List of spaceflight records explained

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, 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

CountryMissionCrewSpacecraftLaunch vehicleDateType
USSR[1] Vostok 1Yuri GagarinVostok 3KAVostok-K12 April 1961Orbital
USA[2] Mercury-Redstone 3 (Freedom 7)Alan ShepardMercury Spacecraft No.7Mercury-Redstone5 May 1961Sub-orbital
USA[3] Mercury-Atlas 6 (Friendship 7)John GlennMercury Spacecraft No.13Atlas LV-3B20 February 1962Orbital
USSRSoyuz 18AVasily Lazarev, Oleg MakarovSoyuz 7K-TSoyuz 11A5115 April 1975Sub-orbital
RussiaSoyuz TM-14Aleksandr Viktorenko, Aleksandr Kaleri, Klaus-Dietrich FladeSoyuz-TMSoyuz-U217 March 1992Orbital
China[4] Shenzhou 5Yang LiweiShenzhou spacecraftLong March 2F15 October 2003Orbital
RussiaSoyuz MS-10Aleksey Ovchinin, Nick HagueSoyuz-MSSoyuz-FG11 October 2018Sub-orbital

Human spaceflight firsts

Note: Some space records are disputed as a result of ambiguities surrounding the border of space. Most records follow the FAI definition of the space border which the FAI sets at an altitude of 100 km (62.14 mi). By contrast, US agencies define the border of space at 50 mi (80.47 km).

FirstPerson(s)MissionCountryDate
Vostok 1[5] USSR12 April 1961
Alan ShepardFreedom 7 USA5 May 1961
Gherman TitovVostok 2 USSR6 August 1961 –
7 August 1961
USSR12 August 1962 –
15 August 1962
Valentina TereshkovaVostok 6[6] USSR16 June 1963 –
19 June 1963
Joe WalkerX-15 Flight 90 USA19 July 1963
Person to enter space twice (suborbital flights above 100km (100miles))Joe WalkerX-15 Flights 90 and 91 USA22 August 1963
Voskhod 1 USSR12 October 1964 –
13 October 1964
SpacewalkAlexei LeonovVoskhod 2 USSR18 March 1965
Orbital maneuvers (change orbit)Gus Grissom, John W. YoungGemini 3 USA23 March 1965
Person to fly two orbital spaceflightsGordon Cooper USA
Persons to spend one week in spaceGemini 5 USA21 August 1965 –
29 August 1965
USA15 December 1965 –
16 December 1965
Civilian in orbit (at the time of flight)Neil ArmstrongGemini 8 USA16 March 1966 –
17 March 1966
Space docking
Gemini 8 and Agena USA16 March 1966
Multiple (dual) rendezvous (with Agena 10, then Agena 8)[7] Gemini 10 USA
Persons to exceed 1,000 km above Earth Gemini 11 USA12 September 1966 –15 September 1966
Spaceflight death (during landing)Vladimir KomarovSoyuz 1 USSR23 April 1967 –
24 April 1967
Walter Schirra USA22 October 1968
Apollo 8 USA24 December 1968 –
25 December 1968
USSR16 January 1969
Solo flight around the MoonJohn YoungApollo 10 USA22 May 1969
Apollo 11 USA20 July 1969
Five people in space at the same time USSR12 October 1969 –
13 October 1969
USSR13 October 1969 –
16 October 1969
Person to complete four spaceflightsJames A. Lovell USA17 April 1970
James A. Lovell USA11 April 1970 –
17 April 1970
USA11 April 1970 –
17 April 1970
Soyuz 9 USSR1 June 1970 –
19 June 1970
People to EVA out of sight of their spacecraftApollo 14 USA6 February 1971
USSR22 April 1971 –
24 April 1971

