
Apollo 14 USA 6 February 1971
  • Docking with space station (soft dock)
  • Night landing
USSR 22 April 1971 –
24 April 1971
  • Crewed space station
  • In-space fatalities
USSR 7 June 1971 –
29 June 1971
People to travel in a wheeled vehicle on a planetary body other than Earth
Apollo 15 USA 31 July 1971–
2 August 1971
Deep space EVA (trans-Earth trajectory) Al Worden Apollo 15 USA 5 August 1971
Person to be in lunar orbit twice (during separate lunar expeditions) John W. Young
USA 16 April 1972 –
27 April 1972
People in orbit for four weeks
Skylab 2 USA 25 May 1973 –
22 June 1973
People in orbit for eight weeks
Skylab 3 USA 28 July 1973 –
25 September 1973
People in orbit for 12 weeks
Skylab 4 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 USSR 5 April 1975
First international docking Thomas P. Stafford, Vance D. Brand, Donald K. Slayton - USA

Alexei Leonov, Valeri Kubasov - USSR

 Apollo CSM, Soyuz 19 USA

USSR

 17 July 1975
Crew to visit occupied space station Vladimir Dzhanibekov, Oleg Makarov Soyuz 27 visits Salyut 6 EO-1 crew USSR 10 January 1978 –
16 January 1978
People in orbit 19 weeks
(4 months)		 Vladimir Kovalyonok, Aleksandr Ivanchenkov Salyut 6 EO-2, Soyuz 29-Soyuz 31 USSR 15 June 1978 –
2 November 1978
People in orbit 26 weeks
(6 months)		 Leonid Popov, Valery Ryumin Salyut 6 EO-4, Soyuz 35-Soyuz 37 USSR 9 April 1980 –
11 October 1980
Spaceflight (orbital) by winged spacecraft
STS-1 USA 12 April 1981
Person to fly four different types of spacecraft John W. Young
  • Gemini
  • Apollo
  • Lunar Module
  • Space Shuttle
 USA 12 April 1981
Person to complete five spaceflights John W. Young
USA 14 April 1981
Four-person spaceflight in a single spacecraft
STS-5 USA 11 November 1982 –
16 November 1982
Five-person spaceflight in a single spacecraft
STS-7 USA 18 June 1983 –
24 June 1983
Six-person spaceflight in a single spacecraft
STS-9
  • USA
  •  West Germany
 28 November 1983 –
8 December 1983
Person to complete six spaceflights John W. Young
USA 8 December 1983
Untethered spacewalk
 Bruce McCandless II STS-41-B[13] USA 7 February 1984
Eight people in space at the same time (no docking)
Salyut 7 EO-3, Soyuz T-10, STS-41-B
  • USSR
  • 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
  • USSR
  • USA
  • India
 6 April 1984 –
11 April 1984
People to complete four spacewalks during the same mission Leonid Kizim, Vladimir Solovyov Salyut 7 USSR 26 April –
18 May 1984
Spacewalk by a woman Svetlana Savitskaya Soyuz T-12 USSR 25 July 1984
People in orbit 33 weeks (7 months) Leonid Kizim, Vladimir Solovyov, Oleg Atkov Salyut 7 EO-3, Soyuz T-10-Soyuz T-11 USSR 8 February 1984 –
2 October 1984
Seven-person spaceflight in a single spacecraft
STS-41-G
  • USA
  • Canada
 5 October 1984 –
13 October 1984
Two women in space at the same time Kathryn D. Sullivan, Sally K. Ride STS-41-G USA 5 October 1984 –
13 October 1984
Partial crew exchange at a space station Alexander Volkov, Vladimir Vasyutin replace Vladimir Dzhanibekov Soyuz T-14, Salyut 7 USSR 17 September 1985 –
26 September 1985
Eight-person spaceflight in a single spacecraft
STS-61-A
  • USA
  •  West Germany
  •  Netherlands
 30 October 1985 –
6 November 1985
Fatalities during launch
STS-51-L USA 28 January 1986
  • Space station-to-space station flight
  • Space station-to-space station return flight
  • Expedition on two space stations
Soyuz T-15 from Mir to Salyut 7 back to Mir[14] USSR 15 March 1986 –
16 July 1986
Complete crew exchange at a space station Vladimir Titov, Musa Manarov replace Yuri Romanenko, Alexander Alexandrov Soyuz TM-4-Soyuz TM-2, Soyuz TM-3, at Mir USSR 21 December 1987 –
29 December 1987
People in orbit 52 weeks (one year) Vladimir Titov, Musa Manarov Mir EO-3, Soyuz TM-4-Soyuz TM-6 USSR 21 December 1987 –
21 December 1988
12 people in space at the same time (no docking)
STS-35, Mir EO-7, Soyuz TM-10Soyuz TM-11
  • USSR
  • USA
  • Japan
 2 December 1990 –
10 December 1990
First civilian to use a commercial space flight, and the first journalist to report on space from outer space. Toyohiro Akiyama - Japan Soyuz TM-10, Soyuz TM-11 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 USA 5 June 1991 –
14 June 1991
Three-person spacewalk
STS-49 USA 13 May 1992
13 people in space at the same time (no docking)
STS-67, Mir, Soyuz TM-20, Soyuz TM-21
  • USA
  • Russia
 14 March 1995 –
18 March 1995
Ten people in a single spacecraft (docking)
STS-71, Mir, Soyuz TM-21
  • USA
  • Russia
 29 June 1995 –
4 July 1995
Space tourist Dennis Tito Soyuz TM-32/31, ISS EP-1
  • USA
  • Russia
 April 28, 2001 –
May 6, 2001
Person to complete seven trips to space Jerry L. Ross
USA 19 April 2002
Privately funded human space flight (suborbital)
 Mike Melvill SpaceShipOne flight 15P USA 21 June 2004
13 people in a single spacecraft (docking)[15]
ISS, Soyuz TMA-14, Soyuz TMA-15, STS-127
  • USA
  • Russia
  • Canada
  • Belgium
  • Japan
 17 July 2009
Four women in space at the same time
  • USA
  • Japan
 5 April 2010 –
20 April 2010
Six spacecraft docked to a space station
  • USA
  • Russia
 9 July 2018
  • All-woman spacewalk
  • Spacewalk by two women
  • USA
 18 October 2019
Astronauts to be launched into orbit on commercial spacecraft[16][17]
  • USA
 30 May 2020

