List of spaceflight records facts for kids

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

Spaceflight records and firsts are special achievements in space travel. They are usually divided into two main types: flights with people (crewed) and flights without people (uncrewed). In the early days, scientists also sent animals into space to see if it was safe for humans to go.

The idea of "firsts" in spaceflight is like the "firsts" in airplane history. It's also linked to the Space Race. In the 1950s and 1960s, the Soviet Union and the United States raced to be the first to do amazing things in space. For example, in 1957, the Soviet Union launched Sputnik 1, the first artificial satellite to orbit Earth. In 1961, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first person to go to space and orbit our planet. Then, in 1969, American astronaut Neil Armstrong was the first person to walk on the Moon. Since 1972, no human has traveled beyond low Earth orbit.

In the 1970s, the Soviet Union focused on building space stations where people could live for longer and longer times. In the 1980s, the United States started using its Space Shuttles. These shuttles could carry more astronauts, meaning more people could be in space at once. Later, the Soviet Union and the United States worked together on space projects. This led to the International Space Station (ISS), which has had people living on it continuously for over 20 years.

Other space firsts involve different groups of people and private companies. Many countries have now sent someone to space. In 1963, Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman in space. In the early 2000s, private companies also started sending people to space. In 2004, SpaceShipOne was the first private spacecraft to carry people into space (though not into orbit). In 2020, SpaceX's Dragon 2 became the first privately built spacecraft to take astronauts to orbit and the ISS. As of 2025, the uncrewed probe Voyager 1 is the farthest object from Earth made by humans. It is now leaving our Solar System.

First Human Spaceflights by Country

This table shows the first times different countries sent their own astronauts into space.

Country	Mission	Crew	Spacecraft	Launch vehicle	Date	Type
USSR	Vostok 1	Yuri Gagarin	Vostok 3KA	Vostok-K	12 April 1961	Orbital
USA	Mercury-Redstone 3 (Freedom 7)	Alan Shepard	Mercury Spacecraft No.7	Mercury-Redstone	5 May 1961	Sub-orbital
USA	Mercury-Atlas 6 (Friendship 7)	John Glenn	Mercury Spacecraft No.13	Atlas LV-3B	20 February 1962	Orbital
Russia	Soyuz TM-14	Aleksandr Viktorenko, Aleksandr Kaleri, Klaus-Dietrich Flade	Soyuz-TM	Soyuz-U2	17 March 1992	Orbital
China	Shenzhou 5	Yang Liwei	Shenzhou spacecraft	Long March 2F	15 October 2003	Orbital

Amazing Human Spaceflight Firsts

Sometimes, there are small disagreements about what counts as "space." Most records follow the FAI rule, which says space starts at 100 kilometers (62.14 miles) above Earth. NASA and the US Air Force use a slightly lower border of 80.47 kilometers (50 miles).