USSR7 June 1971 –
29 June 1971
People to travel in a wheeled vehicle on a planetary body other than Earth
Apollo 15 USA31 July 1971–
2 August 1971
Deep space EVA (trans-Earth trajectory)Al WordenApollo 15 USA5 August 1971
Person to be in lunar orbit twice (during separate lunar expeditions)John W. Young USA16 April 1972 –
27 April 1972
People in orbit for four weeksSkylab 2 USA25 May 1973 –
22 June 1973
People in orbit for eight weeksSkylab 3 USA28 July 1973 –
25 September 1973
People in orbit for 12 weeksSkylab 4 USA16 November 1973 –
8 February 1974
Vasily Lazarev, Oleg MakarovSoyuz 18a USSR5 April 1975
International dockingThomas P. Stafford, Vance D. Brand, Donald K. SlaytonUSAAlexei Leonov, Valeri KubasovUSSRApollo CSM, Soyuz 19USAUSSR17 July 1975
Crew to visit occupied space stationVladimir Dzhanibekov, Oleg MakarovSoyuz 27 visits Salyut 6 EO-1 crew USSR10 January 1978 –
16 January 1978
People in orbit 19 weeks
(4 months)
Vladimir Kovalyonok, Aleksandr IvanchenkovSalyut 6 EO-2, Soyuz 29-Soyuz 31 USSR15 June 1978 –
2 November 1978
People in orbit 26 weeks
(6 months)
Leonid Popov, Valery RyuminSalyut 6 EO-4, Soyuz 35-Soyuz 37 USSR9 April 1980 –
11 October 1980
  • Spaceflight (orbital) by winged spacecraft
  • First, and only, crew launched on a rocket's maiden flight
STS-1 USA12 April 1981
Person to fly four different types of spacecraftJohn W. Young USA12 April 1981
Person to complete five spaceflightsJohn W. Young USA14 April 1981
Re-use of previously flown spacecraft (orbital)STS-2 USA12 November 1981
Four-person spaceflight in a single spacecraftSTS-5 USA11 November 1982 –
16 November 1982
Five-person spaceflight in a single spacecraftSTS-7 USA18 June 1983 –
24 June 1983
Six-person spaceflight in a single spacecraftSTS-928 November 1983 –
8 December 1983
Person to complete six spaceflightsJohn W. Young USA8 December 1983
Untethered spacewalk
Bruce McCandless IISTS-41-B[8] USA7 February 1984
Eight people in space at the same time (no docking)Salyut 7 EO-3, Soyuz T-10, STS-41-B8 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-116 April 1984 –
11 April 1984
People to complete four spacewalks during the same missionLeonid Kizim, Vladimir SolovyovSalyut 7 USSR26 April –
18 May 1984
Spacewalk by a womanSvetlana SavitskayaSoyuz T-12 USSR25 July 1984
Welding in spaceVladimir Dzhanibekov, Svetlana SavitskayaSalyut 7, Soyuz T-12 USSR25 July 1984
People in orbit 33 weeks (7 months)Leonid Kizim, Vladimir Solovyov, Oleg AtkovSalyut 7 EO-3, Soyuz T-10-Soyuz T-11 USSR8 February 1984 –
2 October 1984
Seven-person spaceflight in a single spacecraft
STS-41-G5 October 1984 –
13 October 1984
Two women in space at the same timeKathryn D. Sullivan, Sally K. RideSTS-41-G USA5 October 1984 –
13 October 1984
Partial crew exchange at a space stationAlexander Volkov, Vladimir Vasyutin replace Vladimir DzhanibekovSoyuz T-14, Salyut 7 USSR17 September 1985 –
26 September 1985
Eight-person spaceflight in a single spacecraft
STS-61-A30 October 1985 –
6 November 1985
Deaths during launchSTS-51-L USA28 January 1986
Soyuz T-15 from Mir to Salyut 7 back to Mir[9] USSR15 March 1986 –
16 July 1986
Complete crew exchange at a space stationVladimir Titov, Musa Manarov replace Yuri Romanenko, Alexander AlexandrovSoyuz TM-4-Soyuz TM-2, Soyuz TM-3, at Mir USSR21 December 1987 –
29 December 1987
People in orbit 52 weeks (one year)Vladimir Titov, Musa ManarovMir EO-3, Soyuz TM-4-Soyuz TM-6 USSR21 December 1987 –
21 December 1988
12 people in space at the same time (no docking)STS-35, Mir EO-7, Soyuz TM-10Soyuz TM-112 December 1990 –
10 December 1990
Civilian to use a commercial space flight, and journalist to report on space from outer spaceToyohiro AkiyamaJapanSoyuz TM-10, Soyuz TM-11 Japan2 December 1990 –
10 December 1990
Three women in space at the same timeMillie Hughes-Fulford, Tamara E. Jernigan, M. Rhea SeddonSTS-40 USA5 June 1991 –
14 June 1991
Three-person spacewalk
STS-49 USA13 May 1992
13 people in space at the same time (no docking)STS-67, Mir, Soyuz TM-20, Soyuz TM-2114 March 1995 –
18 March 1995
Ten people in a single spacecraft (docking)
STS-71, Mir, Soyuz TM-2129 June 1995 –
4 July 1995
Space touristDennis TitoSoyuz TM-32/31, ISS EP-1April 28, 2001 –
May 6, 2001
Person to complete seven trips to spaceJerry L. Ross USA19 April 2002
Privately funded human space flight (suborbital)
Mike MelvillSpaceShipOne flight 15P USA21 June 2004
13 people in a single spacecraft (docking)
ISS, Soyuz TMA-14, Soyuz TMA-15, STS-12717 July 2009
Four women in space at the same time (docking)
5 April 2010 –
20 April 2010
Six spacecraft docked to a space station
9 July 2018