Most spaceflights

Most launches from Earth

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

Largest number of different spacecraft at launch (from Earth only)
  • 3 spacecraft
    • Walter Schirra (USA) - launched aboard a Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo (1962-1968)
    • John W. Young (USA) - launched aboard a Gemini, Apollo, and Space Shuttle (1965-1983)
    • Soichi Noguchi (Japan) - launched aboard a Space Shuttle, a Soyuz, and a SpaceX Crew Dragon (2005-2020)
  • 2 spacecraft with a third scheduled but not yet flown

Note: While many astronauts, cosmonauts, and space fliers of various nations have launched in two different spacecraft vehicles, these are scheduled for a third during 2021.

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

Duration records

Total human spaceflight time by country
Total Human Spaceflight statistics by nation [19] [20]
Nation Total persons Total person flights Total in orbit (@ update)* Total person days*+ % of Total person days
TOTAL5651280756881.89-
1
 Russia
 Soviet Union		125277229041.00
0.510549209621685
 United States346863422165.87
0.389682469036471
3965-3170.20
0.055732957442239
 Japan122111440.95
0.0253323541948229
 Italy713-966.62
0.0169934121051097
 Germany1116-856.71
0.0150612773531455
 Canada1018-709.78
0.0124781347501394
 France1018-628.92
0.0110566829628643
 Netherlands23-210.69
0.0037039958735091
 Belgium23-207.65
0.0036506323727045
 United Kingdom22-193.81
0.00340720641925157
 China1114-165.35
0.00290693733380894
  Switzerland14-42.50
0.000747198888067586
 Sweden12-26.73
0.00046999192186556
 Spain12-18.78
0.000330192002461904
 Israel11-15.93
0.000280063763087927
 Ukraine11-15.69
0.000275839610427578
 Bulgaria22-11.80
0.000207422987570353
 South Korea11-10.88
0.000191344348686883
 Malaysia11-10.88
0.000191344348686883
 South Africa11-9.89
0.000173910562562665
 Brazil11-9.89
0.000173812894293061
 Denmark11-9.84
0.000173043756669934
 Kazakhstan11-9.84
0.000173043756669934
 Afghanistan11-8.85
0.000155609970545716
 Syria11-7.96
0.000139958630341761
 Czechoslovakia11-7.93
0.00013937262072414
 Austria11-7.93
0.000139323786589339
 Poland11-7.92
0.000139201701252334
 Slovakia11-7.91
0.000139128450050132
 India11-7.90
0.000138933113510925
 United Arab Emirates11-7.88
0.000138456980696608
 Hungary11-7.86
0.000138261644157401
 Cuba11-7.86
0.00013823722709
 Mongolia11-7.86
0.0001382250185563
 Vietnam11-7.86
0.0001382250185563
 Romania11-7.86
0.000138212810022599
 Saudi Arabia11-7.07
0.000124258456003005
 Mexico11-6.88
0.000120913317769086
Astronauts currently in space:
Sergei Nikolaevich Ryzhikov
Kathleen Hallisey "Kate" Rubins
Soichi Noguchi
Shannon Walker
Victor Jerome Glover
Michael Scott Hopkins
Sergei Vladimirovich Kud-Sverchkov
 Crew Vehicles currently in space:
SpaceX Crew-1
Soyuz MS-17
Table data accurate as of 2021-02-10 05:05 UTC
* includes those in orbit at time table was updated
+TOTAL person days in orbit will not match the sum of the totals for individual nations as some individuals are dual citizens (based solely on those identified as such by spacefacts.de - see table references).