What was First?	Person(s)	Mission	Country	Date
* First person to reach space First person to orbit Earth	Yuri Gagarin	Vostok 1	USSR	12 April 1961
* First person to make a suborbital flight (up and down) First person to land in water (called splashdown) First person to fly a spacecraft by hand	Alan Shepard	Freedom 7	USA	5 May 1961
* First person in space for over 24 hours First person to orbit many times	Gherman Titov	Vostok 2	USSR	6 August 1961 – 7 August 1961
* First group flight (more than one spacecraft at once) First spacecraft to talk to each other in space	Andrian Nikolayev and Pavel Popovich	Vostok 3 and Vostok 4	USSR	12 August 1962 – 15 August 1962
* First woman in space First civilian (non-military person) in space	Valentina Tereshkova	Vostok 6	USSR	16 June 1963 – 19 June 1963
* First three-person spaceflight First human spaceflight without special spacesuits	Vladimir Mikhaylovich Komarov, Konstantin Feoktistov, and Boris Yegorov	Voskhod 1	USSR	12 October 1964 – 13 October 1964
* First spacewalk	Alexei Leonov	Voskhod 2	USSR	18 March 1965
* First time spacecraft changed their orbit	Gus Grissom, John W. Young	Gemini 3	USA	23 March 1965
* First people to spend one week in space	Gordon Cooper, Pete Conrad	Gemini 5	USA	21 August 1965 – 29 August 1965
* First Space rendezvous (meeting in space) First time four people were in space at once	Frank Borman, Jim Lovell and Walter Schirra, Thomas Stafford	Gemini 7 and Gemini 6A	USA	15 December 1965 – 16 December 1965
* First space docking (connecting two spacecraft)	Neil Armstrong, David Scott	Gemini 8 and Agena	USA	16 March 1966
* First spaceflight death (during landing)	Vladimir Komarov	Soyuz 1	USSR	23 April 1967 – 24 April 1967
* First people to go beyond low Earth orbit (LEO) First people to enter the Moon's gravity First people to orbit the Moon	Frank Borman, Jim Lovell, Bill Anders	Apollo 8	USA	24 December 1968 – 25 December 1968
* First time two crewed spacecraft docked First time astronauts transferred between spacecraft in space	Vladimir Shatalov, Boris Volynov, Aleksei Yeliseyev, Yevgeny Khrunov	Soyuz 4 and Soyuz 5	USSR	16 January 1969
* First Moon landing First walk on another planet's surface	Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin	Apollo 11	USA	20 July 1969
* First time seven people were in space at once	Georgi Shonin, Valeri Kubasov, Anatoly Filipchenko, Vladislav Volkov, Viktor Gorbatko, Vladimir Shatalov, Aleksei Yeliseyev	Soyuz 6, Soyuz 7, Soyuz 8	USSR	13 October 1969 – 16 October 1969
* Farthest humans have traveled from Earth	Jim Lovell, Jack Swigert, Fred Haise	Apollo 13	USA	11 April 1970 – 17 April 1970
* First people to spend two weeks in space	Andrian Nikolayev, Vitali Sevastyanov	Soyuz 9	USSR	1 June 1970 – 19 June 1970
* First crewed space station First in-space fatalities (deaths)	Georgi Dobrovolski, Viktor Patsayev, Vladislav Volkov	Soyuz 11 and Salyut 1	USSR	7 June 1971 – 29 June 1971
* First people to travel in a wheeled vehicle on another planet (the Moon)	Dave Scott, Jim Irwin	Apollo 15	USA	31 July 1971– 2 August 1971
* First international docking in space	Thomas P. Stafford, Vance D. Brand, Donald K. Slayton (USA) and Alexei Leonov, Valeri Kubasov (USSR)	Apollo CSM, Soyuz 19	USA, USSR	17 July 1975
* First orbital spaceflight by a winged spacecraft (Space Shuttle)	John W. Young, Robert L. Crippen	STS-1	USA	12 April 1981
* First re-use of a spacecraft for orbital flight	Joe H. Engle, Richard H. Truly	STS-2	USA	12 November 1981
* First four-person spaceflight	Vance Brand, Robert F. Overmyer, Joseph P. Allen, William B. Lenoir	STS-5	USA	11 November 1982 – 16 November 1982
* First five-person spaceflight	Robert L. Crippen, Frederick H. Hauck, John M. Fabian, Sally K. Ride, Norman E. Thagard	STS-7	USA	18 June 1983 – 24 June 1983
* First six-person spaceflight	John W. Young, Brewster H. Shaw, Owen K. Garriott, Robert A. Parker, Byron K. Lichtenberg (USA) and Ulf Merbold (Germany)	STS-9	USA  West Germany	28 November 1983 – 8 December 1983
* First untethered spacewalk (floating freely)	Bruce McCandless II	STS-41-B	USA	7 February 1984
* First spacewalk by a woman	Svetlana Savitskaya	Soyuz T-12	USSR	25 July 1984
* First seven-person spaceflight	Robert L. Crippen, Jon A. McBride, Kathryn D. Sullivan, Sally K. Ride, David C. Leestma, Paul D. Scully-Power (USA) and Marc Garneau (Canada)	STS-41-G	USA Canada	5 October 1984 – 13 October 1984
* First two women in space at the same time	Kathryn D. Sullivan, Sally K. Ride	STS-41-G	USA	5 October 1984 – 13 October 1984