18 October 2019
[10] [11]
30 May 2020 –
31 May 2020
16 people in space (50 miles) at the same time (no docking)11 July 2021
14 people in space (100 km) at the same time (no docking)20 July 2021

Inspiration4 USA16 September 2021 –
18 September 2021

Inspiration4 USA16 September 2021 –
18 September 2021

Inspiration4 USA16 September 2021 –
18 September 2021
14 people in orbit at the same time (no docking)16 September 2021 –
17 September 2021
19 people in space (100 km) at the same time (no docking)11 December 2021

Axiom Mission 1 To ISS8 April 2022 –
18 April 2022

5 June 2022 –
5 women in space at the same time (no docking)5 October 2022 -
14 October 2022
20 people in space (50 miles) at the same time (no docking)25 May 2023
17 people in orbit at the same time (no docking)30 May 2023 -
31 May 2023
Seven spacecraft docked to a space station[12]
25 March 2024
First person to accumulate 1000 days in spaceOleg KononenkoExpedition 71 Russia5 June 2024
First woman to fly on the maiden crewed flight of an orbital spacecraftSunita WilliamsBoeing CFT USA 5 June 2024

Most spaceflights

Most launches from Earth

Note: The six SpaceShipTwo flights surpass the U.S. definition of spaceflight (502NaN2), but fall short of the Kármán line (1002NaN2), the definition used for FAI space recordkeeping.

Most orbital launches from Earth

Most orbital launches overall

Largest number of different spacecraft at launch (from Earth only)

Largest number of different launch vehicles (overall)

Largest number of different launch sites

Note: SpaceShipTwo flights are suborbital. SpaceShipTwo flights surpass the U.S. definition of spaceflight (502NaN2), but fall short of the Kármán line (1002NaN2), the FAI definition used for most space recordkeeping.

Duration records

Most time in space

The record for most time in space is held by Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko, who has spent days in space over five missions and is currently in space onboard Soyuz MS-24/25's one year long-duration mission on ISS. If this mission lasts 300–365 days, Kononenko will have spent a total of 1,036-1,101 days in space. Oleg Kononenko broke the record of Gennady Padalka on 4 February 2024 at 07:30:08 UTC.[14] He later became the first person to stay 900 and 1,000 days in space on 25 February 2024 and 4 June 2024 respectively.[15] [16] 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.[17] [18] [19]

,[20] the 50 space travelers with the most total time in space are:

Color key:

