Notable Staffed Space Flights

Updated June 26, 2019 | Infoplease Staff

Here is a table of staffed space flights including the names of astronauts, duration of the flights, and launch dates.

Designation
and country		 Date Astronauts Flight time Remarks
Vostok 1 (USSR) April 12, 1961 Yuri A. Gagarin 1hr, 48 min First person in space.
MR III (U.S.) May 5, 1961 Alan B. Shepard, Jr. 15 min Range 486 km (302 mi), peak 187 km (116.5 mi); capsule recovered. First American in space.
Vostok 2 (USSR) Aug. 6–7, 1961 Gherman S. Titov 25 hr, 18 min First long-duration flight.
MA VI (U.S.) Feb. 20, 1962 John H. Glenn, Jr. 4 hr, 55 min First American in orbit.
MA IX (U.S.) May 15–16, 1963 L. Gordon Cooper, Jr. 34 hr, 20 min Longest Mercury flight.
Vostok 6 (USSR) June 16–19, 1963 Valentina V. Tereshkova 2 days, 22 hr,
50 min		 First woman in space.
Voskhod 1 (USSR) Oct. 12, 1964 Vladimir M. Komarov,
Konstantin P. Feoktistov,
Boris G. Yegorov		 24 hr, 17 min First 3-person orbital flight; also first flight without space suits.
Voskhod 2 (USSR) March 18, 1965 Alexei A. Leonov,
Pavel I. Belyayev		 26 hr, 2 min First “space walk” (by Leonov), 10 min.
GT III (U.S.) March 23, 1965 Virgil I. Grissom,
John W. Young		 4hr, 53 min First American 2-person crew.
GT IV (U.S.) June 3–7, 1965 James A. McDivitt,
Edward H. White, II		 4 days, 1 hr,
48 min		 First American “space walk” (by White), lasting slightly over 20 min.
GT VIII (U.S.) March 16–17, 1966 Neil A. Armstrong,
David R. Scott		 10 hr, 42 min First docking between staffed spacecraft and an unstaffed space vehicle (an orbiting Agena rocket).
Apollo 7 (U.S.) Oct. 11–22, 1968 Walter M. Schirra, Jr.,
Donn F. Eisele, R.
Walter Cunningham		 10 days, 19 hr,
9 min		 First staffed test of Apollo command module; first live TV transmissions from orbit.
Soyuz 3 (USSR) Oct. 26–30, 1968 Georgi T. Bergeovoi 3 days, 22 hr,
51 min		 First staffed rendezvous and possible docking by Soviet cosmonaut.
Apollo 8 (U.S.) Dec. 21–27, 1968 Frank Borman,
James A. Lovell, Jr.,
William A. Anders		 6 days, 3 hr First spacecraft in circumlunar orbit; TV transmissions from this orbit. The three astronauts were also the first astronauts to view the whole Earth.
Apollo 9 (U.S.) Mar. 3–13, 1969 James A. McDivitt,
David R. Scott,
Russell L. Schweikart		 10 days, 1 hr,
1 min		 First staffed flight of Lunar Module.
Apollo 10 (U.S.) May 18–26, 1969 Thomas P. Stafford,
Eugene A. Cernan,
John W. Young		 8 days, 3 min First descent to within nine miles of Moon's surface by staffed craft.
Apollo 11 (U.S.) July 16–24, 1969 Neil A. Armstrong,
Edwin E. Aldrin, Jr.,
Michael Collins		 8 days, 3 hr,
18 min		 First staffed landing and EVA on Moon;
soil and rock samples collected; experiments left on lunar surface.
Soyuz 6 (USSR) Oct. 11–16, 1969 Gorgiy Shonin,
Valriy Kabasov		 4 days,
22 hr,
42 min		 Three spacecraft and seven men put into Earth's orbit simultaneously for first time.
Apollo 12 (U.S.) Nov. 14–24, 1969 Charles Conrad, Jr.,
Richard F. Gordon, Jr.,
Alan Bean		 10 days,
4 hr,
36 min		 Staffed lunar landing mission; investigated Surveyor 3 spacecraft; collected lunar samples. EVA time: 15 hr, 30 min.
