Astronomy:List of human spaceflights, 1961–1970

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This is a detailed list of human spaceflights from 1961 to 1970, spanning the Soviet Vostok and Voskhod programs, the start of the Soviet Soyuz program, the American Mercury and Gemini programs, and the first lunar landings of the American Apollo program.

  • Red indicates fatalities.
  • Green indicates sub-orbital spaceflight (including flights that failed to attain intended orbit).
  • Grey indicates flights to the Moon.
  • The United States defines spaceflight as any flight reaching an altitude of 50 miles, while the FAI definition requires an altitude of 100 kilometers. During the 1960s, 13 crewed flights of the U.S. North American X-15 rocket plane met the U.S. criteria, of which only two met the FAI's. This article's primary list includes only the latter two flights. A separate, secondary list gives the other eleven which flew between 50 miles and 100 kilometers.
# Crew Launch
spacecraft
Habitation Return
spacecraft
Brief mission summary
1 Soviet Union Yuri Gagarin 12 April 1961
Soviet Union Vostok 1
First crewed spaceflight. Reached Low Earth Orbit (LEO), flew around the Earth one time.
2 United States Alan Shepard (1) 5 May 1961
United States Mercury-Redstone 3 (Freedom 7)
First American crewed spaceflight. Did not reach Earth orbit, maximum altitude: 187 km (116 miles). The mission was also the first "completed" human spaceflight per past FAI definitions, because unlike Soviet Vostok 1 mission, the crew landed while remaining inside the spacecraft.[1][2]
3 United States Gus Grissom (1) 21 July 1961
United States Mercury-Redstone 4 (Liberty Bell 7)
Second American crewed spaceflight. Did not reach Earth orbit, maximum altitude: 190 km (118.26 mi).
4 Soviet Union Gherman Titov 6 August 1961
Soviet Union Vostok 2
7 August 1961
Soviet Union Vostok 2
Day-long flight in LEO. Flew around the Earth 17 times. Brief manual control by pilot.
5 United States John Glenn (1) 20 February 1962
United States Mercury-Atlas 6 (Friendship 7)
First American crewed orbital flight. Flew around the Earth three times. It was also the first "completed" orbital human spaceflight per past FAI definitions, because unlike Soviet Vostok missions of that period, the crew landed while remaining inside the spacecraft.[2][3][4][5]
6 United States Scott Carpenter 24 May 1962
United States Mercury-Atlas 7 (Aurora 7)
First manual retrofire. Earth photography and study of liquids in weightless conditions.
7 Soviet Union Andriyan Nikolayev (1) 11 August 1962
Soviet Union Vostok 3
15 August 1962
Soviet Union Vostok 3
First instance of two crewed spacecraft in orbit simultaneously.
8 Soviet Union Pavel Popovich (1) 12 August 1962
Soviet Union Vostok 4
15 August 1962
Soviet Union Vostok 4
First instance of two crewed spacecraft in orbit simultaneously.
9 United States Wally Schirra (1) 3 October 1962
United States Mercury-Atlas 8 (Sigma 7)
First flawless Mercury mission.
10 United States Gordon Cooper (1) 15 May 1963
United States Mercury-Atlas 9 (Faith 7)
16 May 1963
United States Mercury-Atlas 9 (Faith 7)
First live TV from U.S. astronaut.
11 Soviet Union Valery Bykovsky (1) 14 June 1963
Soviet Union Vostok 5
19 June 1963
Soviet Union Vostok 5
Longest solo spaceflight.
12 Soviet Union Valentina Tereshkova 16 June 1963
Soviet Union Vostok 6
19 June 1963
Soviet Union Vostok 6
First woman in space.
13 United States Joseph A. Walker 19 July 1963
United States Flight 90, X-15
First winged craft in space. Reached altitude of 106 km.
14 United States Joseph A. Walker 22 August 1963
United States Flight 91, X-15
Reached altitude of 108 km. Walker becomes first person to fly into space twice. X-15-3 (serial 56-6672) becomes first vehicle to fly into space twice.
15 Soviet Union Vladimir Komarov (1)
Soviet Union Konstantin Feoktistov
Soviet Union Boris Yegorov
12 October 1964
Soviet Union Voskhod 1
13 October 1964
Soviet Union Voskhod 1
First multiple person spaceflight. Biomedical research.
16 Soviet Union Alexei Leonov (1)
Soviet Union Pavel Belyayev
18 March 1965
Soviet Union Voskhod 2
19 March 1965
Soviet Union Voskhod 2
First EVA.
17 United States Gus Grissom (2)
United States John Young (1)
23 March 1965
United States Gemini 3
First to perform orbital maneuvers.
18 United States James McDivitt (1)
United States Ed White
3 June 1965
United States Gemini 4
7 June 1965
United States Gemini 4
First American EVA.
19 United States Gordon Cooper (2)
United States Pete Conrad (1)
21 August 1965
United States Gemini 5
29 August 1965
United States Gemini 5
First one week spaceflight. Cooper becomes the first person to orbit the Earth on two different missions.
