NASDA

JAXA

This astronaut visited the International Space Station.

ISS Visitor

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

Crossed Kármán Line

This astronaut has spent over a month in space.

Space Resident

STS-123 (Endeavour)

During this first of three Space Shuttle flights to assemble the Japanese Kibo laboratory complex, Endeavour's crew delivered the Japanese Experiment Logistics Module to the International Space Station. The mission also rotated an ISS crewmember and brought Canada's human-esque DEXTRE robot to the outpost.

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

STS-87 (Columbia)

This science mission saw the first spacewalk performed by a Japanese astronaut and continued spacewalk testing of construction and maintenance procedures for the upcoming International Space Station.

Takao Doi

Japan

STS-87 EVA 1

STS-87 EVA 2

NASA

STS-78 (Columbia)

This international Life and Microgravity Spacelab mission from NASA, ESA, and Canada featured more than 40 experiments designed to validate long duration space station missions.

STS-99 (Endeavour)

The Shuttle Radar Topography Mission was a joint NASA-German flight to create the most complete high-resolution digital topographic database of Earth.

STS-70 (Discovery)

Discovery launched NASA's seventh TDRS satellite. The flight was delayed several weeks when woodpeckers, trying to nest on the External Tank, put 71 holes in its insulating foam.

Kevin R. Kregel

United States of America

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.

Winston E. Scott

This astronaut is in the top 5% for total spacewalking time.

Elite Spacewalker

STS-90 (Columbia)

This dedicated research flight of Columbia was Spacelab's final mission. It was called Neurolab and examined the effects of microgravity on the nervous system. The mission was a 26 experiment partnership between six space agencies and seven U.S. research institutes.

STS-109 (Columbia)

The fourth servicing mission to the Hubble Space Telescope replaced and upgraded science instruments and swapped out the telescopes solar arrays. Columbia also reboosted Hubble's orbit.

Richard M. Linnehan

STS-95 (Discovery)

NASA’s STS-95 mission launched aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery on October 29th, 1998, from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The crew included Commander Curtis L. Brown Jr., Pilot Steven W. Lindsey, Mission Specialists Scott E. Parazynski, Stephen K. Robinson, and Pedro Duque, Payload Specialist Chiaki Mukai, and Payload Specialist John H. Glenn Jr., a U.S. senator and former Mercury astronaut returning to space. STS-95’s main objectives included scientific experiments on aging, life sciences, and materials science, while deploying and operating the Spartan solar-observing satellite. Notably, the mission studied the effects of space on the aging process, with John Glenn serving as the key participant. Discovery successfully landed back at Kennedy Space Center on November 7th, 1998, completing the mission.

STS-104 (Atlantis)

Atlantis' crew delivered the Quest Joint Airlock to the International Space Station.

STS-121 (Discovery)

The second Return To Flight Space Shuttle mission after Columbia demonstrated all safety enhancements, this flight resupplied and prepared the International Space Station for the restart of construction and increased the Station's crew size back to three people. This mission was the third Return To Flight mission overall for the Shuttle Program, and all three were flown by Discovery.

STS-133 (Discovery)

The 39th and final flight of Space Shuttle Discovery. The six-person (human) crew delivered to the International Space Station: NASA's final module, Leonardo; 3,735 kg of external equipment and spares; and the humanoid robotic ISScrewmember, Rorbonaut2. Discovery also performed the final hardware and software test of SpaceX's DragonEye sensors for the cargo Dragon resupply capsule. Upon landing, Discovery became the first Space Shuttle to retire from service, having traveled 238,539,663 km over a total of 365 days (one full year) in space. She carried 252 total crewmembers over a 27-year career, making Discovery the current spacecraft to have carried the most people to space.

Steven W. Lindsey

This astronaut gave their life in the pursuit of space exploration.