* First eight-person spaceflight	Henry W. Hartsfield, Steven R. Nagel, Bonnie J. Dunbar, James F. Buchli, Guion S. Bluford (USA), Reinhard Furrer, Ernst Messerschmid (West Germany), and Wubbo Ockels (Netherlands)	STS-61-A	USA  West Germany  Netherlands	30 October 1985 – 6 November 1985
* First deaths during launch	Francis "Dick" Scobee, Michael J. Smith, Ellison Onizuka, Judith Resnik, Ronald McNair, Sharon Christa McAuliffe, Gregory Jarvis	STS-51-L	USA	28 January 1986
* First space station-to-space station flight	Leonid Kizim, Vladimir Solovyov	Soyuz T-15 from Mir to Salyut 7 and back to Mir	USSR	15 March 1986 – 16 July 1986
* First 12 people in space at the same time	Seven US astronauts, three Russian cosmonauts, and one Japanese journalist	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 First journalist to report from space	Toyohiro Akiyama (Japan)	Soyuz TM-10, Soyuz TM-11	Japan	2 December 1990 – 10 December 1990
* First 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
* First three-person spacewalk	Pierre J. Thuot, Richard J. Hieb, Thomas D. Akers	STS-49	USA	13 May 1992
* First 13 people in space at the same time	Seven US astronauts, five Russian cosmonauts, and one US astronaut	STS-67, Mir, Soyuz TM-20, Soyuz TM-21	USA Russia	14 March 1995 – 18 March 1995
* First 10 people in a single spacecraft (docked)	Six US astronauts and four Russian cosmonauts	STS-71, Mir, Soyuz TM-21	USA Russia	29 June 1995 – 4 July 1995
* First space tourist	Dennis Tito	Soyuz TM-32/31, ISS EP-1	USA Russia	April 28, 2001 – May 6, 2001
* First privately funded human space flight (suborbital)	Mike Melvill	SpaceShipOne flight 15P	USA	21 June 2004
* First 13 people in a single spacecraft (docked)	Seven US astronauts, two Russian cosmonauts, two Canadian astronauts, one Belgian astronaut, one Japanese astronaut	ISS, Soyuz TMA-14, Soyuz TMA-15, STS-127	USA Russia Canada Belgium Japan	17 July 2009
* First four women in space at the same time (docked)	Two US astronauts, one Japanese astronaut, one US astronaut	STS-131 and ISS Expedition 23	USA Japan	5 April 2010 – 20 April 2010
* First all-woman spacewalk First spacewalk by two women	Christina Koch, Jessica Meir	ISS Expedition 61	USA	18 October 2019
* First astronauts launched into orbit on a commercial spacecraft First astronauts flying to a space station on a commercial spacecraft	Bob Behnken, Doug Hurley	Crew Dragon Demo-2	USA	30 May 2020 – 31 May 2020
* First 16 people in space (above 50 miles) at the same time	Seven ISS astronauts, three Tiangong astronauts, six Unity astronauts	Soyuz MS-18, SpaceX Crew-2, Shenzhou-12, Virgin Galactic Unity-22	USA China Russia France India Japan UK	11 July 2021
* First 14 people in space (above 100 km) at the same time	Seven ISS astronauts, three Tiangong astronauts, four New Shepard astronauts	Soyuz MS-18, SpaceX Crew-2, Shenzhou-12, Blue Origin NS-16	USA China Russia France Japan Netherlands	20 July 2021
* First orbital spaceflight with an all-private crew First fully commercial orbital spaceflight	Jared Isaacman, Hayley Arceneaux, Christopher Sembroski, Sian Proctor	Inspiration4	USA	16 September 2021 – 18 September 2021
* First person with a physical disability in space First person wearing prosthetics in space	Hayley Arceneaux	Inspiration4	USA	16 September 2021 – 18 September 2021
* First 19 people in space (above 100 km) at the same time	Ten ISS astronauts, three Tiangong astronauts, six New Shepard astronauts	Soyuz MS-19, Shenzhou-13, SpaceX Crew-3, Soyuz MS-20, Blue Origin NS-19	USA China Russia Germany Japan	11 December 2021
* First flight to a space station with an all-private crew First fully commercial flight to a space station	Michael López-Alegría, Larry Connor, Mark Pathy, Eytan Stibbe	Axiom Mission 1 To ISS	USA Spain Canada Israel	8 April 2022 – 18 April 2022
* First time two crewed space stations were continuously lived in at the same time	ISS and TSS crews	ISS and TSS	Canada European Space Agency Japan USA Russia China	5 June 2022 –
* First 20 people in space (above 50 miles) at the same time	Eleven ISS astronauts, three Tiangong astronauts, six Unity astronauts	Axiom Mission 2, Soyuz MS-23, SpaceX Crew-6, Shenzhou 15, Virgin Galactic Unity 25	USA Russia China Saudi Arabia UAE	25 May 2023
* First 17 people in orbit at the same time	Eleven ISS astronauts, six Tiangong astronauts	Axiom Mission 2, Soyuz MS-23, SpaceX Crew-6, Shenzhou 15, Shenzhou 16	USA Russia China Saudi Arabia UAE	30 May 2023 - 31 May 2023
* First person to spend 1000 days in space	Oleg Kononenko	Expedition 71	Russia	5 June 2024
* First woman to fly on the first crewed flight of an orbital spacecraft	Sunita Williams	Boeing CFT	USA	5 June 2024