20 United States Frank Borman (1)
United States Jim Lovell (1)
4 December 1965
United States Gemini 7
18 December 1965
United States Gemini 7
First two-week spaceflight. First space rendezvous in history with Gemini 6A.
21 United States Wally Schirra (2)
United States Thomas P. Stafford (1)
15 December 1965
United States Gemini 6A
16 December 1965
United States Gemini 6A
First space rendezvous, with Gemini 7.
22 United States Neil Armstrong (1)
United States David Scott (1)
16 March 1966
United States Gemini 8
17 March 1966
United States Gemini 8
First docking in space in history with Agena Target Vehicle Planned EVA canceled due to early re-entry necessitated by stuck thruster.
23 United States Thomas P. Stafford (2)
United States Eugene Cernan (1)
3 June 1966
United States Gemini 9A
6 June 1966
United States Gemini 9A
First backup crew to fly space mission.
24 United States John Young (2)
United States Michael Collins (1)
18 July 1966
United States Gemini 10
21 July 1966
United States Gemini 10
First rendezvous with two different objects.
25 United States Pete Conrad (2)
United States Richard F. Gordon Jr. (1)
12 September 1966
United States Gemini 11
15 September 1966
United States Gemini 11
Held altitude record prior to lunar missions (1374 km).
26 United States Jim Lovell (2)
United States Buzz Aldrin (1)
11 November 1966
United States Gemini 12
15 November 1966
United States Gemini 12
First manual rendezvous. Miscellaneous scientific experiments.
27 Soviet Union Vladimir Komarov (2) 23 April 1967
Soviet Union Soyuz 1
24 April 1967
Soviet Union Soyuz 1
Crashed on re-entry. First human fatality during a spaceflight.
28 United States Wally Schirra (3)
United States Donn F. Eisele
United States Walter Cunningham
11 October 1968
United States Apollo 7
22 October 1968
United States Apollo 7
First three person U.S. crew. Launched over 20 months after Apollo 1 fatalities.
29 Soviet Union Georgy Beregovoy 26 October 1968
Soviet Union Soyuz 3
30 October 1968
Soviet Union Soyuz 3
Failed to dock with uncrewed Soyuz 2.
30 United States Frank Borman (2)
United States Jim Lovell (3)
United States William Anders
21 December 1968
United States Apollo 8
27 December 1968
United States Apollo 8
First crewed lunar orbit.
31 Soviet Union Vladimir Shatalov (1) 14 January 1969
Soviet Union Soyuz 4
17 January 1969
Soviet Union Soyuz 4
First crew transfer between space vehicles. First docking of two crewed spacecraft.
32 Soviet Union Aleksei Yeliseyev (1)
Soviet Union Yevgeny Khrunov
15 January 1969
Soviet Union Soyuz 5
17 January 1969
Soviet Union Soyuz 4
First crew transfer between space vehicles. First docking of two crewed spacecraft.
Soviet Union Boris Volynov (1) 18 January 1969
Soviet Union Soyuz 5
33 United States James McDivitt (2)
United States David Scott (2)
United States Rusty Schweickart
3 March 1969
United States Apollo 9
13 March 1969
United States Apollo 9
Tested Lunar Module in low Earth orbit.
34 United States Thomas P. Stafford (3)
United States John Young (3)
United States Eugene Cernan (2)
18 May 1969
United States Apollo 10
26 May 1969
United States Apollo 10
Tested Lunar Module in low lunar orbit.
35 United States Neil Armstrong (2)
United States Michael Collins (2)
United States Buzz Aldrin (2)
16 July 1969
United States Apollo 11
Moon 24 July 1969
United States Apollo 11
First lunar landing.
36 Soviet Union Georgy Shonin
Soviet Union Valeri Kubasov (1)
11 October 1969
Soviet Union Soyuz 6
16 October 1969
Soviet Union Soyuz 6
First three-craft spaceflight.
37 Soviet Union Anatoly Filipchenko (1)
Soviet Union Vladislav Volkov (1)
Soviet Union Viktor Gorbatko (1)
12 October 1969
Soviet Union Soyuz 7
17 October 1969
Soviet Union Soyuz 7
First three-craft spaceflight.
38 Soviet Union Vladimir Shatalov (2)
Soviet Union Aleksei Yeliseyev (2)
13 October 1969
Soviet Union Soyuz 8
18 October 1969
Soviet Union Soyuz 8
First three-craft spaceflight.
39 United States Pete Conrad (3)
United States Richard F. Gordon Jr. (2)
United States Alan Bean (1)
14 November 1969
United States Apollo 12
Moon 24 November 1969
United States Apollo 12
Second lunar landing. Precision landing near Surveyor 3.
40 United States Jim Lovell (4)
United States Jack Swigert
United States Fred Haise
11 April 1970
United States Apollo 13
17 April 1970
United States Apollo 13
Lunar landing aborted following explosion en route.
41 Soviet Union Andriyan Nikolayev (2)
Soviet Union Vitaliy Sevastyanov (1)
1 June 1970
Soviet Union Soyuz 9
19 June 1970
Soviet Union Soyuz 9
Investigations into effects of prolonged spaceflight. Record duration mission for single spacecraft.