Most time in space

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

The following is a list of the 50 space travelers with the most total time in space, as of 22 October 2020.,[24] most of it acquired from spacelight on long-duration missions. Travelers currently in space are ranked by total time in space of their completed missions only.

Color key:

  •   Currently in space
  •   Active
  •   Retired
  •   Deceased
Rank Person Days Flights Status Nationality
1Gennady Padalka878.4805Retired Russia
2Yuri Malenchenko827.3896Retired Russia
3Sergei Krikalev803.3716Retired Soviet Union /  Russia
4Aleksandr Kaleri769.2765Active Russia
5Sergei Avdeyev747.5933Retired Soviet Union /  Russia
6Oleg Kononenko736.7804Active Russia
7Valeri Polyakov678.6902Retired Soviet Union /  Russia
8Fyodor Yurchikhin672.8605Retired Russia
9Peggy Whitson665.9323Retired United States
10Anatoly Solovyev651.1175Retired Soviet Union /  Russia
11Viktor Afanasyev555.7724Retired Soviet Union /  Russia
12Yury Usachov552.7734Retired Russia
13Sergey Volkov547.9313Retired Russia
14Pavel Vinogradov546.9393Active Russia
15Aleksandr Skvortsov545.9643Active Russia
16Musa Manarov541.0212Retired Soviet Union ( Azerbaijan)
17Oleg Skripochka536.1593Active Russia
18Jeffrey Williams534.1164Active United States
19Anton Shkaplerov533.2303Active Russia
20Mikhail Tyurin532.1183Retired Russia
21Oleg Kotov526.2113Retired Russia
22Scott Kelly520.4404Retired[25] United States
23Mikhail Kornienko516.4172Retired Russia
24Aleksandr Viktorenko489.0664Retired Soviet Union /  Russia
25Anatoli Ivanishin476.1953Active Russia
26Nikolai Budarin444.0603Retired Russia
27Yuri Romanenko430.7653Retired Soviet Union
28Aleksandr Volkov391.4953Retired Soviet Union /  Russia
29Yury Onufriyenko389.2822Retired Russia
30Vladimir Titov387.0364Retired Soviet Union /  Russia
31Vasily Tsibliyev381.6622Retired Russia
32Valery Korzun381.6532Retired Russia
33Michael Fincke381.6333Active United States
34Christopher Cassidy377.7423Active United States
35Aleksey Ovchinin374.8132Active Russia
36Leonid Kizim374.7493Deceased Soviet Union
37Michael Foale373.7636Retired United States /  United Kingdom[26]
38Aleksandr Serebrov372.9544Deceased Soviet Union /  Russia
39Valery Ryumin371.7254Retired Soviet Union /  Russia
40Donald Pettit369.6963Active United States
41Luca Parmitano366.9592Active Italy
42Oleg Artemyev365.9622Active Russia
43Alexander Gerst362.0762Active Germany
44Vladimir Solovyov361.9522Retired Soviet Union
45Thomas Reiter350.2392Retired Germany
46Koichi Wakata347.3564Active Japan
47Talgat Musabayev341.4083Retired Russia
48Oleg Novitsky340.4192Active Russia
49Andrei Borisenko337.3772Active Russia
50Maksim Surayev334.5082Retired Russia

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

Longest single flight by a woman

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

Longest continuous occupation of space

An international partnership consisting of Russia, the United States, Canada, Japan and the member states of the European Space Agency have jointly maintained a continuous human presence in space since 31 October 2000, when Soyuz TM-31 was launched. Two days later it docked with the International Space Station.[15][37] Since then space has been continuously occupied for 20 years, 102 days.[15]