Apollo 13 (U.S.) April 11–17, 1970 James A. Lovell, Jr.,
Fred W. Haise, Jr.,
John L. Swigert, Jr.		 5 days,
22 hr,
54 min		 Third staffed lunar landing attempt; aborted due to pressure loss in liquid oxygen in service module and failure of fuel cells.
Apollo 14 (U.S.) Jan. 31–Feb. 9, 1971 Alan B. Shepard,
Stuart A. Roosa,
Edgar D. Mitchell		 9 days,
42 min		 Third staffed lunar landing: returned largest amount of lunar material.
Soyuz 11 (USSR) June 6–30, 1971 Georgiy Tomofeyevich Dobrovolskiy,
Vladislav Nikolayevich Volkov, Viktor Ivanovich Patsyev		 23 days,
17 hrs,
40 min		 Longest stay in space. Linked up with first space station, Salyut 1. Astronauts died just before reentry due to loss of pressurization in
spacecraft.
Apollo 15 (U.S.) July 26–Aug. 7, 1971 David R. Scott,
James B. Irwin,
Alfred M. Worden		 12 days,
7 hr,
12 min		 Fourth staffed lunar landing; first use of lunar rover propelled by Scott and Irwin; first live pictures of LM lift-off from Moon; exploration time: 18 hr.
Apollo 16 (U.S.) April 16–27, 1972 John W. Young,
Thomas K. Mattingly,
Charles M. Duke, Jr.		 11 days,
1 hr,
51 min		 Fifth staffed lunar landing; second use of lunar rover vehicle, propelled by Young and Duke. Exploration time: 20 hr, 14 min. Mattingly's in-flight “walk in space” was 1 hr, 23 min. Approximately 213 lb of lunar rock returned.
Apollo 17 (U.S.) Dec. 7–19, 1972 Eugene A. Cernan,
Ronald E. Evans,
Harrison H. Schmitt		 12 days,
13 hr,
51 min		 Sixth and last staffed lunar landing; third to carry lunar rover. Exploration time: 22 hr, 05 min, 3 sec. 250 lbs of lunar samples returned to Earth.
Skylab SL-2 (U.S.) May 25–June 22, 1973 Charles Conrad, Jr.,
Joseph P. Kerwin,
Paul J. Weitz		 28 days,
50 min		 First staffed Skylab launch. Established Skylab Orbital Assembly and conducted scientific and medical
experiments.
Skylab SL-3 (U.S.) July 28–Sept. 25, 1973 Alan L. Bean, Jr.,
Jack R. Lousma,
Owen K. Garriott		 59 days,
11 hr,
9 min		 Second staffed Skylab launch. New crew remained in space for 59 days, continuing scientific and medical experiments and Earth observations from orbit.
Skylab SL-4 (U.S.) Nov. 16, 1973–
Feb. 8, 1974		 Gerald Carr,
Edward Gibson,
William Pogue		 84 days,
1 hr,
16 min		 Third staffed Skylab launch; obtained medical data on crew for use in extending the duration of staffed space flight; crews “walked in space” 4 times, totaling 44 hr, 40 min. Splashdown in Pacific, Feb. 9, 1974.
Apollo/Soyuz
Test Project
(U.S. and USSR)		 July 15–24, 1975
(U.S.)		 U.S.: Brig. Gen. Thomas P. Stafford, Vance D. Brand, Donald K. Slayton 9 days,
5 min		 World's first international staffed rendezvous and docking in space; aimed at developing a space rescue
capability.
Apollo/Soyuz
Test Project
(U.S. and USSR)		 July 15–21, 1975
(USSR)		 USSR: Col. A. A. Leonov,
V. N. Kubasov		 9 days,
7 hr,
35 min		 Apollo and Soyuz docked and crewmen exchanged visits on July 17, 1975. Mission duration for Soyuz: 142 hr, 31 min. For Apollo: 217 hr, 28 min.
Columbia (U.S.) April 12–14, 1981 Capt. Robert L. Crippen,
John W. Young		 2 days, 5 hr,
20 min		 Maiden voyage of space shuttle.
Salyut 7 (USSR) Feb. 8, 1984–
Oct. 2, 1985		 Leonid Kizim,
Vladimir Solovyov,
Oleg Atkov		 237 days Set a record for Soviet team endurance flight in orbiting space station.
