List of female astronauts

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The following is a list of women who have traveled into space, sorted by date of first flight. Although the first woman flew into space in 1963, very early in manned space exploration, it would not be until almost twenty years later that another flew. In the 1980s, female astronauts became common. While the Soviet Union sent the first two women into space, the Soviet Union/Russian program have only had three of the total number. As of 2011, fifty-five women have flown in space, out of 525 total space travellers. By country of origin: 1 each from France, UK, South Korea; 2 each from Canada and Japan, 3 from Soviet Union/Russia, and 45 from the United States.

[edit] Astronauts with completed or scheduled spaceflights

#	Name Birth date	Country	Comment	Missions (Launch date)
1	Valentina Tereshkova Mar. 6, 1937	Soviet Union	First woman in space.	Vostok 6 (Jun. 16, 1963)
2	Svetlana Savitskaya Aug. 8, 1948	Soviet Union	First woman to walk in space (July 25, 1984) while on an expedition to the Salyut 7 space station.	Soyuz T-7/T-5 (Aug. 19, 1982) Soyuz T-12 (Jul. 17, 1984)
3	Sally Ride May 26, 1951	United States	First American woman in space.	STS-7 (Jun. 18, 1983) STS-41-G (Oct. 5, 1984)
4	Judith Resnik Apr. 5, 1949 † Jan. 28, 1986	United States	First Jewish-American in space. Died in the Challenger disaster.	STS-41-D (Aug. 30, 1984) STS-51-L (Jan. 28, 1986)
5	Kathryn D. Sullivan Oct. 3, 1951	United States	First American woman to walk in space (Oct. 11, 1984).	STS-41-G (Oct. 5, 1984) STS-31 (Apr. 24, 1990) STS-45 (Mar. 24, 1992)
6	Anna Lee Fisher Aug. 24, 1949	United States		STS-51-A (Nov. 8, 1984)
7	Margaret Rhea Seddon Nov. 8, 1947	United States		STS-51-D (Apr. 12, 1985) STS-40 (Jun. 5, 1991) STS-58 (Oct. 18, 1993)
8	Shannon Lucid Jan. 14, 1943	United States	First American woman to fly on a space station (Mir).	STS-51-G (Jun. 17, 1985) STS-34 (Oct. 18, 1989) STS-43 (Aug. 2, 1991) STS-58 (Oct. 18, 1993) STS-76/79 (Mar. 22, 1996)
9	Bonnie J. Dunbar Mar. 3, 1949	United States		STS-61-A (Oct. 30, 1985) STS-32 (Jan. 9, 1990) STS-50 (Jun. 25, 1992) STS-71 (Jun. 27, 1995) STS-89 (Jan. 22, 1998)
10	Mary L. Cleave Feb. 5, 1947	United States		STS-61-B (Nov. 26, 1985) STS-30 (May 4, 1989)
11	Ellen S. Baker Apr. 27, 1953	United States		STS-34 (Oct. 18, 1989) STS-50 (Jun. 25, 1992) STS-71 (Jun. 27, 1995)
12	Kathryn C. Thornton Aug. 17, 1952	United States	Third woman to walk in space. First woman to make multiple EVAs (May 14–15, 1992, Dec. 6, 1993, Dec. 8, 1993)	STS-33 (Nov. 22, 1989) STS-49 (May 7, 1992) STS-61 (Dec. 2, 1993) STS-73 (Oct. 20, 1995)
13	Marsha Ivins Apr. 15, 1951	United States		STS-32 (Jan. 9, 1990) STS-46 (Jul. 31, 1992) STS-62 (Mar. 4, 1994) STS-81 (Jan. 12, 1997) STS-98 (Feb. 7, 2001)
14	Linda M. Godwin Jul. 2, 1952	United States	Fourth woman to walk in space (March 27, 1996, Dec. 10, 2001)	STS-37 (Apr. 5, 1991) STS-59 (Apr. 9, 1994) STS-76 (Mar. 22, 1996) STS-108 (Dec. 5, 2001)
15	Helen Sharman May 30, 1963	United Kingdom	First Briton in space.	Soyuz TM-12/TM-11 (May 18, 1991)
16	Tamara E. Jernigan May 7, 1959	United States	Fifth woman to walk in space (May 30, 1999)	STS-40 (Jun. 5, 1991) STS-52 (Oct. 22, 1992) STS-67 (Mar. 2, 1995) STS-80 (Nov. 19, 1996) STS-96 (May 27, 1999)
16	Millie Hughes-Fulford Dec. 21, 1945	United States	First female Payload Specialist.	STS-40 (Jun. 5, 1991)
18	Roberta Bondar Dec. 4, 1945	Canada	First Canadian woman in space.	STS-42 (Jan. 22, 1992)
19	Jan Davis Nov. 1, 1953	United States		STS-47 (Sep. 12, 1992) STS-60 (Feb. 3, 1994) STS-85 (Aug. 7, 1997)
19	Mae Jemison Oct. 17, 1956	United States	First African-American woman in space	STS-47 (Sep. 12, 1992)
21	Susan J. Helms Feb. 26, 1958	United States	6th woman to walk in space (March 11, 2001)	STS-54 (Jan. 13, 1993) STS-64 (Sep. 9, 1994) STS-78 (Jun. 20, 1996) STS-101 (May 19, 2000) STS-102/105 (Mar. 8, 2001)
22	Ellen Ochoa May 10, 1958	United States	First Hispanic woman in space.	STS-56 (Apr. 8, 1993) STS-66 (Nov. 3, 1994) STS-96 (May 27, 1999) STS-110 (Apr. 8, 2002)
23	Janice E. Voss Oct. 8, 1956 † Feb. 6, 2012	United States		STS-57 (Jun. 21, 1993) STS-63 (Feb. 3, 1995) STS-83 (Apr. 4, 1997) STS-94 (Jul. 1, 1997) STS-99 (Feb. 11, 2000)
