Notable Staffed Space Flights
Updated February 21, 2017 | Factmonster 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.