RankPersonDaysFlightsStatusNationality
1Oleg Kononenko5Active
2Gennady Padalka878.4805Retired
3827.3896Retired
4Sergei Krikalev803.3716Retired /
5Aleksandr Kaleri769.2765Retired
6Sergei Avdeyev747.5933Retired /
7Anton Shkaplerov709.3364Retired
8Valeri Polyakov678.6902Deceased /
9Peggy Whitson675.1584Active
10Fyodor Yurchikhin672.8605Retired
11Anatoly Solovyev651.1175Retired /
12Sergey Prokopyev567.6332Active
13Oleg Artemyev560.6143Active
14Viktor Afanasyev555.7724Retired /
15Yury Usachov552.7734Retired
16Sergey Volkov547.9313Retired
17Pavel Vinogradov546.9393Retired
18Aleksandr Skvortsov545.9643Retired
19Oleg Novitsky545.0684Active
20Musa Manarov541.0212Retired
21Oleg Skripochka536.1593Retired
22Jeffrey Williams534.1164Retired
23Mikhail Tyurin532.1183Retired
24Oleg Kotov526.2113Retired
25Mark T. Vande Hei523.3742Active
26Scott Kelly520.4404Retired[21]
27Mikhail Kornienko516.4172Retired
28Koichi Wakata504.7735Active
29Aleksandr Viktorenko489.0664Deceased /
30Anatoli Ivanishin476.1953Retired
31Nikolai Budarin444.0603Retired
32Yuri Romanenko430.7653Retired
33Sunita Williams3Active
34Thomas Pesquet396.4822Active
35Aleksandr Volkov391.4953Retired /
36Yury Onufriyenko389.2822Retired
37Shane Kimbrough388.7283Retired
38Vladimir Titov387.0364Retired /
39Vasily Tsibliyev381.6622Retired
40Valery Korzun381.6532Retired
41Michael Fincke381.6333Active
42Michael Barratt3Active
43Christopher Cassidy377.7423Retired
44Aleksey Ovchinin374.8132Active
45Leonid Kizim374.7493Deceased
46Michael Foale373.7636Retired / [22]
47Aleksandr Serebrov372.9544Deceased /
48Valery Ryumin371.7254Deceased /
49Dmitry Petelin370.8901Active
Francisco Rubio370.8901Active

Ten longest human spaceflights

Time in spaceCrewCountryLaunch date (Launch craft)Landing date (Landing craft)Space station or mission type
1437.7 days[23] Valeri Polyakov1994-01-08 (Soyuz TM-18)1995-03-22 (Soyuz TM-20)Mir
2379.6 daysSergey Avdeev1998-08-13 (Soyuz TM-28)1999-08-28 (Soyuz TM-29)Mir
3370.9 daysSergey Prokopyev2022-09-21 (Soyuz MS-22)2023-09-27 (Soyuz MS-23) International Space Station
Dmitry Petelin
Francisco Rubio
4 365.9 days[24] Vladimir Titov1987-12-21 (Soyuz TM-4)1988-12-21 (Soyuz TM-6)Mir
Musa Manarov
5355.2 days[25] Pyotr Dubrov2021-04-09 (Soyuz MS-18)2022-03-30 (Soyuz MS-19)International Space Station
Mark T. Vande Hei
6 daysOleg Kononenko2023-09-15 (Soyuz MS-24)OngoingInternational Space Station
Nikolai Chub
7340.4 daysMikhail Kornienko2015-03-27 (Soyuz TMA-16M)2016-03-01 (Soyuz TMA-18M)International Space Station,
ISS year-long mission
Scott Kelly
8328.6 days[26] Christina Koch[27] 2019-03-15 (Soyuz MS-12)2020-02-06 (Soyuz MS-13)International Space Station
9326.5 days[28] Yuri Romanenko1987-02-05 (Soyuz TM-2)1987-12-29 (Soyuz TM-3)Mir
10311.8 days[29] Sergei Krikalev/1991-05-18 (Soyuz TM-12)1992-03-25 (Soyuz TM-13)Mir

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.[27] During Expedition 61, she surpassed NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson's 289 days from 2016-17. In third place is American astronaut Anne McClain with 204 days.[30]

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.[31] Since then space has been continuously occupied for .

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 .[31] It broke the record of 9 years and 358 days of the Soviet/Russian Space Station Mir on 23 October 2010.[31]

Longest solo flight

Valery Bykovsky flew solo for 4 days, 23 hours in Vostok 5 from 14 to 19 June 1963.[32] 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.[33] 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.[33]

Longest time in lunar orbit

Ronald Evans of Apollo 17 mission stayed in lunar orbit for 6 days and 4 hours (148 hours)[34] along with five mice. For the solo portion of a flight around the Moon, Ken Mattingly on Apollo 16 spent 1 hour 38 minutes longer than Evans' solo duration.