Most Spaceflights

Most Launches from Earth

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

Note: Six of the SpaceShipTwo flights went above the US definition of space (80.47 km or 50 miles). However, they did not reach the Kármán line (100 km or 62.14 miles), which is the international standard for space records.

Most Orbital Launches from Earth

• 7 launches
  • Jerry L. Ross (USA), on the Space Shuttle (1985–2002)
  • Franklin Chang Díaz (Costa Rica/USA), on the Space Shuttle (1986–2002)

Most Orbital Launches Overall

• 7 launches
  • John W. Young (USA) launched from Earth 6 times and from the Moon once (1965–1983)
  • Jerry L. Ross (USA), on the Space Shuttle (1985–2002)
  • Franklin Chang Díaz (Costa Rica/USA), on the Space Shuttle (1986–2002)

Largest Number of Different Spacecraft Types Used

• 3 spacecraft types
  • Walter Schirra (USA) – flew on a Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo spacecraft (1962–1968)
  • John W. Young (USA) – flew on a Gemini, Apollo, and Space Shuttle (1965–1983)
  • Soichi Noguchi (Japan) – flew on a Space Shuttle, Soyuz, and SpaceX Crew Dragon (2005–2020)
  • Shane Kimbrough (USA) – flew on a Space Shuttle, Soyuz, and SpaceX Crew Dragon (2008–2021)
  • Akihiko Hoshide (Japan) – flew on a Space Shuttle, Soyuz, and SpaceX Crew Dragon (2008–2021)
  • Thomas Marshburn (USA) – flew on a Space Shuttle, Soyuz, and SpaceX Crew Dragon (2007–2021)
  • Koichi Wakata (Japan) – flew on a Space Shuttle, Soyuz, and SpaceX Crew Dragon (1996–2022)
  • Peggy Whitson (USA) – flew on a Space Shuttle, Soyuz, and SpaceX Crew Dragon (2002–2023)
  • Michael López-Alegría (USA) – flew on a Space Shuttle, Soyuz, and SpaceX Crew Dragon (1995–2024)
  • Michael Barratt (USA) – flew on a Soyuz, Space Shuttle, and SpaceX Crew Dragon (2009–2024)
  • Barry Wilmore (USA) – flew on a Space Shuttle, Soyuz, and Boeing Starliner (2009–2024)
  • Sunita Williams (USA) – flew on a Space Shuttle, Soyuz, and Boeing Starliner (2006–2024)

