Timeline of space travel by nationality
Since the first spaceflight by the Soviet Union, astronauts who were citizens of 35 countries have flown into space. For each nationality, the launch date of the first mission is listed. The list is based on the nationality of the astronaut at the time of the spaceflight.
.svg){kind=small}
Notes
- ^1 a In 1991, the Soviet Union broke up into Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan. At the time of the breakup, Sergei Krikalev and Alexander Volkov were orbiting Earth on Mir, having gone into orbit as Soviet citizens. They returned to Earth as Russian citizens. Kaleri and Viktorenko were the first Russians to go into orbit after the Soviet breakup.
- ^2 a Shepard's spaceflight was suborbital. The first American to go into orbit was John Glenn, on February 20, 1962.
- ^3 a In 1993, Czechoslovakia broke up into the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
- ^4 a In 1990, East Germany and West Germany unified into Germany. On January 30, 1992, Ulf Merbold became the first citizen of the reunified Germany to go into space.
- ^5 a Ilan Ramon was the first Israeli to go into space; however, he died on reentry. Under Fédération Aéronautique Internationale rules, this does not qualify; but, under the same ruleset, Yuri Gagarin does not qualify as the first astronaut either and these rules are mainly ignored.
Other claims
The above list uses the nationality at the time of launch, with preference given to the sponsoring nation in the cases of dual citizenship. Lists with differing criteria might include the following astronauts:
- Paul D. Scully-Power, first launched October 5, 1984, was born in Australia, but was an American citizen when he went into space.
- Taylor Gun-Jin Wang, first launched April 29, 1985, was born in China to Chinese parents, but was an American citizen when he went into space.
- Shannon Lucid, first launched June 17, 1985, was born in China to American parents of European descent, and was an American citizen when she first went into space.
- Franklin Chang-Diaz, first launched January 12, 1986, was born in Costa Rica, but was an American citizen when he went into space.
- Andy Thomas, first launched May 19, 1996, was born in Australia, but was an American citizen when he went into space.
- John Herrington, first launched November 23, 2002 is an American citizen and as a registered Chickasaw was the first Native American in space.
See also
- List of human spaceflights: 1961-1986, 1987-1999, 2000-present.
- Spaceflight records