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.
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.