Largest Number of Different Launch Sites

• 3 sites
  • Sunita Williams (USA) - Kennedy Space Center, Baikonur Cosmodrome, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station
  • Barry E. Wilmore (USA) - Kennedy Space Center, Baikonur Cosmodrome, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station
  • Frederick W. Sturckow (USA) – Kennedy Space Center, Mojave Air and Space Port, and Spaceport America
  • John Young (USA) - Cape Kennedy Air Force Station, Kennedy Space Center, Descartes Highlands (from the Moon)
  • Neil Armstrong (USA) - Cape Kennedy Air Force Station, Kennedy Space Center, Tranquility Base (from the Moon)
  • Buzz Aldrin (USA) - Cape Kennedy Air Force Station, Kennedy Space Center, Tranquility Base (from the Moon)
  • Pete Conrad (USA) - Cape Kennedy Air Force Station, Kennedy Space Center, Ocean of Storms (from the Moon)
  • Alan Shepard (USA) - Cape Kennedy Air Force Station, Kennedy Space Center, Fra Mauro (from the Moon)
  • David Scott (USA) - Cape Kennedy Air Force Station, Kennedy Space Center, Hadley Rille (from the Moon)
  • Gene Cernan (USA) - Cape Kennedy Air Force Station, Kennedy Space Center, Taurus-Littrow (from the Moon)

Time in Space Records

Most Time in Space (Total)

The record for most time spent in space is held by Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko. He has spent over 1000 days in space across five missions. He broke the previous record held by Gennady Padalka on February 4, 2024. Kononenko also became the first person to reach 900 and 1,000 days in space.

Here are the top space travelers with the most total time in space:

Color key:

•       Currently in space
•       Active (could fly again)
•       Retired (no longer flying)
•       Deceased (passed away)

Rank	Person	Days	Flights	Status	Nationality
1	Oleg Kononenko	1377.491	5	Active	Russia
2	Gennady Padalka	878.480	5	Retired	Russia
3	Yuri Malenchenko	827.389	6	Retired	Russia
4	Sergei Krikalev	803.371	6	Retired	Soviet Union /  Russia
5	Aleksandr Kaleri	769.276	5	Retired	Russia
6	Sergei Avdeyev	747.593	3	Retired	Soviet Union /  Russia
7	Anton Shkaplerov	709.336	4	Retired	Russia
8	Valeri Polyakov	678.690	2	Deceased	Soviet Union /  Russia
9	Peggy Whitson	675.158	4	Active	United States
10	Fyodor Yurchikhin	672.860	5	Retired	Russia

Ten Longest Human Spaceflights

These are the longest single trips humans have made to space.

#	Time in Space	Crew	Country	Launch Date (Craft)	Landing Date (Craft)	Space Station or Mission
1	437.7 days	Valeri Polyakov	Russia	1994-01-08 (Soyuz TM-18)	1995-03-22 (Soyuz TM-20)	Mir
2	379.6 days	Sergey Avdeev	Russia	1998-08-13 (Soyuz TM-28)	1999-08-28 (Soyuz TM-29)	Mir
3	370.9 days	Sergey Prokopyev	Russia	2022-09-21 (Soyuz MS-22)	2023-09-27 (Soyuz MS-23)	International Space Station
		Dmitry Petelin	Russia
		Francisco Rubio	United States
4	365.9 days	Vladimir Titov	Soviet Union	1987-12-21 (Soyuz TM-4)	1988-12-21 (Soyuz TM-6)	Mir
		Musa Manarov	Soviet Union
5	355.2 days	Pyotr Dubrov	Russia	2021-04-09 (Soyuz MS-18)	2022-03-30 (Soyuz MS-19)	International Space Station
		Mark T. Vande Hei	United States
6	340.4 days	Mikhail Kornienko	Russia	2015-03-27 (Soyuz TMA-16M)	2016-03-01 (Soyuz TMA-18M)	International Space Station, ISS year-long mission
		Scott Kelly	United States
7	328.6 days	Christina Koch	United States	2019-03-15 (Soyuz MS-12)	2020-02-06 (Soyuz MS-13)	International Space Station
8	326.5 days	Yuri Romanenko	Soviet Union	1987-02-05 (Soyuz TM-2)	1987-12-29 (Soyuz TM-3)	Mir
9	311.8 days	Sergei Krikalev	Soviet Union/ Russia	1991-05-18 (Soyuz TM-12)	1992-03-25 (Soyuz TM-13)	Mir
10	289.2 days	Peggy Whitson	United States	2016-11-17 (Soyuz MS-03)	2017-09-03 (Soyuz MS-04)	International Space Station

