Voskhod 2 cosmonaut Alexei Leonov, first in open space, 1965
Gemini 4 astronaut Ed White in open space, 1965
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Akihiko Hoshide taking a space selfie in 2012
International Space Station crewmember Tracy Caldwell Dyson views the Earth, 2010
Human spaceflight (also referred to as manned spaceflight or crewed spaceflight) is spaceflight with a crew or passengers aboard a spacecraft, often with the spacecraft being operated directly by the onboard human crew. Spacecraft can also be remotely operated from ground stations on Earth, or autonomously, without any direct human involvement. People trained for spaceflight are called astronauts (American or other), cosmonauts (Russian), or taikonauts (Chinese); and non-professionals are referred to as spaceflight participants or spacefarers.[1]
The first human in space was Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, who launched as part of the Soviet Union's Vostok program on 12 April 1961 at the beginning of the Space Race. On 5 May 1961, Alan Shepard became the first American in space, as part of Project Mercury. Humans traveled to the Moon nine times between 1968 and 1972 as part of the United States' Apollo program, and have had a continuous presence in space for 23 years and 189 days on the International Space Station (ISS).[2] On 15 October 2003, the first Chinese taikonaut, Yang Liwei, went to space as part of Shenzhou 5, the first Chinese human spaceflight. As of March 2024, humans have not traveled beyond low Earth orbit since the Apollo 17 lunar mission in December 1972.
Currently, the United States, Russia, and China are the only countries with public or commercial human spaceflight-capable programs. Non-governmental spaceflight companies have been working to develop human space programs of their own, e.g. for space tourism or commercial in-space research. The first private human spaceflight launch was a suborbital flight on SpaceShipOne on June 21, 2004. The first commercial orbital crew launch was by SpaceX in May 2020, transporting NASA astronauts to the ISS under United States government contract.[3]
^Mars, Kelli (27 March 2018). "5 Hazards of Human Spaceflight". NASA. Retrieved 9 February 2022.
^"Counting the Many Ways the International Space Station Benefits Humanity". 5 April 2019. Retrieved 4 May 2019.
^"SpaceX Astronauts Reach Space Station After Milestone Voyage". Bloomberg.com. 30 May 2020. Retrieved 16 June 2020.
Humanspaceflight (also referred to as manned spaceflight or crewed spaceflight) is spaceflight with a crew or passengers aboard a spacecraft, often with...
crewed spaceflights throughout history. Beginning in 1961 with the flight of Yuri Gagarin aboard Vostok 1, crewed spaceflight occurs when a human crew flies...
Humanspaceflight programs have been conducted, started, or planned by multiple countries and companies. Until the 21st century, humanspaceflight programs...
The effects of spaceflight on the human body are complex and largely harmful over both short and long term. Significant adverse effects of long-term weightlessness...
The Indian HumanSpaceflight Programme (or Gaganyaan) is an ongoing programme by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to develop the technology...
spacecraft, into or through outer space, either with or without humans on board. Most spaceflight is uncrewed and conducted mainly with spacecraft such as satellites...
An orbital spaceflight (or orbital flight) is a spaceflight in which a spacecraft is placed on a trajectory where it could remain in space for at least...
This is a list of the humanspaceflight missions conducted by the Soviet space program. These missions belong to the Vostok, Voskhod, and Soyuz space...
and operating launch vehicles and spacecraft for both robotic and humanspaceflight. Providing services such as satellite launches, astronaut transportation...
human survival, given current technology. Outer planets such as Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune are too distant to reach with current crewed spaceflight technology...
Восток, East or Orient 1) was the first spaceflight of the Vostok programme and the first human orbital spaceflight in history. The Vostok 3KA space capsule...
Spaceflight began in the 20th century following theoretical and practical breakthroughs by Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, Robert H. Goddard, and Hermann Oberth...
is NASA's center for humanspaceflight in Houston, Texas (originally named the Manned Spacecraft Center), where humanspaceflight training, research, and...
Spacecraft Spaceflight records Space Race Rocket and missile technology Humanspaceflight Solar System exploration Timeline Interplanetary voyages Landings...
200 mph), completing 15.7 orbits per day.[page needed][page needed] Humanspaceflights were vital to the operation of Mir, allowing crews and equipment to...
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...
objectives to orbit a human in space, develop tracking and control systems, and identify other issues associated with humanspaceflight. While much of NASA's...
This is a list of humanspaceflights to the Tiangong space station. "长征二号F/G Y12 • 神舟十二号载人飞船 • LongMarch 2F/G Y12 • Shenzhou-12". spaceflightfans.cn (in...
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