Longest continuous occupation of a spacecraft

The International Space Station has been continuously occupied since 2 November 2000 (20 years, 100 days).[15][37] It broke the record of 9 years and 358 days of the Soviet/Russian Space Station Mir on 23 October 2010.[37]

Longest solo flight

Valery Bykovsky flew solo for 4 days, 23 hours in Vostok 5 from 14 to 19 June 1963.[38] The flight set a space endurance record which was broken in 1965 by the (non-solo) Gemini 5 flight. The Apollo program included long solo spaceflight, and during the Apollo 16 mission, T. K. Mattingly orbited solo around the Moon for more than 3 days and 9 hours.

Longest time on the lunar surface

Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt of the Apollo 17 mission stayed for 74 hours 59 minutes and 40 seconds (over 3 days) on the lunar surface after they landed on 11 December 1972.[39] They performed three EVAs (extra-vehicular activity) totaling 22 hours 3 minutes, 57 seconds (as commanders were always the first one out of the LM and the last to get back in, Cernan's EVA time was slightly longer).[39]

Longest time in lunar orbit

Ronald Evans of Apollo 17 mission stayed in lunar orbit for 6 days and 4 hours (148 hours);[40] however, for the solo portion of that flight around the Moon, T. K. Mattingly on Apollo 16 spent 1 hour 38 minutes longer than Evans' solo duration.

Speed and altitude records

Farthest humans from Earth

The Apollo 13 crew (Jim Lovell, Fred Haise, and Jack Swigert), while passing over the far side of the Moon at an altitude of 254 km (158 mi) from the lunar surface, were 400,171 km (248,655 mi) from Earth.[41] This record-breaking distance was reached at 0:21 UTC on 15 April 1970.[41]

Highest altitude for crewed non-lunar mission

Gemini 11 crew Charles Conrad, Jr. and Richard F. Gordon, Jr. fired their Agena Target Vehicle rocket engine on 14 September 1966, at 40 hours 30 minutes after liftoff and achieved a record apogee altitude of 739.2 nautical miles (1,369.0 km).[42]

Fastest
See also: List of vehicle speed records § Spacecraft

The Apollo 10 crew (Thomas Stafford, John W. Young and Eugene Cernan) achieved the highest speed relative to Earth ever attained by humans: 39,897 kilometers per hour (11.082 kilometers per second or 24,791 miles per hour, approximately 32 times the speed of sound and 0.0037% of the speed of light).[15] The record was set 26 May 1969.[15]

Age records
John Glenn, 14 April 1998

Earliest-born to reach space (suborbital flight)

Earliest-born to reach space (orbital flight)

Youngest (age during spaceflight)

Oldest (age during spaceflight)

Spacewalk records
See also: List of cumulative 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.

Most spacewalks during a single mission
  • 7: Anatoly Solovyev, during the 24th Expedition on the Soviet/Russian space station Mir, in 1997–98. (Two were internal "spacewalks" inside a depressurized module.)
  • 7: Andrew Morgan, during his first spaceflight on board the ISS for Expedition 60/61/62 in 2019-2020. He spent 45 hours and 48 minutes outside the station.

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

Animal records
Further information: Animals in space

First animals in space

The first animals to enter space were fruit flies launched by the United States in 1947 aboard a V-2 rocket to an altitude of 68 miles (109 km).[48] They were also the first animals to safely return from space.[48]

First animal in orbit

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

Longest canine single flight

Soviet space dogs Veterok (Ветерок, "Light Wind") and Ugolyok (Уголёк, "Ember") were launched on 22 February 1966 on board Cosmos 110 and spent 22 days in orbit before landing on 16 March.

First animals beyond low-Earth orbit

An assortment of animals including a pair of Russian tortoises, as well as wine flies and mealworms launched with a number of other biological specimens including seeds and bacteria on a circumlunar mission aboard the Soviet Zond 5 spacecraft on 15 September 1968.[48] It was launched by a Proton-K rocket.[48] The capsule came within 2,000 kilometres (1,200 mi) of the Moon and later successfully returned to Earth, the first spacecraft in history to return safely to Earth from the Moon.[48]