Longest Single Flight by a Woman

NASA astronaut Christina Koch holds the record for the longest single spaceflight by a woman. She spent 328 days in space, returning on February 6, 2020. She broke the record of NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson, who spent 289 days in space from 2016-17.

Longest Continuous Human Presence in Space

People have been living in space continuously since October 31, 2000. This started when Soyuz TM-31 was launched and docked with the International Space Station two days later.

Longest Continuous Occupation of a Spacecraft

The International Space Station has been continuously occupied by Russian and US crew members since November 2, 2000. It broke the record of the Soviet/Russian Space Station Mir on October 23, 2010.

Longest Solo Flight

Valery Bykovsky flew alone for 4 days and 23 hours in Vostok 5 in June 1963. This was a space endurance record at the time. Later, during the Apollo 16 mission, Ken Mattingly orbited the Moon alone for over 3 days and 9 hours.

Longest Time on the Lunar Surface

Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt of the Apollo 17 mission stayed on the Moon for 74 hours, 59 minutes, and 40 seconds (over 3 days). This was after they landed on December 11, 1972. They performed three spacewalks totaling 22 hours and 3 minutes.

Speed and Altitude Records

Farthest Humans from Earth

The Apollo 13 crew (Jim Lovell, Fred Haise, and Jack Swigert) traveled the farthest from Earth. They were 400,171 kilometers (248,655 miles) away when they passed over the far side of the Moon. This record was set on April 15, 1970.

Highest Altitude for Crewed Non-Lunar Mission

The Gemini 11 crew, Charles Conrad, Jr. and Richard F. Gordon, Jr., reached a record height of 739.2 nautical miles (1,369 kilometers) on September 14, 1966. They did this by firing their Agena Target Vehicle rocket engine.

Fastest Speed by Humans

The Apollo 10 crew (Thomas Stafford, John W. Young, and Eugene Cernan) achieved the highest speed relative to Earth ever by humans. They reached 39,897 kilometers per hour (24,791 miles per hour) on May 26, 1969. This is about 32 times the speed of sound.

The fastest uncrewed spacecraft is the Parker Solar Probe, which reached 176 kilometers per second (about 395,000 miles per hour) relative to the Sun in September 2023.

Age Records

Wally Funk flew in July 2021

Joe Walker in 1961

Earliest-Born Person to Reach Space

Suborbital Flight

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

Orbital Spaceflight

• Man: Georgy Beregovoy (born April 15, 1921), on Soyuz 3 on October 26, 1968.
• Woman: Valentina Tereshkova (born March 6, 1937), on Vostok 6 on June 16–19, 1963.

Youngest Person in Space

Suborbital Flight

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

Orbital Spaceflight

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

Oldest Person in Space

Suborbital Flight

• Man: Ed Dwight (aged 90 years, 8 months, and 10 days), on Blue Origin NS-25, on May 19, 2024.
• Woman: Wally Funk (aged 82 years, 5 months, and 19 days), on Blue Origin NS-16, on July 20, 2021.

Orbital Spaceflight

• Man: John Glenn (aged 77 years and 103 days), on STS-95 on October 29, 1998.
• Woman: Peggy Whitson (aged 63 years and 101 days), on Axiom Mission 2 on May 21, 2023.

Spacewalk Records

Most Spacewalks (Number and Duration)

These records are for the total number of spacewalks and the total time spent outside a spacecraft.