Speed and altitude records

Farthest humans from Earth

The Apollo 13 crew (Jim Lovell, Fred Haise, and Jack Swigert), while passing over the far side of the Moon at an altitude of 254km (158miles) from the lunar surface, were 400171km (248,655miles) from Earth.[35] This record-breaking distance was reached at 00:21 UTC on 15 April 1970.[35]

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 739.2nmi.

Fastest

The Apollo 10 crew (Thomas Stafford, John W. Young and Eugene Cernan) achieved the highest speed relative to Earth ever attained by humans: 39,897 kilometers per hour (11,082 meters per second or 24,791 miles per hour, about 32 times the speed of sound and 0.0037% of the speed of light).[36] The record was set 26 May 1969.[36]

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

Age records

Earliest-born to reach space

Suborbital flight

Orbital spaceflight

Youngest

Suborbital flight

Orbital spaceflight

Oldest

Suborbital flight

Orbital 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

Longest single spacewalk

Greatest distance from a spacecraft during a spacewalk

Oldest person to perform a spacewalk

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 . They were also the first animals to safely return from space.[50] 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 and safely parachuted back to Earth. This flight preceded the first American canine space mission by two weeks.[51]

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.[52]

Longest canine single flight

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

First animals beyond low Earth orbit

An assortment of animals including a pair of Russian tortoises, as well as wine flies and mealworms flew around the Moon with a number of other biological specimens including seeds and bacteria on a circumlunar mission aboard the Soviet Zond 5 spacecraft on 18 September 1968. It had been launched by a Proton-K rocket on 14 September.

Zond 5 came within 2000km (1,000miles) of the Moon and then successfully returned to Earth, the first spacecraft in history to return safely to Earth from the Moon.