23	Nancy Currie Dec. 29, 1958	United States		STS-57 (Jun. 21, 1993) STS-70 (Jul. 13, 1995) STS-88 (Dec. 4, 1998) STS-109 (Mar. 1, 2002)
25	Chiaki Mukai May 6, 1952	Japan	First Japanese woman in space.	STS-65 (Jul. 8, 1994) STS-95 (Oct. 29, 1998)
26	Yelena V. Kondakova Mar. 30, 1957	Russia		Soyuz TM-20 (Oct. 3, 1994) STS-84 (May 15, 1997)
27	Eileen Collins Nov. 19, 1956	United States	First female shuttle pilot and shuttle commander.	STS-63 (Feb. 3, 1995) STS-84 (May 15, 1997) STS-93 (Jul. 23, 1999) STS-114 (Jul. 26, 2005)
28	Wendy Lawrence Jul. 2, 1959	United States		STS-67 (Mar. 2, 1995) STS-86 (Sep. 25, 1997) STS-91 (Jun. 2, 1998) STS-114 (Jul. 26, 2005)
29	Mary E. Weber Aug. 24, 1962	United States		STS-70 (Jul. 13, 1995) STS-101 (May 19, 2000)
30	Catherine Coleman Dec. 14, 1960	United States		STS-73 (Oct. 20, 1995) STS-93 (Jul. 23, 1999) Soyuz TMA-20 (15 December 2010)
31	Claudie Haigneré May 13, 1957	France	First Frenchwoman in space	Soyuz TM-24/TM-23 (Aug. 17, 1996) Soyuz TM-33/32 (Oct. 21, 2001)
32	Susan Still Kilrain Oct. 24, 1961	United States	Second female Shuttle pilot.	STS-83 (Apr. 4, 1997) STS-94 (Jul. 1, 1997)
33	Kalpana Chawla Jul. 1, 1961 † Jan. 16, 2003	United States	Died in the Columbia disaster. First Indian-American woman in space.	STS-87 (Nov. 19, 1997) STS-107 (Feb. 1, 2003)
34	Kathryn P. Hire Aug. 26, 1959	United States		STS-90 (Apr. 17, 1998) STS-130 (Feb. 8, 2010)
35	Janet L. Kavandi Jul. 17, 1959	United States		STS-91 (Jun. 2, 1998) STS-99 (Feb. 11, 2000) STS-104 (Jul. 12, 2001)
36	Julie Payette Oct. 20, 1963	Canada		STS-96 (May 27, 1999) STS-127 (July 15, 2009)
37	Pamela Melroy Sep. 17, 1961	United States	Second female Shuttle Commander.	STS-92 (Oct. 11, 2000) STS-112 (Oct. 7, 2002) STS-120 (Oct. 23, 2007)
38	Peggy Whitson Feb. 9, 1960	United States	7th woman to walk in space (Aug. 16, 2002, Nov. 9, 2007, Nov. 20, 2007, Nov. 24, 2007, Dec. 18, 2007, Jan. 30, 2007) As of March 2009, holds record for most EVAs and most time spent on EVA of all female space travellers. First female ISS Commander (ISS Expedition 16)	STS-111/113 (Jun. 5, 2002) Soyuz TMA-11 (Oct. 10, 2007)
39	Sandra Magnus Oct. 30, 1964	United States		STS-112 (Oct. 7, 2002) STS-126/119 (Nov. 14, 2008) STS-135 (July 8, 2011)
40	Laurel B. Clark Mar. 10, 1961 † Jan. 16, 2003	United States	Died in the Columbia disaster.	STS-107 (Feb. 1, 2003)
41	Stephanie Wilson Sep. 27, 1966	United States		STS-121 (Jul. 4, 2006) STS-120 (Oct. 23, 2007) STS-131 (Apr. 5, 2010)
41	Lisa Nowak May 10, 1963	United States	Became the object of media scrutiny after she was charged with attempted kidnapping.	STS-121 (Jul. 4, 2006)
43	Heidemarie M. Stefanyshyn-Piper Feb. 7, 1963	United States	8th woman to walk in space (Sept. 12, 2006, Sept. 15, 2006, Nov. 18-19, 2008, Nov. 20-21, 2008, Nov. 22-23, 2008)	STS-115 (Sep. 9, 2006) STS-126 (Nov. 14, 2008)
44	Anousheh Ansari Sep. 12, 1966	Iran / United States	Fourth space tourist and first female space tourist. First Iranian in space.	Soyuz TMA-9/8 (Sep. 18, 2006)
45	Sunita Williams Sep. 19, 1965^[1]	United States	9th woman to walk in space (Dec. 16, 2006, Jan. 31, 2007, Feb. 4, 2007, Feb. 8, 2007). As of 2007, holds records for female space travelers: longest spaceflight (195 days)^[1]	STS-116/117 (Dec. 9, 2006)^[1]
45	Joan Higginbotham Aug. 3, 1964	United States		STS-116 (Dec. 9, 2006)
47	Tracy Caldwell Dyson Aug. 14, 1969	United States	Eleventh woman to walk in space (Aug. 7, 2010, Aug. 11, 2010, Aug. 16, 2010).	STS-118 (Aug. 8, 2007) Soyuz TMA-18 (April 2, 2010)
47	Barbara Morgan Nov. 28, 1951	United States	First educator astronaut (Teacher in Space Project)	STS-118 (Aug. 8, 2007)
49	Yi So-yeon Jun. 2, 1978	Republic of Korea	First Korean in space	Soyuz TMA-12 (Apr. 8, 2008)
50	Karen L. Nyberg Oct. 7, 1969	United States		STS-124 (May 31, 2008)
51	K. Megan McArthur Aug. 30, 1971	United States		STS-125 (May 11, 2009)
52	Nicole P. Stott Nov. 11, 1962	United States	10th woman to walk in space (September 1–2, 2009).	STS-128 (August 28, 2009) STS-133 (February 24, 2011)
53	Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger May 15, 1975	United States		STS-131 (April 5, 2010)
53	Naoko Yamazaki Dec. 27, 1970	Japan		STS-131 (April 5, 2010)
55	Shannon Walker Jun. 4, 1965	United States		Soyuz TMA-19 (June 15, 2010)