Notable uncrewed spaceflights
Further information: List of uncrewed spacecraft by program
In reference to: Spacecraft Event Origin Date
Earth MW 18014 (A-4(V-2)) First rocket to reach space (suborbital flight). Germany 20 June 1944
Earth V-2 No. 20 First living organisms (fruit flies) in space (suborbital flight). Successfully recovered. USA 20 February 1947
Earth R-1V[49] First mammals (dogs) in space (suborbital flight). Successfully recovered. USSR 22 July 1951
Earth Sputnik 1 First satellite in orbit.[5] USSR 4 October 1957
Earth Sputnik 2 First animal in orbit, Laika the dog. USSR 3 November 1957
Earth Vanguard 1 Oldest satellite still in orbit, in addition to its upper launch stage. Expected to stay in orbit 240 years. Ceased transmission in May 1964. USA 17 March 1958
Earth Pioneer 1 Failed to reach the Moon as intended, but reached a record–setting distance of 113,800 kilometres (70,700 mi) from Earth. USA 11 October 1958
Earth Jupiter AM-13 First monkey in space, Gordo, a squirrel monkey. USA 13 December 1958
Earth Luna 1 First spacecraft to achieve Earth's escape velocity. USSR 4 January 1959
Moon Luna 1 First flyby. Distance of 5,995 kilometres (3,725 mi). USSR 4 January 1959
Sun Luna 1 First spacecraft in heliocentric orbit. USSR 4 January 1959
Moon Luna 2 First impact.[5] USSR 14 September 1959
Moon Luna 3 First image of lunar far-side.[5] USSR 7 October 1959
Earth Discoverer 13 First satellite recovered from orbit.[5] USA 11 August 1960
Earth Korabl-Sputnik 2 First living beings recovered from orbit.[50] USSR 19 August 1960
Venus Venera 1 First flyby. Distance of 100,000 kilometres (62,000 mi) (lost communication contact before).[5] USSR 19 May 1961
Moon Ranger 4 First spacecraft to impact the far side of the Moon.[51] USA 26 April 1962
Earth Alouette 1 First satellite designed and constructed by a country other than the USA or USSR (the British satellite Ariel 1, launched five months earlier, was designed and constructed by the USA).[52] Canada 29 September 1962
Venus Mariner 2 First planetary flyby. Distance of 34,762 kilometres (21,600 mi) (with communication contact). USA 14 December 1962
Earth Lincoln Calibration Sphere 1 Oldest spacecraft still in use (50 years as of 2015). USA 6 May 1965
Mars Mariner 4 First flyby and first planetary imaging. Distance of 9,846 kilometres (6,118 mi). 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 26 November 1965
Moon Luna 9 First soft landing and first pictures from the lunar surface.[5] USSR 3 February 1966
Venus Venera 3 First impact.[5] USSR 1 March 1966
Moon Luna 10 First orbiter.[5] USSR 3 April 1966
Docking Cosmos 186, Cosmos 188 First automated docking of uncrewed spacecraft. USSR 30 October 1967
Moon Zond 5
  • First to circle the Moon and return to land on Earth.
  • First animals to circle the Moon.
 USSR 15 September 1968
Moon Luna 16 First automated sample return. USSR 24 September 1970
Moon Luna 17 First automated roving vehicle, Lunokhod 1. USSR 17 November 1970
Venus Venera 7 First soft landing. USSR 15 December 1970
Mars Mariner 9 First orbiter. USA 14 November 1971
Mars Mars 2 First impact. USSR 27 November 1971
Mars Mars 3 First soft landing. Maintained telemetry signal for 20 seconds before transmissions ceased. USSR 2 December 1971
Sun Pioneer 10 First spacecraft to achieve the Sun's escape velocity. USA 3 March 1972
Jupiter Pioneer 10 First flyby. Distance of 132,000 kilometres (82,000 mi). USA 4 December 1973
Mercury Mariner 10 First flyby. Distance of 703 kilometres (437 mi). USA 29 March 1974
Venus Venera 9
  • First orbiter.
  • First surface-level imaging of another planet.
 USSR 22 October 1975
Mars Viking 1 First surface-level imaging of Mars. USA 20 July 1976
Saturn Pioneer 11 First flyby. Distance of 21,000 kilometres (13,000 mi). USA 1 September 1979
Venus Venera 13 First sound recording made on another planet. USSR 1 March 1982
Trans-Neptunian region Pioneer 10 First to travel past the orbit of Neptune, the furthest major planet from the Sun. USA 13 June 1983
Venus Vega 1 First helium balloon atmospheric probe. USSR 11 June 1985
Comet Giacobini-Zinner International Cometary Explorer (ICE) First flyby through a comet tail (no pictures). Distance of 7,800 kilometres (4,800 mi). USA 11 September 1985