Challenger (U.S.) Jan. 28, 1986 Francis R. Scobee, Gregory Jarvis, Christa McAuliffe, Ronald McNair, Ellison Onizuka, Judith Resnik, Michael Smith 73 sec Exploded upon takeoff from Kennedy Space Center, killing all 7 crew members. A booster lock ignited the fuel, causing the explosion.
Mir (USSR) Feb. 8, 1987–
Dec. 29, 1987		 Yuri V. Romanenko1 326.5 days Set a record for Soviet single endurance flight in orbiting space station.
Mir (USSR) Dec. 21, 1987–
Dec. 21, 1988		 Col. Vladimir Titov,
Musa Manarov		 366 days Set current record for Soviet team endurance flight in orbiting space station.
Endeavour (U.S.) May 7–16, 1992 Richard J. Hieb,
Maj. Thomas D. Akers,
Cdr. Pierre J. Thugt		 8 days,
23 hr,
17 min		 The three mission specialists remained free of the Endeavour for 8 hr, 20 min on May 13 during the repair of communications satellite, setting an absolute record for extravehicular duration in space. First capture of a satellite using hands only.
Endeavour (U.S.) Dec. 2–13, 1993 Col. Richard O. Covey, Cdr. Kenneth D. Bowersox, Lt. Col. Tom Akers, Dr. Jeffrey A. Hoffman, Dr. Story Musgrave, Claude Nicollier, Dr. Kathryn C. Thornton 10 days,
19 hr,
59 min		 Repaired Hubble Space Telescope. Replaced gyroscopes, solar arrays, camera, electronics, and hardware. Installed COSTAR corrective optics to compensate for flaw in Hubble's primary mirror. Record five space walks in a single mission.
Discovery (U.S.) Feb. 3–11, 1994 Col. Charles F. Bolden, Capt. Kenneth S. Reightier, Jr., Dr. N. Jan Davis, Dr. Frankling R. Chang-Diaz, Dr. Ronald M. Sega, Russian cosmonaut Sergei K. Krikalev 8 days,
7 hr,
22 sec.		 Test flight of Wake Shield Facility, an
experimental, retrievable, free-flying satellite for use in developing exotic materials. Cargo bay carried a private, commercial pressurized-laboratory, Spacehab, for experimental use, leased by NASA. Crew member Sergei K. Krikalev was first Russian cosmonaut to be launched in an American spacecraft.
Columbia (U.S.) July 8–23, 1994 Col. Robert D. Cabana, Lt. Col. James D. Halsell, Jr., Richard J. Heib, Lt. Col. Carl E. Walz, Dr. Leroy Chiao, Dr. Donald A. Thomas, Dr. Chiaki Naito-Mukai (the first Japanese woman astronaut) 14 days,
17 hr,
55 min		 Studied the effects of limited gravity of orbital flight on materials and living things including goldfish, killifish, jellyfish, sea urchins, and Japanese red-bellied newts.
Mir-17 (Russia) Jan. 8, 1994–
Mar. 22, 1995		 Dr. Valery Polyakov 4392 days Record single endurance flight in orbiting space station. Returned to Earth with crewmates, cosmonaut Helena Kondakova and commander Alexander Viktorenko, who spent 169 days each in Mir.
Discovery (U.S.) Feb. 3–11, 1995 Cdr. James D. Wetherbee, Lt. Col. Eileen M. Collins, Dr. Janice Voss, Dr. Bernard A. Harris, Jr., Dr. C. Michael Foale, Russian cosmonaut Co. Vladimir G. Titov 8 days,
6 hr,
29 min		 First rendezvous of U.S. spacecraft with a Russian space station (Mir), Feb. 6. Lt. Col. Collins was first female shuttle pilot. Deployed and retrieved solar observatory satellite. Extravehicular activity to test new space suit modifications and practice space station assembly techniques. EVA time: 4 hr, 35 min.
Soyuz TM-21 (Russia) March 14–22, 1995 Russian cosmonauts Lt. Col. Vladimir N. Dezhurov and Gennady M. Strekalov, and U.S. astronaut Dr. Norman E. Thagard   Dr. Thagard became the first American astronaut to fly aboard a Soyuz spacecraft with a Russian crew and the first American to enter the Mir space station on March 16.