• Man: Anatoly Solovyev, with 16 spacewalks for a total of 82 hours and 21 minutes.
• Woman: Peggy Whitson, with 10 spacewalks for a total of 60 hours and 21 minutes.

Longest Single Spacewalk

The longest single spacewalk lasted 8 hours and 56 minutes. It was performed by James Voss and Susan Helms on March 11, 2001, during an ISS assembly mission.

Greatest Distance from a Spacecraft During a Spacewalk

• On a planetary body (the Moon): 7.6 kilometers (4.7 miles). This was achieved by Gene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt during Apollo 17 on December 12, 1972. They drove the Lunar Roving Vehicle far from their lunar lander.
• In orbit: about 100 meters (330 feet). This record was set by Bruce McCandless on STS-41-B on February 7, 1984. He was using a special jetpack called the Manned Maneuvering Unit (MMU) to float freely without a tether.

Oldest Person to Perform a Spacewalk

• Man: Thomas Marshburn (aged 61), during ISS Expedition 66.
• Woman: Peggy Whitson, (aged 56), during ISS Expedition 50.

Animal Records

First Animals in Space

The first animals in space were fruit flies. They were launched by the United States in 1947 on a V-2 rocket. They were also the first animals to return safely from space. Albert II, a monkey, became the first mammal in space in 1949 but did not survive. The first dogs in space, "Tsygin" and "Dezik," were launched by the Soviet Union in 1951 and returned safely.

First Animal in Orbit

Laika, a Soviet dog, was the first animal to orbit Earth on November 3, 1957, aboard Sputnik 2. She did not survive the mission. Belka and Strelka were the first dogs to safely return from orbit on August 19, 1960.

First Great Ape in Space

On January 31, 1961, the chimpanzee Ham became the first great ape in space during NASA's Mercury-Redstone 2 mission.

Longest Canine Single Flight

Soviet dogs Veterok and Ugolyok spent 22 days in orbit aboard Cosmos 110 in 1966 before landing safely.

First Animals Beyond Low Earth Orbit

A group of animals, including Russian tortoises, wine flies, and mealworms, flew around the Moon aboard the Soviet Zond 5 spacecraft on September 18, 1968. This was the first time any spacecraft returned safely to Earth from the Moon.