Notable uncrewed or non-human spaceflights

In reference to:SpacecraftEventOriginDate
EarthMW 18014 (A-4(V-2))First rocket to reach space (suborbital flight). Germany20 June 1944
EarthV-2 No. 20First living organisms (fruit flies) in space (suborbital flight). Successfully recovered. USA20 February 1947
EarthV-2 No. 47First mammal in space, Albert II, a rhesus monkey (suborbital flight). Died in capsule parachute failure. USA14 June 1949
EarthR-1V[53] First dogs in space (suborbital flight). Successfully recovered. USSR22 July 1951
EarthSputnik 1First satellite in orbit. USSR4 October 1957
EarthSputnik 2First animal in orbit, Laika, a dog. USSR3 November 1957
EarthVanguard 1Oldest satellite still in orbit, in addition to its upper launch stage. Expected to stay in orbit 240 years. Ceased transmission in May 1964. USA17 March 1958
EarthPioneer 1Failed to reach the Moon as intended, but reached a record–setting distance of 113800km (70,700miles) from Earth. USA11 October 1958
EarthLuna 1First spacecraft to achieve Earth's escape velocity. USSR4 January 1959
MoonLuna 1First flyby. Distance of 5995km (3,725miles). USSR4 January 1959
SunLuna 1First spacecraft in heliocentric orbit. USSR4 January 1959
MoonLuna 2First impact on another celestial body. USSR14 September 1959
MoonLuna 3First image of lunar far-side. USSR7 October 1959
EarthDiscoverer 13First satellite recovered from orbit. USA11 August 1960
EarthKorabl-Sputnik 2First living beings recovered from orbit.[54] USSR19 August 1960
EarthMercury-Redstone 2First great ape or Hominidae in space, Ham, a chimpanzee (suborbital flight). USA31 January 1961
VenusVenera 1First flyby. Distance of 100000km (100,000miles) (lost communication contact before). USSR19 May 1961
MoonRanger 4First spacecraft to impact the far side of the Moon.[55] USA26 April 1962
EarthAlouette 1First 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).[56] Canada29 September 1962
VenusMariner 2First planetary flyby with communication contact. Distance of 34762km (21,600miles). USA14 December 1962
EarthLincoln Calibration Sphere 1Oldest spacecraft still in use (59 years). USA6 May 1965
MarsMariner 4First flyby and first planetary imaging. Distance of 9846km (6,118miles). USA14 July 1965
EarthAstérixFirst satellite launched independently by a nation other than the USA or USSR (other nations had previously flown satellites launched on American rockets). France26 November 1965
MoonLuna 9First soft landing and first pictures from the lunar surface. USSR3 February 1966
EarthKosmos 110First seeds to germinate in space. USSR22 February 1966
VenusVenera 3First impact. USSR1 March 1966
MoonLuna 10First orbiter. USSR3 April 1966
DockingCosmos 186, Cosmos 188First automated docking of uncrewed spacecraft. USSR30 October 1967
MoonSurveyor 6First planned, controlled, powered flight from the surface of another body. USA17 November 1967
MoonZond 5 USSR15 September 1968
MoonLuna 16First automated sample return. USSR24 September 1970
MoonLuna 17First robotic roving vehicle, Lunokhod 1. USSR17 November 1970
VenusVenera 7First soft landing on another planet. USSR15 December 1970
EarthSalyut 1First space station. USSR19 April 1971
MarsMariner 9First orbiter. USA14 November 1971
MarsMars 2First impact. USSR27 November 1971
MarsMars 3First soft landing. Maintained telemetry signal for 20 seconds before transmissions ceased. USSR2 December 1971
SunPioneer 10First spacecraft to achieve the Sun's escape velocity. USA3 March 1972
JupiterPioneer 10First flyby. Distance of 132000km (82,000miles). USA4 December 1973
MercuryMariner 10First flyby. Distance of 703km (437miles). USA29 March 1974
VenusVenera 9 USSR22 October 1975
MarsViking 1First surface-level imaging of Mars. USA20 July 1976
SaturnPioneer 11First flyby. Distance of 21000km (13,000miles). USA1 September 1979
VenusVenera 13First sound recording made on another planet. USSR1 March 1982
Orbital Space StationSoyuz T-5, Salyut 7First species of plant to flower in space.[57] Arabidopsis thaliana Valentin Lebedev. USSR1 July 1982
Trans-Neptunian regionPioneer 10First to travel past the orbit of Neptune, the furthest major planet from the Sun. USA13 June 1983
VenusVega 1First helium balloon atmospheric probe. First flight (as opposed to atmospheric entry) in another planet's atmosphere. USSR11 June 1985
Comet Giacobini-ZinnerInternational Cometary Explorer (ICE)First flyby through a comet tail (no pictures). Distance of 7800km (4,800miles). USA11 September 1985
UranusVoyager 2First flyby. Distance of 81500km (50,600miles). USA24 January 1986
Comet HalleyVega 1First comet flyby (with pictures returned). Distance of 8890km (5,520miles). USSR6 March 1986
EarthMir Core Module, Kvant-1First modular space station. USSR9 April 1987
Orbital SpaceplaneBuranFirst fully automated orbital flight of a spaceplane (with airstrip landing). USSR15 November 1988
PhobosPhobos 2First flyby. Distance of 860km (530miles). USSR21 February 1989
NeptuneVoyager 2First flyby. Distance of 40000km (20,000miles). USA25 August 1989
MoonHitenFirst lunar probe launched by a country other than the USA or USSR. Japan18 March 1990