Atlantis (U.S.) June 27–July 7, 1995 Lt. Col. Charles J. Prescourt, Capt. Robert L. (Hoot) Gibson, Dr. Eileen S. Baker, Gregory J. Harbaugh, Dr. Bonnie Dunbar; Russians: Commander Anatoly Y. Solovyev, Nikolai M. Budarin 10 days Marked 100th human mission in U.S. space program and first shuttle link-up with Mir: docked June 29, undocked July 4. Joined spacecraft held a record 10 people: 6 Americans and 4 Russians.
Atlantis (U.S.) Nov. 12–20, 1995 Col. Kenneth D. Cameron, Lt. Col. James D. Halsell, Jr., Col. Jerry L. Ross, Lt. Col. William S. McArthur, Jr., Canadian Major Chris A. Hadfield, who operated the robot arm 8 days,
4 hr,
31 min		 Second docking with Mir. Carried 15-foot-long, Russian-made docking module. U.S. and Russian astronauts spent 3 days together on Mir conducting experiments.
Endeavour (U.S.) Jan. 11–20, 1996 Col. Brian Duffy, Brent Jett, Dr. Leroy Chiao, Capt. Winston E. Scott, Dr. Daniel T. Berry, and Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata, who operated robot arm 8 days,
22 hr,
1 min		 Deployed and retrieved NASA satellite, retrieved Japanese satellite. Two spacewalks performed to test spacesuit components and practice space station construction, tools, and techniques. Total EVA time: 13 hr.
Columbia (U.S.) Feb. 22–March 9, 1996 Lt. Col. Andrew M. Allen, Lt. Col. Scott J. Horowitz, Dr. Franklin R. Chang-Diaz, Dr. Jeffrey A. Hoffman, Italian astronauts Maurizio Cheli and Dr. Umberto Guidoni, Swiss astronaut Nicollier Claude 15 days,
17 hr,
40 min		 Microgravity research flight. Second attempt to deploy Italian-built electricity-conducting satellite failed when metallic debris punctured insulation and broke tether after it was unreeled to almost its full 12.5 mile length.
Atlantis (U.S.) March 22–31, 1996 Col. Kevin P. Chilton, Lt. Col. Richard A. Searfoss, Dr. Ronald M. Sega, Dr. Linda M. Goodwin, Lt. Col. Michael R. Clifford, Shannon W. Lucid 9 days,
5 hr,
15 min		 Third link-up with Mir (March 22–27). Lucid remained on board Mir to conduct biomedical and material science experiments. Lucid was the first American woman to live on Mir. On July 15, 1996, she broke the previous record for the longest U.S. manned space flight.
Endeavour (U.S.) May 19–29, 1996 Col. John H. Casper, Lt. Col. Curtis L. Brown, Jr., Cdr. Daniel W. Bursch, Mario Runco, Jr., Dr. Andrew S. W. Thomas, Canadian astronaut Dr. Marc Garneau 10 days,
0 hr,
40 min		 Made record of four satellite rendezvous, including three with small PAMS satellite to test the concept of a self-stabilizing satellite in orbit. Deployed and retrieved a Spartan satellite that carried an experimental inflatable antenna.
Columbia (U.S.) June 20–July 7, 1996 Col. Terence T. Henricks, Kevin R. Kregel, Lt. Col. Susan J. Helms, Richard M. Linnehan, Cdr. Charles E. Brady, Jr., Dr. Jean-Jacques Favier (France), Dr. Robert Brent Thirsk (Canada) 16 days,
21 hr,
48 min		 Studied the effects of weightlessness on people, plants, and animals, and material manufacturing in near-zero gravity.
Atlantis (U.S.) Sept. 16–26, 1996 William F. Readdy, Terrence W. Wilcutt, Thomas D. Akers, John E. Blaha, Jerome Apt, Carl E. Walz. Download: Shannon W. Lucid 10 days,
3hr,
19 min		 Fourth Mir docking. Carried a Spacelab module. Transferred supplies and equipment to Mir. After breaking all American and women's space endurance records (188 days, 5 hr, 0 min), Lucid returned with Atlantis crew. John E. Blaha remained on Mir for a four-month stay.