Flights between 50 miles and 100 kilometers

In addition to the above spaceflights, eleven flights of the North American X-15 reached a maximum altitude above 50 miles but below 100 kilometers, thus satisfying the U.S. definition of spaceflight but failing to surpass the Kármán line. Among the twelve X-15 pilots, only Neil Armstrong and Joe Engle would travel to space following their participation in the program. Eleven of the thirteen flights above 50 miles were made in the X-15-3, the program's third plane; only two were made in the X-15-1, its first.

In the below table, "spaceflight" and related phrases refer to the American convention.

# Crew Launch
spacecraft
Habitation Return
spacecraft
Brief mission summary
United States Robert M. White 17 July 1962
United States X-15 Flight 62
White's only spaceflight. First spaceflight of X-15 program.
United States Joseph A. Walker 17 January 1963
United States X-15 Flight 77
Walker's first spaceflight.
United States Robert A. Rushworth 27 June 1963
United States X-15 Flight 87
Rushworth's only spaceflight.
United States Joe Engle 29 June 1965
United States X-15 Flight 138
Engle's first spaceflight.
United States Joe Engle 10 August 1965
United States X-15 Flight 143
Engle's second spaceflight.
United States John B. McKay 18 September 1965
United States X-15 Flight 150
McKay's only spaceflight.
United States Joe Engle 14 October 1965
United States X-15 Flight 153
Engle's third and last spaceflight, and final flight with X-15 program. First spaceflight of the X-15-1.
United States William H. Dana 1 November 1966
United States X-15 Flight 174
Dana's first spaceflight.
United States William J. Knight 17 October 1967
United States X-15 Flight 190
Knight's only spaceflight. Last successful flight of the X-15-3.
United States Michael J. Adams 15 November 1967
United States X-15 Flight 191
Adams' only spaceflight. Fatal disaster, killing Adams and destroying the X-15-3.
United States William H. Dana 21 August 1968
United States X-15 Flight 197
Dana's second and last spaceflight. Third-to-last flight of X-15 program. Second and last spaceflight of the X-15-1.

See also

A chart showing U.S. astronaut assignments during the 1960s through the Apollo era.

References

  1. Sparrow, Giles (2019). Spaceflight : the complete story, from Sputnik to Curiosity (Second [American] ed.). New York: Dorling Kindersley Limited. p. 82. ISBN 978-1465479655. 
  2. 2.0 2.1 "FAI Sporting Code Section 8 – Astronautics, 2009 Edition (Class K, Class P)". Fédération Aéronautique Internationale. https://naa.aero/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Sporting-Code-Section-8-Edition-2009.pdf. 
  3. Williams, Matthew S. (28 April 2022). "Ad Astra: The past, present, and future of spacecraft". https://interestingengineering.com/ad-astra-the-past-present-and-future-of-spacecraft. 
  4. "Vostok/Mercury". http://abyss.uoregon.edu/~js/space/lectures/lec08.html. 
  5. Burgess, Colin (2009). The first Soviet cosmonaut team : their lives, legacy, and historical impact. Berlin: Springer. p. xxiii. ISBN 978-0387848235.