"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."
A chronological overview of the significant events in human spaceflight, including the first missions, notable achievements, and setbacks.
The Space Race: The competition between the United States and the Soviet Union to achieve significant space-related milestones, such as sending the first human into space or landing on the moon.
Early Rocketry: The early attempts at launching rockets into space and how they paved the way for human spaceflight.
The Mercury Program: The first human spaceflight program led by the United States and designed to put an astronaut in orbit around the Earth.
Vostok and Voskhod programs: The Soviet Union's early human spaceflight programs, which launched Yuri Gagarin into orbit and later went spacewalk.
The Gemini Program: The United States’ second human spaceflight program, focused on developing techniques for rendezvous and docking in space and advanced spacewalking.
Apollo Program: The United States’ program aimed to fulfill President John F. Kennedy's goal of landing a man on the moon and return him safely to Earth.
Skylab: The first U.S. space station, which was designed to conduct scientific experiments in space.
Space Shuttle Program: A reusable spacecraft designed to ferry astronauts and cargo to and from space.
International Space Station: A partnership between the United States, Russia, Europe, Japan, and Canada to create a permanent human presence in space.
Commercial Spaceflight: Private companies designing and launching spacecraft to transport people, cargo, and satellites into space.
The Future of Human Spaceflight: Plans for future human spaceflight missions, such as establishing a lunar base or sending humans to Mars.
Space medicine: The study of how space affects the human body and how to mitigate these effects.
Robotics and space exploration: The development of robots for space exploration and their role in future human spaceflight missions.
Space tourism: The possibility of civilians visiting space and the potential impact on the future of human spaceflight.
Space law: The laws governing human activities in space and their impact on space exploration and commercial spaceflight.
Suborbital flights: These are brief trips into space that do not orbit the Earth. The first suborbital flight was made by Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin in 1961.
Orbital flights: These are longer trips into space that orbit the Earth. The first orbital flight was made by Yuri Gagarin in 1961.
Space probes: These are unmanned spacecraft that explore space and gather scientific data. The first space probe was launched by the Soviet Union in 1957.
Space stations: These are large structures that are designed to support long-term human habitation in space. The first space station was launched by the Soviet Union in 1971.
Space shuttles: These are reusable spacecraft that can be launched into space and then returned to Earth. The first space shuttle was launched by NASA in 1981.
Human space exploration: This covers all human missions to space, including those involving space probes, space stations, and space shuttles.
Commercial spaceflight: This refers to spaceflights that are conducted for commercial purposes, such as space tourism or satellite launches.
Planetary exploration: This involves sending spacecraft to explore other objects in the solar system, such as the Moon, Mars, and other planets.
Space colonization: This refers to the concept of establishing permanent human settlements in space, such as on Mars or on large space habitats.
Military applications: This involves the use of space technology for military purposes, such as reconnaissance or missile defense.
"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)."
"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."
"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."
"Humans have had a continuous presence in space for 22 years and 316 days on the International Space Station (ISS)."
"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 June 2023, 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."
"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."
"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."
"Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin... launched as part of the Soviet Union's Vostok program on 12 April 1961 at the beginning of the Space Race."
"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."
"Currently, the United States, Russia, and China are the only countries with public or commercial human spaceflight-capable programs."