Columbia (U.S.) Nov. 19–Dec. 7, 1996 Kenneth D. Cockrell, Cdr. Kent V. Romingel, Tamara E. Jernigan, Thomas D. Jones, Dr. F. Story Musgrave 17 days,
15 hr,
53 min		 Deployed and recovered two free-flying satellites: an ultraviolet telescope and Wake Shield (semiconductor processing) Facility. Dr. Musgrave, 61, became first person to fly on all five space shuttles.
Atlantis (U.S.) Jan. 12–22, 1997 Capt. Michael A. Baker, Cdr. Brent W. Jett, Jr., John M. Grunsfeld, Marsha S. Ivins, Peter J.K. Wiscoff, Dr. Jerry L. Linenger. Download: John E. Blaha 10 days,
4 hr,
6 min		 Fifth Mir docking (Jan.14–19). Carried Spacehab double module. Transferred supplies to Mir. Conducted experiments in Spacehab and Mir. John E. Blaha returned with Atlantis crew after 128 days in space, 118 aboard Mir. Jerry Linenger remained aboard Mir for 4.5-month stay.
Discovery (U.S.) Feb. 11–21, 1997 Cdr. Kenneth Bowersox, Lt. Col. Scott J. Harowitz, Col. Mark C. Lee, Steven A. Hawley, Gregory J. Harbaugh, Steven L. Smith, Joseph R. Tanner 9 days,
23 hr,
38 min		 Second space telescope servicing mission. Installed new imaging spectrograph and infrared camera. Also patched torn telescope insulating cover. Deployed telescope at higher altitude: 335 x 321 nautical mile orbit. Mission required five spacewalks totaling 33 hr, 11 min.
Atlantis (U.S.) May 15–24,1997 Col. Charles J. Precourt, Lt. Col. Eileen M.
Collins, Edward T. Lu, Maj. Carlos I. Noriega, Jean-François Clervoy (France), Elena V. Kondakova (Russia), C. Michael Foale. Download: Dr. Jerry M. Linenger		 9 days,
5 hr,
20 min		 Sixth Mir docking (May 16–21). Carried a Spacehab double module. Transferred supplies and equipment. Jerry M. Linenger returned with Atlantis after 132 days in space. Michael Foale remained on Mir for a 4.5-month stay.
Discovery (U.S.) Aug. 7–19, 1997 Lt. Col. Curtis L. Brown, Jr., Cdr. Kent V. Rominger, N. Jan Davis, Lt. Cdr. Robert L. Curbeam, Jr., Stephen K. Robinson, Bjarni Tryggvason (Canada) 11 days, 20 hr, 28 min Deployed Shuttle Pallet satellite with scientific instruments to study changes in Earth's atmosphere. Also conducted experiments with shuttle's robot arm for possible applications in Japanese experimental module of space station.
Atlantis (U.S.) Sept. 25–Oct. 6, 1997 James T. Wetherbee, Michael J. Boomfield, Col. Vladimir G Titov, Scott E. Parazynski, Jean-Loup J. M. Chretien (France), Wendy B. Lawrence. Up: Dr. David Wolf. Down: C. Michael Foale 10 days, 19 hr, 22 min Seventh Mir docking (Sept. 27–Oct. 3). 5-hr spacewalks (Oct.1) retrieved U.S. experimental packages from Mir for return to Earth. Transferred supplies. Tested emergency jet packs for space station workers. Dr. David Wolf replaced Michael Foale on Mir for 4-month stay.
Endeavour (U.S.) Jan. 22–31, 1998 Lt. Col. Terrence W. Wilcutt, Joe F. Edwards, Bonnie J. Dunbar, Maj. Michael P. Anderson, James F. Reilly, II, Salizhan S. Sharipov (Kyrgyzstan). Up: Andrew S. W. Thomas. Down: Dr. David Wol 8 days, 19 hr, 48 min Eighth Mir docking (Jan. 24–29). Thomas replaced David Wolf after 128 days in orbit. Thomas is the seventh and last American to live aboard Mir.
Discovery (U.S.) June 2–12, 1998 Col. Charles J. Precourt, Cmdr. Dominic L. Gorie, Cmdr. Wendy B. Lawrence, Franklin R. Chang-Diaz, Janet Kavandi, Valeriy Ruymin (Russia). Down: Andrew S. W. Thomas 9 days, 19 hr, 54 min Ninth and final Mir docking mission concluded the joint U.S.–Russian program as a precursor to the International Space Station partnership. Thomas returned to Earth after a 4.5-month stay.