Notable Uncrewed or Non-Human Spaceflights

What it was about:	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. They were successfully recovered.	USA	20 February 1947
Earth	R-1V	First dogs in space (suborbital flight). Successfully recovered.	USSR	22 July 1951
Earth	Sputnik 1	First satellite in orbit.	USSR	4 October 1957
Earth	Sputnik 2	First animal in orbit, Laika, a dog.	USSR	3 November 1957
Moon	Luna 1	First flyby (passing close by).	USSR	4 January 1959
Moon	Luna 2	First impact on another celestial body.	USSR	14 September 1959
Moon	Luna 3	First image of the Moon's far side.	USSR	7 October 1959
Earth	Korabl-Sputnik 2	First living beings recovered from orbit.	USSR	19 August 1960
Venus	Mariner 2	First planetary flyby with communication.	USA	14 December 1962
Mars	Mariner 4	First flyby and first pictures of a planet.	USA	14 July 1965
Moon	Luna 9	First soft landing and first pictures from the lunar surface.	USSR	3 February 1966
Venus	Venera 3	First impact on Venus.	USSR	1 March 1966
Moon	Luna 10	First orbiter of the Moon.	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 Earth. Also, first animals to circle the Moon (Russian tortoises).	USSR	15 September 1968
Moon	Luna 16	First automated sample return from the Moon.	USSR	24 September 1970
Moon	Luna 17	First robotic roving vehicle, Lunokhod 1.	USSR	17 November 1970
Venus	Venera 7	First soft landing on another planet.	USSR	15 December 1970
Earth	Salyut 1	First space station.	USSR	19 April 1971
Mars	Mariner 9	First orbiter of Mars.	USA	14 November 1971
Mars	Mars 3	First soft landing on Mars.	USSR	2 December 1971
Jupiter	Pioneer 10	First flyby of Jupiter.	USA	4 December 1973
Mercury	Mariner 10	First flyby of Mercury.	USA	29 March 1974
Mars	Viking 1	First surface-level pictures of Mars.	USA	20 July 1976
Saturn	Pioneer 11	First flyby of Saturn.	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.	USA	13 June 1983
Uranus	Voyager 2	First flyby of Uranus.	USA	24 January 1986
Comet Halley	Vega 1	First comet flyby with pictures.	USSR	6 March 1986
Earth	Mir Core Module, Kvant-1	First modular space station (built in pieces).	USSR	9 April 1987
Orbital Spaceplane	Buran	First fully automated orbital flight of a spaceplane.	USSR	15 November 1988
Neptune	Voyager 2	First flyby of Neptune.	USA	25 August 1989
951 Gaspra	Galileo	First asteroid flyby.	USA	29 October 1991
Jupiter	Galileo	First orbiter of Jupiter.	USA	8 December 1995
Mars	Mars Pathfinder	First automated roving vehicle on Mars, 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 of Saturn.	ESA USA  Italy	1 July 2004
Titan	Huygens probe	First soft landing on Titan.	ESA USA	14 January 2005
Comet Tempel 1	Deep Impact	First comet impact.	USA	4 July 2005
25143 Itokawa	Hayabusa	First sample return from an asteroid.	Japan	13 June 2010
Mercury	MESSENGER	First orbiter of Mercury.	USA	17 March 2011
International Space Station	SpaceX Dragon 1	First commercial spacecraft to connect with the International Space Station.	USA	25 May 2012
Interstellar medium	Voyager 1	First spacecraft to leave our solar system and enter interstellar space.	USA	25 August 2012
67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko	Rosetta	First comet orbiter.	ESA	6 August 2014
Mars	MOM	First Asian nation to orbit Mars and first in the world to do so on the first try.	India	24 September 2014
67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko	Philae	First comet soft landing.	ESA	12 November 2014
Ceres	Dawn	First dwarf planet orbiter.	USA	6 March 2015
Pluto	New Horizons	First flyby of Pluto and its moons. First to explore the Kuiper belt.	USA	14 July 2015
Earth	Falcon 9 (B1021)	First re-flight of an orbital rocket stage.	USA	30 March 2017
Moon	Chang'e 4	First soft landing on the far side of the Moon.	China	3 January 2019
101955 Bennu	OSIRIS-REx	Smallest body to be orbited by a spacecraft and closest ever orbit.	USA	12 June 2019
Moon	Chang'e 5	First robotic rendezvous and docking of two spacecraft in lunar orbit.	China	5 December 2020
Mars	Ingenuity	First controlled, powered flight by a helicopter on another planet.	USA	19 April 2021
Moon	Chandrayaan-3	First soft landing at the Moon's south polar region.	India	23 August 2023
Sun	Parker Solar Probe	Highest velocity of a spacecraft relative to the Sun and closest approach to the Sun.	USA	27 September 2023
Moon	IM-1 Odysseus	First successful commercial and first cryogenic lunar landing.	USA	22 February 2024
Earth	Falcon 9 (B1062)	Most flights and landings of a single orbital rocket stage: 20.	USA	13 April 2024

Images for kids

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  Gemini 8 docking with the Agena Target Vehicle.

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  A drawing of the Salyut 4 space station and a Soyuz spacecraft.

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  Astronaut David Scott on the Lunar Roving Vehicle during Apollo 15.

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  The crew of STS-41-G on the Space Shuttle Challenger.

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  The eight-person crew of STS-61-A.

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  Three astronauts during a spacewalk to capture the Intelsat VI satellite.

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  The combined crew of STS-71, Mir-18, and Mir-19.

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  SpaceShipOne landing after its privately funded flight.

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  The 13-person crew of STS-127 and ISS Expedition 20.

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  The combined crew of STS-131 and ISS Expedition 23.

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  Astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley inside the Crew Dragon spacecraft.

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  Wally Funk in 2012.

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  Joe Walker in 1961.