Uranus Voyager 2 First flyby. Distance of 81,500 kilometres (50,600 mi). USA 24 January 1986
Comet Halley Vega 1 First comet flyby (with pictures returned). Distance of 8,890 kilometres (5,520 mi). USSR 6 March 1986
Orbital Spaceplane Buran First fully automated orbital flight of a spaceplane (with airstrip landing). USSR 15 November 1988
Phobos Phobos 2 First flyby. Distance of 860 kilometres (530 mi). USSR 21 February 1989
Neptune Voyager 2 First flyby. Distance of 40,000 kilometres (25,000 mi). USA 25 August 1989
951 Gaspra Galileo First asteroid flyby. Distance of 1,600 kilometres (990 mi). USA 29 October 1991
Jupiter Galileo probe First impact. USA 7 December 1995
Jupiter Galileo First orbiter. USA 8 December 1995
Mars Mars Pathfinder First automated roving vehicle, Sojourner. USA 4 July 1997
433 Eros NEAR Shoemaker First asteroid orbiter. USA 14 February 2000
433 Eros NEAR Shoemaker First asteroid soft landing. USA 12 February 2001
Saturn Cassini orbiter First orbiter.
1 July 2004
Solar wind Genesis First sample return from farther than the Moon. USA 8 September 2004
Titan Huygens probe First soft landing.
  • ESA
  • USA
 14 January 2005
Comet Tempel 1 Deep Impact First comet impact. USA 4 July 2005
25143 Itokawa Hayabusa
  • First asteroid ascent.
  • First interplanetary escape without undercarriage cutoff.
 Japan 19 November 2005
81P/Wild Stardust First sample return from comet. USA 15 January 2006
Earth Voyager 1
  • Farthest distance from Earth (13,820,000,000 miles (2.224×1010 km; 148.7 AU)).
  • Farthest distance from the Sun (13,751,000,000 miles (2.2130×1010 km; 147.93 AU)).
 USA As of December 2019[53]
Longest time in operation Voyager 2 Longest continually operating space probe (since August 1977). USA As of 2015
Earth to Venus trajectory IKAROS First interplanetary solar sail. Japan Set sail on 10 June 2010
25143 Itokawa Hayabusa First sample return from an asteroid. Japan 13 June 2010
Mercury MESSENGER First orbiter. USA 17 March 2011
Earth–Sun L2 Lagrange point Chang'e 2 First object to reach the L2 Lagrangian point directly from lunar orbit.[54] China 25 August 2011
International Space Station SpaceX Dragon First commercial spacecraft to berth with the International Space Station. USA 25 May 2012
Interstellar medium Voyager 1 First spacecraft to cross the heliopause, thereby exiting the heliosphere and entering interstellar space. 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.[55]
 China 13 December 2012
67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko Rosetta First comet orbiter.[56] ESA 6 August 2014
67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko Philae First comet soft landing.[57] ESA 12 November 2014
Ceres Dawn First dwarf planet orbiter.[58] USA 6 March 2015
Mars Opportunity Longest distance traveled on surface of another world (26.219 miles (42.195 km), marathon-length).[59] USA 23 March 2015
Mercury MESSENGER First impact.[60] USA 30 April 2015
Pluto New Horizons
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. USA 14 July 2015
Earth Falcon 9 First re-flight of orbital class rocket.[61] USA 30 March 2017
Earth
Shortest period between orbital launches (launched 72 seconds apart).[62]
  • USA
  • Japan
 23 December 2017
Moon Chang'e 4 First soft landing at the far side of the Moon. China 3 January 2019
Sun
Highest velocity of a spacecraft relative to the Sun: 129.6 km/s (466,592 km/h; 289,927 mph).

Closest ever approach to the Sun: distance of 0.125 AU (18,700,000 kilometres; 11,600,000 mi).[63] Spacecraft will continue to lower its perihelion by multiple Venus gravity assists until its closest approach in 2024, which is expected to bring the probe within 9.86 solar radii (6,900,000 km; 4,300,000 mi) of the Sun's surface at a velocity of 191.7 km/s (690,000 km/h; 430,000 mph),[64] by which point it will have become the fastest object in the Solar System apart from Comets (overtaking asteroid 2005 HC4).
  • USA
 27 September 2020
Moon Chang'e 5 First rendezvous and docking by a robotic spacecraft in lunar orbit.[65] China 5 December 2020

See also

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