Discovery (U.S.) Oct. 29–Nov.7, 1998 Lt. Col. Curtis L. Brown, Maj. Steven W. Lindsey, Stephen K. Robinson, Dr. Scott E. Parazynski, Pedro Duque (Spain), Dr. Chiaki Mukai (Japan), Sen. John H. Glenn, Jr. 8 days, 21 hr, 56 min Deployed and retrieved Spartan solar observing satellite. Did research with Hubble Telescope Optical Systems Test Platform (HOST). Studied the effects of aging and microgravity in space.
Endeavour (U.S.) Dec. 4–15, 1998 Col. Robert D. Cabana, Capt. Frederick W. Sturckow, Lt. Col. Nancy Currie, Col. Jerry L. Ross, James H. Newman, Sergei K. Krikalev (Russia) 11 days, 19 hr, 18 min International Space Station assembly mission. Connected Node 1, “Unity,” to Functional Cargo Block, “Zarya.” Ross and Newman made three spacewalks, total EVA: 21 hr, 22 min.
Discovery (U.S.) May 27–June 6, 1999 Cmdr. Ken V. Rominger, Rick D. Husband, Ellen Ochoa, Tamara E. Jernigan, Daniel T. Barry, Julie Payette (Canada), Valery Tokarev (Russia) 9 days, 19 hr, 13 min Docked 5 days, 18 hr with uninhabited International Space Station. Readied it for arrival of first resident crew. Jernigan and Barry conducted space walks (7 hr, 55 min) for assembly work.
Columbia (U.S.) July 22–27, 1999 Lt. Col. Eileen M. Collins, Capt. Jeffrey S. Ashby, Steven A. Hawley, Lt. Col. Catherine G. Coleman, Col. Michel Tognini (France) 4 days, 22 hr, 50 min Deployed Chandra X-ray Observatory (formerly AXAF). Eileen Collins became the first female shuttle commander.
Discovery (U.S.) Dec. 19–27, 1999 Col. Curtis L. Brown Jr., Lt. Cmdr. Scott J. Kelly, Steven L. Smith, C. Michael Foale, John M. Grunsfeld, Claude Nicollier (Switzerland), Jean-François Clervoy (France) 7 days, 23 hr, 10 min Third Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission. Three EVAs totaled 24 hr, 33 min: Dec. 22, Smith and Grunsfeld, 8 hr, 15 min; Dec. 23, Foale and Nicollier, 8 hr, 10 min; Dec. 24, Smith and Grunsfeld, 8 hr, 8 min.
Endeavour (U.S.) Feb.11–22, 2000 Cmdr. Dominic L. Pudwill Gorie, Janet Lynn Kavandi, Janet Voss, Kevin R. Kregel, Mamoru Mohri (Japan), Gerhard P. J. Thiele (Germany) 11 days, 5 hr, 38 min Radar mapping obtained most detailed topographical map of Earth to date.
Atlantis (U.S.) May 19–29, 2000 Col. James D. Halsell, Jr., Lt. Col. Scott J. Horowitz, Mary Ellen Weber, Lt. Col. (Ret.) Jeffrey N. Williams, Col. James S. Voss, Lt. Col. Susan J. Helms, Yuri V. Usachev (Russia) 9 days, 20 hr, 9 min Docked with International Space Station May 20–26. Prepared station for arrival of Zvezda (Star) service module. EVAs by Voss and Williams May 21–22 totaled 6 hr, 44 min.
Atlantis (U.S.) Sept. 8–18, 2000 Lt. Col. Terance Wilcutt, Lt. Cmdr. Scott Altman, Edward Tsang Lu, Richard Mastracchio, Lt. Cmdr. Dan Burbank, Col. Yuri I. Malenchenko (Russia), Boris Morukov (Russia) 10 days, 18 hr, 41 min Prepared International Space Station for arrival of first resident crew. Outfitted Zvezda module.
Discovery (U.S.) Oct. 11–22, 2000 Col. Brian Duffy, Lt. Col. Pamela A. Melroy, Koichi Wakata (Japan), Peter J. K. Wisoff, Cmdr. Michael E. Lopez-Alegria, Col. William S. McArthur, Jr. 10 days, 19 hr, 28 min Assembled Integrated Truss Structure on space station to allow solar arrays to be installed. 100th space shuttle flight.
