™

Information Compiled & web site created by Joshua Campbell (4/2/04)
Last Update (05/11/09)

STS-125 Atlantis
Currently in Orbit

This web site is a place for you to find information about the earliest manned space missions. These include those of the Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, & Skylab space programs. You also will find flight and crew information for all U.S. space shuttle missions and ISS Expeditions. Information on the new Constellation program is also available.
"Space Travelers" section list all human beings that have ever flown in space. I manually entered all names after research to ensure that all persons listed have actually completed a space flight. The "Timeline" page contains a year by year account of the Mercury through Shuttle years.

Whos Up?

Interesting Fact: The Boy Scouts of America has played a pivotal role in U.S. spaceflight history. Of the 321 American astronauts that have gone into space, 180 were members of scouting (56%). Of the twelve men that walked on the moon, eleven had been Boy Scouts. Of these 180 astronauts, 40 attained the rank of Eagle Scout; Including moonwalkers Neil Armstrong and Charlie Duke. (Figures as of 2006)

Mankind's fascination with outer space has been noted throughout the ages. During the 1950's and 60's, two super power nations, the United States & the Soviet Union battled each other for control of the heavens. Known today as the space race, this battle produced some of the greatest technologies that we have, and redefined the word hero. Space agencies in the two countries recruited their brave citizens to venture into the unknown. The U.S. selected highly experienced jet airplane test pilots with engineering degrees; the Soviets selected military fighter pilots. 1957 saw the launch of the first man made satellite, Sputnik 1 by the Russians. The United States responded in 1958 with the successful launch of Explorer 1. The goal then became manned flight. The Soviet Union launched the first man into space on April 12, 1961. Pictured below wearing a pressurized space suit, Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin was hailed as an international hero. Three weeks later, the United States leveled the playing field and launched its first astronaut into space. Astronaut Alan Shepard Jr. was the first to manually control his spacecraft and gave a renewed hope to Americans. Fifteen days after Commander Shepard's flight, President Kennedy issued the challenge to land a man on the moon by the end of the decade. The moon race ended in 1969 with the Apollo 11 mission. The space race ended in 1975 with the historic Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (Included in the apollo section). An American Apollo spacecraft docked with a Soviet Soyuz spacecraft above the Earth for the first time beginning a new era of cooperative space ventures. Two of the space races original heroes were present on that mission. Legendary Mercury astronaut Deke Slayton, and the first man to walk in space, Alexei Leonov, shook hands on that day, one hundred and fifty miles above the earth sealing the space race's end with friendship.

SFH.com Astronaut Picture Mini-Biographies:

Interesting Fact: Russian Cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev has more time logged in space than any other person (803 days- See the "Space Records" section). According to Albert Einstein's Theory of Relativity, he has traveled more than 1/50th of a second into the future.

"Circling the Earth in the orbital spaceship I marveled at the beauty of our planet. People of the world! Let us safeguard and enhance this beauty- not destroy it!"
-Yuri A. Gagarin
The First Man to Fly in Space

Non-Flash Links

Mercury Gemini Apollo Skylab Shuttle Records Timeline Constellation Quizzes Space Travelers Recommended Media ISS

download html hit counter code here

This website is best viewed using the Firefox or Safari browsers

Partners:
International Spaceflight Museum