951 GaspraGalileoFirst asteroid flyby. Distance of 1600km (1,000miles). USA29 October 1991
JupiterGalileo probeFirst impact. USA7 December 1995
JupiterGalileoFirst orbiter. USA8 December 1995
MarsMars PathfinderFirst automated roving vehicle, Sojourner. USA4 July 1997
433 ErosNEAR ShoemakerFirst asteroid orbiter. USA14 February 2000
433 ErosNEAR ShoemakerFirst asteroid soft landing. USA12 February 2001
SaturnCassini orbiterFirst orbiter.1 July 2004
Solar windGenesisFirst sample return from farther than the Moon. USA8 September 2004
TitanHuygens probeFirst soft landing.14 January 2005
Comet Tempel 1Deep ImpactFirst comet impact. USA4 July 2005
25143 ItokawaHayabusa Japan19 November 2005
81P/WildStardustFirst sample return from comet. USA15 January 2006
EarthVoyager 1 USA[58]
Longest time in operationVoyager 2Longest continually operating space probe (since August 1977). USA
MoonMoon Impact ProbeFirst impact on Lunar south pole and discovery of water on Moon.[59] India14 November 2008
Earth to Venus trajectoryIKAROSFirst interplanetary solar sail. JapanSet sail on 10 June 2010
25143 ItokawaHayabusaFirst sample return from an asteroid. Japan13 June 2010
MercuryMESSENGERFirst orbiter. USA17 March 2011
Earth–Sun L2 Lagrange pointChang'e 2First spacecraft to reach the L2 Lagrangian point directly from lunar orbit.[60] China25 August 2011
International Space StationSpaceX Dragon 1First commercial spacecraft to berth with the International Space Station. USA25 May 2012
Interstellar mediumVoyager 1First spacecraft to cross the heliopause, thereby exiting the heliosphere and entering interstellar space. USA25 August 2012
4179 ToutatisChang'e 2 China13 December 2012
67P/Churyumov–GerasimenkoRosettaFirst comet orbiter.[61] ESA6 August 2014
MarsMOMFirst Asian nation to achieve Mars orbit and first in the world to do so in first attempt.[62] India24 September 2014
67P/Churyumov–GerasimenkoPhilaeFirst comet soft landing.[63] ESA12 November 2014
CeresDawnFirst dwarf planet orbiter.[64] USA6 March 2015
MarsOpportunityLongest distance traveled on surface of another world (26.219miles, marathon-length).[65] USA23 March 2015
MercuryMESSENGERFirst impact.[66] USA30 April 2015
PlutoNew Horizons USA14 July 2015
All 9 planets in the pre-IAU redefinition version of the Solar SystemAll United States spacecraft including New HorizonsWith 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. USA14 July 2015
EarthFalcon 9 (B1021)First re-flight of an orbital class rocket stage.[67] USA30 March 2017
EarthShortest period between orbital launches (launched 72[68] [69] [70] [71] [72] seconds apart).23 December 2017
1.66 au heliocentric orbitElon Musk's Tesla Roadster on Falcon Heavy Test FlightFirst successful Deep Space mission launched successfully on a rocket's maiden flight USA6 February 2018
MoonChang'e 4First soft landing at the far side of the Moon. China3 January 2019
MoonYutu-2First lunar rover traversing the far side of the Moon. China3 January 2019
101955 BennuOSIRIS-RExSmallest body to be orbited by spacecraft (diameter) and closest ever orbit (altitude).[73] [74] USA12 June 2019
MoonYutu-2Longest operational lunar rover after breaking the longevity record of 321 Earth days held by Soviet Union's Lunokhod 1 rover.[75] China20 November 2019
MoonChang'e 5First 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.[76] China5 December 2020
MoonChang'e 5First 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.[77] China5 December 2020
MarsIngenuityFirst controlled, powered flight by a rotary wing aircraft on another planet.[78] USA19 April 2021
MoonChandrayaan-3First soft landing at Lunar south polar region. India23 August 2023
SunParker Solar ProbeHighest velocity of a spacecraft relative to the Sun: 176 km/s (635,000 km/h; 395,000 mph).

Closest approach to the Sun: distance of 0.049 AU (7,260,000 kilometres; 4,510,000 mi).[79] Spacecraft will continue to lower its perihelion with one more Venus gravity assist before its closest approach in 2024, which is expected to bring the probe within 9.86 solar radii (6,900,000 km; 4,300,000 mi) of the Sun's surface at a velocity of 191.7 km/s (690,000 km/h; 430,000 mph),[80] by which point it will have become the fastest object in the Solar System apart from comets (overtaking asteroid 2005 HC4).

27 September 2023
MoonIM-1 Odysseus First successful commercial and first cryogenic propelled lunar landing. USA22 February 2024
MoonFirst sample collection and return from the far side of the Moon. China3 June, 25 June 2024
EarthFalcon 9 (B1062)Most flights, and landings, of a single orbital rocket stage: 22. USA27 June 2024

See also

External links

Notes and References

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  10. Web site: SpaceX launches two NASA astronauts to space for the first time in historic US mission. Sheetz. Michael. 2020-05-30. CNBC. en. 2020-05-31.
  11. Web site: NASA Astronauts Launch from America in Test of SpaceX Crew Dragon. Potter. Sean. 2020-05-30. NASA. 2020-05-31.
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