Soyuz (Russia) Oct. 31, 2000–March 18, 2001 William M. Shepherd, Yuri Gidzenko (Russia), Sergei Krikalev (Russia) 138 days, 18 hr, 39 min Expedition One, first crew aboard International Space Station.
Endeavour (U.S.) Nov. 30–Dec. 11, 2000 Capt. Brent W. Jett, Lt. Col. Michael Bloomfield, Joseph R. Tanner, Marc Garneau (Canada), Lt. Col. Carlos I. Noriega 10 days, 19 hr, 57 min Delivered and attached giant solar arrays to International Space Station. Solar equipment quintupled station's electrical power.
Atlantis (U.S.) Feb. 7–20, 2001 Kenneth D. Cockrell, Mark L. Polansky, Cmdr. Robert L. Curbeam, Marsha S. Ivins, Thomas D. Jones. 12 days, 21 hr, 20 min Delivered new U.S. laboratory Destiny to International Space Station. Three EVAs to install Destiny. Arrival of modular lab brings space station's mass to about 112 tons, surpassing Mir for the first time.
Discovery (U.S.) March 8–21, 2001 Capt. James D. Wetherbee, Lt. Col. James M. Kelly, Andrew S. W. Thomas, Paul W. Richards, Yury Usachev (Russia), Jim Voss, Susan Helms 12 days, 19 hr, 49 min Delivered Expedition Two crew (Usachev, Voss, Helms) to space station and returned Expedition One crew (Shepherd, Krikalev, Gidzenko) to Earth.
Endeavour (U.S.) April 19–May 1, 2001 Capt. Kent Rominger, Capt. Jeffrey Ashby, Col. Chris Hadfield (Canada), Dr. John Phillips, Dr. Scott Parazynski, Dr. Umberto Guidoni (Italy), Lt. Col. Yuri Lonchakov (Russia) 11 days, 21 hr, 30 min Most international crew members to date. Delivered and installed Canadarm2. First use of the Raffaello Multi-Purpose Logistics Module. Two space walks.
Discovery (U.S.) Aug. 10–Aug. 22, 2001 Col. Scott J. Horowitz, Lt. Col. Frederick W. Sturckow, Col. Patrick G. Forrester, Daniel T. Barry, Frank Culbertson, Lt. Col. Vladimir Dezhurov (Russia), Mikhail Tyurin (Russia) 11 days, 21 hr, 13 min Delivered Expedition Three crew (Culbertson, Dezhurov, Tyurin) to space station and returned Expedition Two crew (Usachev, Voss, Helms) to Earth.
Endeavour (U.S.) Dec. 5–17, 2001 Capt. Dominic Gorie, Lt. Cmdr. Mark E. Kelly, Linda M. Godwin, Daniel M. Tani, Col. Yuri Onufrienko (Russia), Col. Carl E. Walz, Capt. Daniel W. Bursch 11 days, 19 hr, 36 min Delivered Expedition Four crew (Onufrienko, Walz, Bursch) to space station and returned Expedition Three crew (Culbertson, Tyurin, Dezhurov) to Earth.
Columbia (U.S.) March 1–12, 2002 Cmdr. Scott Altman, Lt. Col. Duane Carey, Nancy Currie, John Grunsfield, Richard Linnehan, Michael Massimino, James Newman 10 days, 22 hr, 10 min Fourth Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission. The latest upgrades leave Hubble with a new power unit, camera, and solar arrays. Five EVAs lasted a total of 35 hr 55 min.
Atlantis (U.S.) April 8–19, 2002 Lt. Col. Michael Bloomfield, Stephen Frick, Rex Walheim, Ellen Ochoa, Lee Morin, Jerry Ross, Steven Smith. 10 days, 19 hr, 42 min Installed S0 (S-Zero) Truss, the backbone for future expansion, onto International Space Station. Prepared Mobile Transporter, first railroad in space. Jerry Ross made two space walks, retaining U.S. record for most space walks (nine) and total space-walking time (58 hr, 18 min).
