How many people have journeyed into space?

SPACE TRAVELLERS

Since the first manned space mission in 1961, more than 560 people have journeyed into space – 27 on missions to the Moon and the rest in orbit around Earth. To date, only Russia, China, and the United States have launched humans into space. However, humans are not the only space travellers. Animals such as dogs, monkeys, and spiders have all been sent into space to help with research.

1. Alan Shepard was the second person, and first American, to journey into space.
2. Ulf Merbold, from Germany, became the first European to fly aboard a space shuttle.
3. Jim Voss set the record for longest spacewalk (8 hours 56 minutes) with Susan Helms.
4. Susan Helms.
5. Laika was the first animal to orbit Earth. The Russian dog travelled in Sputnik 2 in 1957.
6. Alexei Leonov made the first spacewalk in March 1965. He spent 10 minutes in space secured to his Voskhod 2 craft.
7. Eileen Collins became the first female shuttle pilot in February 1995, and the first female shuttle commander in July 1999.
8. Yang Liwei was the first Chinese astronaut (taikonaut). China’s first manned space flight was launched in October 2003.
9. Svetlana Savitskaya was the second woman in space and the first woman to spacewalk.
10. Michael Collins was the third member of the Apollo 11 mission in 1969. He orbited the Moon, as Armstrong and Aldrin explored its surface.
11. Dennis Tito was the first space tourist. He paid £14 million ($20 million) for a six-day trip in 2001.
12. Baker, a squirrel monkey, was launched into space on 28 May 1959. She travelled with a rhesus monkey called Able.
13. Eugene Cernan was part of the Apollo 17 mission in December 1972. He was the last person to walk on the Moon.
14. Neil Armstrong was the first person to set foot on the Moon. He spent 2 hours 35 minutes exploring the lunar surface.
15. Yuri Gagarin was the first person to fly into space. His trip in April 1961 took him once round Earth and lasted 108 minutes.
16. Peggy Whitson holds the record for the longest female spaceflight (289.2 days).
17. Mike Melvill was the first commercial astronaut. He piloted SpaceShipOne in June 2004.
18. Valentina Tereshkova was the first woman to fly into space. She made a three-day journey aboard Vostok 6 in June 1963.
19. Gennady Padalka holds the record for the total time spent in space. In his five trips, he has clocked up 878.5 days in space.
20. Sam was a rhesus monkey who was sent into space in 1960 to test equipment that would be used in future manned flights.
21. Valeri Polyakov holds the record for the longest time spent in space during one trip. His record stands at 437.7 days.
22. Bruce McCandless made the first untethered spacewalk in February 1984.
23. John Glenn was the first American to orbit Earth, in 1962. He became the oldest space voyager in 1998, aged 77.
24. Green tree frogs were taken to the Mir space station in 1990.
25. Buzz Aldrin was the second person to set foot on the Moon.
26. Swordtail fish travelled on board the space shuttle Columbia in 1998.
27. Squirrel monkeys and 24 albino rats were taken to Spacelab-3 in 1985.
28. Arabella, a spider, was sent to the Skylab space station in 1973. Once space-adapted, she spun perfect webs.
29. Albino rats.
30. Quail chicks hatched from eggs on the Mir space station in March 1990.
31. Belka and Strelka became the first dogs to go into orbit and survive the journey in 1960.
32. Ham was the first chimpanzee to travel in space. In 1961, he was sent to test equipment that would be used in the first US manned space mission.

Picture Credit : Google