European Space Agency (ESA)

This astronaut crossed the Kármán Line (100 km), the internationally accepted boundary of space.

Crossed Kármán Line

This astronaut is the first man from Belgium to go to space.

First Man from Belgium

STS-45 (Atlantis)

This was the first mission of the Atmospheric Laboratory for Applications and Science pallet, a multinational effort from the U.S., France, Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands, and Japan.

The first reusable launch and landing spacecraft, the Space Shuttle began a new chapter of human space exploration. It launched like a rocket but landed on a runway like a plane. Shuttle crews deployed dozens of commercial satellites and two interplanetary probes to Venus and Jupiter. The Shuttle served as a mini space station and hosted hundreds of biomedical, psychological, physiological, materials science, and physics experiments that have directly benefited life on Earth. The five flight-worthy Shuttles -- Columbia, Challenger, Discovery, Atlantis, and Endeavour -- flew 135 missions over 30 years. The Shuttles helped construct the Russian Mir space station and brought nearly 80% of the International Space Station to orbit. Shuttles also deployed and serviced the Hubble Space Telescope.

Space Shuttle

Dirk Frimout

Belgium

NASA

STS-9 (Columbia)

United States of America

Germany

A dedicated science flight co-sponsored by NASA and ESA, STS-9 marked the first time an ESA/West German astronaut reached space and the first time a non-American launched on a U.S. mission.

Byron K. Lichtenberg

STS-41-G (Challenger)

The 13th flight of the space shuttle program and the sixth of Challenger, STS-41G holds many distinctions. As the first mission focused almost entirely on studying the Earth, it deployed a satellite, employed multiple instruments, cameras, and crew observations to accomplish those goals. 

The STS-41G crew set several firsts, most notably as the first seven-member space crew. Other milestones included the first astronaut to make a fourth shuttle flight, the first and only astronaut to fly on Challenger three times and on back-to-back missions on any orbiter, the first crew to include two women, the first American woman to make two spaceflights, the first American woman to conduct a spacewalk, and the first Canadian and the first Australian-born American to make spaceflights.

STS-31 (Discovery)

On this mission NASA launched a window to our past: the Hubble Space Telescope. Discovery's crew deployed the immense telescope on April 25th, 1990.

Kathryn D. Sullivan

STS-28 (Columbia)

David C. Leestma

STS-61-C (Columbia)

Space Shuttle Columbia returned to service after a major overhaul and upgrade with this mission. The crew included U.S. Congressman Bill Nelson of Florida. The flight deployed Satcom K1, which would prove to be the last commercial communications satellite launched by the Shuttle. It was the last successful human spaceflight before the Challenger Disaster. This mission was retroactively called "The End of Innocence" by its Commander.

STS-60 (Discovery)

This was the first flight of the Shuttle-Mir program, the first time a Russian launched on an American rocket, and the first time a U.S. crew communicated with a Russian crew on the Mir space station. The mission also performed several immune system and crystal growth experiments.

Charles F. Bolden Jr.

This astronaut has spent over a month in space.

Space Resident

STS-57 (Endeavour)

This multifaceted mission saw the crew perform numerous biomedical and materials science experiments, retrieve ESA's European Retrievable Carrier satellite, and perform a spacewalk to test the Space Shuttle arm's ability to perform fine maneuvers while carrying a high-mass object.

STS-72 (Endeavour)

This was a NASA-Japan co-sponsored flight to retrieve Japan's Space Flyer Unit as well as deploy and re-capture the free-flyer science platform.

STS-92 (Discovery)

The 100th Space Shuttle flight brought a docking port, motion control system, communications system, and the Z1 truss structure to the International Space Station.

Brian Duffy

This astronaut visited the International Space Station.

ISS Visitor

This astronaut is in the top 5% for number of missions.

Frequent Flyer

This astronaut is the first British man to go to space.

First Birtish Man

STS-63 (Discovery)

The second Shuttle-Mir mission saw Discovery approach the station and fly around it, testing critical approach and docking systems for future Shuttle-Mir flights. The mission was the first time a woman piloted a U.S. spacecraft.

STS-84 (Atlantis)

The sixth Space Shuttle docking to the Russian space station Mir delivered a new NASA crewmember to the outpost. During undocking, Atlantis tested a new European sensor that would be used on Europe's future International Space Station resupply vehicle.

Soyuz TMA-3

Soyuz TMA-3 ferried the two-person Expedition 8 crew to and from the International Space Station. ESA astronaut Duque joined for a short duration mission, returning to Earth on Soyuz TMA-2.

Soyuz is a human-carrying capsule built and operated by Russia, capable of transporting up to three people to the Space Station at a time. It has been upgraded numerous times since its first use in the 1960s for the Soviet lunar program and was the only crewed vehicle for the Station from 2011 to 2020.

Soyuz

STS-56 (Discovery)

This was the second flight of the Atmospheric Laboratory for Applications and Science pallet and focused on the relationship between the Sun and the Earth. The mission deployed and re-captured the SPARTAN-201 satellite.

STS-103 (Discovery)

The third servicing and upgrade mission to the Hubble Space Telescope.

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