Endeavour (U.S.) June 5–19, 2002 Kenneth D. Cockrell, Lt. Col. Paul Lockhart, Philippe Perrin (France), Franklin Chang-Diaz, Col. Valery Korzun (Russia), Peggy Whitson, Sergei Treschev (Russia). 13 days, 20 hr, 35 min Delivered Expedition Five crew (Korzun, Whitson, Treschev) to space station and returned Expedition Four crew (Onufrienko, Walz, Bursch) to Earth. On June 19, Walz and Bursch broke the U.S. space flight endurance record (previously held by Shannon Lucid, who spent 188 days in space in 1996). The two spent a total of 196 days in space.
Columbia (U.S.) Jan. 16–Feb. 1, 2003 Rick Husband, William McCool, Michael Anderson, Kalpana Chawla, David Brown, Laurel B. Clark, Ilan Ramon 16 days Exploded upon reentry into Earth's atmosphere, killing all 7 crew members.
Soyuz TMA-2 (Russia) Apr. 26–Oct. 28, 2003 Yuri Malenchenko (Russia), Ed Lu, Ken Bowersox, Don Pettit, Nikolai Budarin (Russia) 185 days With shuttle flights grounded, Soyuz TMA-2 delivered Expedition Seven crew (Malenchenko, Lu) to space station. Expedition Six crew (Bowersox, Pettit, Budarin) returned to Earth via Soyuz TMA-1, docked at space station since Dec. 1, 2002(3). On Aug. 10, Malenchenko became the first man to get married from space.
Shenzhou V (China) Oct. 15–16, 2003 Lt. Col. Yang Liwei 21 hr With the launch of Shenzhou V, China became the third country, after the former Soviet Union and the United States, to have a space program.
SpaceShipOne (U.S., private) June 21, 2004 Mike Melvill 4.5 hr The first private staffed ship to leave the atmosphere. It achieved an altitude of 328,491 ft.
Discovery (U.S.) July 26–Aug. 7, 2005 Eileen Collins, James Kelly, Charles Camarda, Wendy Lawrence, Soichi Noguchi, Steve Robinson, Andy Thomas 13 days First shuttle flight since Columbia disaster. Mission was to test new safety features and deliver equipment to the International Space Station.
Discovery (U.S.) July 4–17, 2006 Steven Lindsey, Mark Kelly, Lisa Nowak, Michael Fossum, Stephanie Wilson, Piers Sellers, Thomas Reiters 13 days Mission to test new safety features, deliver equipment to, and perform maintenance on the International Space Station.
Atlantis (U.S.) June 8–22, 2007 Fred Sturckow, Lee Archambault, James Reilly, Steven Swanson, Patrick Gorrester, John Olivas, Sunita Williams, Clayton Anderson 14 days Mission to deliver starboard truss segments and a pair of solar arrays to the International Space Station.
Discovery (U.S.) Feb. 24–March 9, 2011 Steven Lindsey, Eric Boe, Nicole Stott, Alvin Drew, Michael Barratt, Stephen Bowen 12 days Mission to deliver several items to the International Space Station, including the Permanent Multipurpose Module Leonardo, which was left permanently docked to one of the station's ports. This was Discovery's final mission.
NOTES: EVA = Extravehicular Activity. The letters MR stand for Mercury (capsule) and Redstone (rocket); MA, for Mercury and Atlas (rocket); GT, for Gemini (capsule) and Titan-II (rocket). The first astronaut listed in the Gemini and Apollo flights is the command pilot. The Mercury capsules had names: MR-III was Freedom 7, MR-IV was Liberty Bell 7, MA-VI was Friendship 7, MA-VII was Aurora 7, MA-VIII was Sigma 7, and MA-IX was Faith 7. The figure 7 referred to the fact that the first group of U.S. astronauts numbered seven men. Only one Gemini capsule had a name: GT-III was called Molly Brown (after the Broadway musical The Unsinkable Molly Brown); thereafter the practice of naming the capsules was discontinued.
1. Returned to Earth with two fellow cosmonauts, Aleksandr P. Aleksandrov and Anatoly Levchenko, who had spent a shorter stay aboard the Mir.
2. From launch to landing.
3. Soyuz TMA-1 returned May 3, 2003.
Our Base in Space Space Exploration A Human Mission to Mars? Not Yet
 
Space Exploration
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