[edit] Other astronauts and astronaut candidates

Name Birth date	Country	Comment
Kathleen Rubins Oct. 14, 1978	United States	Completed Astronaut Candidate Training in 2011.
Samantha Cristoforetti Apr. 26, 1977	Italy	ESA Astronaut.
Yelena Serova Apr. 22, 1976	Russia	Cosmonaut.
Serena M. Auñón Apr. 9, 1976	United States	Completed Astronaut Candidate Training in 2011.
Jeanette J. Epps Nov. 2, 1970	United States	Completed Astronaut Candidate Training in 2011.
Patricia Robertson Mar. 12, 1963	United States	Died May 24, 2001.
Nadezhda Kuzhelnaya Nov. 6, 1962	Russia	Retired May 27, 2004.
Marianne Merchez Nov. 25, 1960	Belgium	Retired 1995.
Yvonne Cagle Apr. 24, 1959	United States
Christa McAuliffe September 2, 1948 † Jan. 28, 1986	United States	Died on the Challenger, January 28, 1986
Tatyana Kuznetsova Jul. 14, 1941	Soviet Union	Retired 1969.
Zhanna Yorkina May 6, 1939	Soviet Union	Retired 1969.
Irina Solovyova Sept. 6, 1937	Soviet Union	Retired 1969.
Valentina Ponomaryova Sept. 18, 1933	Soviet Union	Retired 1969.