Memorial

STS-107 (Columbia)

An international microgravity research flight, Columbia carried seven people and 70 experiments to space. It marked the first time an Israeli flew to space. More than 80% of all science experiment data was transmitted to the ground during the 16-day mission. Columbia reentered the atmosphere on February 1st, 2003, and broke apart 63 km over north-central Texas just 16 minutes before landing. All seven crewmember lost their lives. This was the 28th and final flight of Columbia. The accident was traced to a foam liberation event from the External Tank during launch that struck Columbia's left wing, blowing a 0.4 x 0.4-meter hole in critical thermal protection panels on the wing's leading edge -- the part of the Space Shuttle that receives the most intense heating during reentry. After launch, NASA managers believed the debris strike would be a maintenance issue on the ground. The hole in Columbia's wing allowed superheated plasma to melt her airframe during reentry. Just over 30% of Columbia survived and was recovered by search teams, including the remains of her crew. Miraculously no one was injured or killed on the ground, despite Columbia's massive engines landing in east Texas. While searching for debris, recovery teams found a worm enclosure flown on Columbia in tact; the worms were still alive and are to this day the only living things to survive atmospheric reentry without full protection from a heat shield. During a 22-year career, Columbia spent 300 days in space, traveled 125,204,911 km, and carried 160 crewmembers.

Kalpana Chawla

SSAU

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

First Man from Ukraine

Leonid Kadenyuk

Ukraine

STS-91 (Discovery)

This was the ninth and final Space Shuttle docking to Space Station Mir and Discovery's only trip to the Russian space station. Discovery's crew tested new robotic arm software and the Orbiter Space Vision System that would be needed during construction of the International Space Station. This flight returned the final long duration NASA astronaut from Mir.

STS-108 (Endeavour)

The first Space Shuttle mission after the September 11th attacks, this flight's launch time was classified for added security, a practice that would continue through January 2003. The flight resupplied the International Space Station and rotated the Expedition 3 and 4 crews.

Dominic L. P. Gorie

STS-134 (Endeavour)

The 25th and final flight of Space Shuttle Endeavour. The mission coincidentally launched on the 19th anniversary of Endeavour landing on her maiden voyage in 1992. This flight saw the crew deliver the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer antimatter detector experiment and an external spares pallet to the International Space Station. The mission marked "Assembly Complete" for NASA's portion of the ISS with the transfer of Endeavour's heatshield scanning boom to the ISS to extend the reach of Canadarm2. This marked the final time a non-American flew on the Space Shuttle. Endeavour landed on June 1st, 2011, becoming the second Shuttle to retire. She spent a total of 299 days in space, traveled 197,761,262 km, and carried 173 crewmembers across a 19-year career.

Gregory H. Johnson

SpaceX

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

Frequent Walker

SpaceX Demo-2

The dawn of the commercial era of spaceflight. With this mission, SpaceX not only returned the capability of launching humans into orbit to the United States, but more importantly became the first private company to launch people into orbit and successfully return them to Earth. The two month flight brought two NASA astronauts up to the Space Station to fully test the new Crew Dragon spacecraft ahead of "regular" crew rotation missions to follow. The flight was the first in nine years to carry humans to orbit from the U.S. following the retirement of the Space Shuttle in 2011. The historic nature of the first commercial, private orbital human spaceflight in history was marked by the mission's launch from the same pad used to send Apollo 11 to the Moon.

Crew Dragon is the first privately built and operated orbital spacecraft capable of flying humans. As a reusable SpaceX capsule, it transports crew members to and from the International Space Station. It will also carry paying customers to the Station and low Earth orbit. While it typically accommodates a crew of four, this number can vary depending on the mission.

Crew Dragon

STS-130 (Endeavour)

Endeavour's crew delivered the final NASA connecting module, Tranquility, and a 360 degree viewing port called the Cupola to the International Space Station and also relocated an ISS docking port.

Robert L. Behnken

STS-129 (Atlantis)

The 31st flight of Space Shuttle Atlantis delivered 12,532 kg of spare parts and components to the International Space Station. Randy Bresnik became a father while flying this mission. His Space Shuttle and ISS crewmates congratulated him with candy cigars, as smoking is not permitted on the ISS. This marked the second and most recent time two people of African descent flew a mission together.

Michael J. Foreman

STS-132 (Atlantis)

Space Shuttle Atlantis' six-person crew delivered the Russian Mini Research Module, Rassvet, to the International Space Station as well as 1,913 kg of external spare parts. This was originally Atlantis' final flight. Eight months after this mission ended, NASA added one more flight to the Space Shuttle program and assigned Atlantis to fly what would ultimately become the Shuttle program's final voyage. As such, this flight is lovingly referred to as "The first last flight of Atlantis." The crew signed their names on a locker in Atlantis, believing it to be her final flight. NASA instructed all crews on pending final Space Shuttle flights to not repeat this crew's actions. The signatures, however, were never removed.

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