1. Joseph A. Walker (1921)

Astronaut

NASA member, second pilot to fly an X-15, and the first American civilian to make a spaceflight. In 1991, he was inducted into the Aerospace Walk of Honor, and he...

2. Virgil Gus Grissom (1926)

Astronaut

The second American in space, who later died in the Apollo I fire. He was awarded a Congressional Space Medal of Honor posthumously.

3. Gordon Cooper Jr. (1927)

Astronaut

One of NASA's original seven Mercury astronauts, he spent 34 hours alone in a space capsule, demonstrating the possibility of reaching the moon.

4. George Nelson (1950)

Astronaut

Retired NASA astronaut and veteran of three space flights. A member of the United States Astronaut Hall of Fame, he won numerous honors, including several NASA Space Flight Medals and...

5. Don Lind (1930)

Astronaut

Astronaut who waited longer than any American astronaut to fly in space.

6. Owen Garriott (1930)

Astronaut

Engineer who flew on two spaceflights and operated the first amateur radio station from space.

7. Ted Freeman (1930)

Astronaut

NASA astronaut whose death during training was the first fatality in the American astronaut corps.

8. Edward H. White (1930)

Astronaut

Engineer, U.S. Air Force officer, and NASA astronaut who became the first American to walk in space. He posthumously received the Congressional Space Medal of Honor.

9. Thomas P. Stafford (1930)

Astronaut

Gemini and Apollo astronaut who conducted many of the first space flights.

10. Charlie Bassett (1931)

Astronaut

As part of the third group of NASA astronauts, he died while training for the his first space flight.

11. Alexey Leonov (1934)

Astronaut

Soviet member of the first cosmonaut group who was part of the missions Voskhod 2 and Soyuz 19/ASTP.

12. Charles Duke Jr. (1935)

Astronaut

Apollo 16 astronaut who was the tenth person to walk on the moon.

13. Robert Henry Lawrence Jr. (1935)

Astronaut

The first African American astronaut, though he died tragically before traveling to space.

14. Georgy Shonin (1970)

Astronaut

Part of the original group of cosmonauts, he flew one space mission.

15. Charles Fullerton (1970)

Astronaut

Research pilot and member of one of the two crews to pilot the Space Shuttle prototype.

16. Wally Funk (1939)

Astronaut

Astronaut famous for being the oldest person to go into space by taking the Blue Origin flight on July 20, 2021. She is also the first female air safety investigator...

17. Bruce McCandless II (1937)

Astronaut

Astronaut who made the first untethered free flight in space.

18. Joseph Allen (1937)

Astronaut

This NASA astronaut and scientist was involved in the missions surrounding the Space Shuttle Columbia's fifth flight (STS-5) and the Space Shuttle Discovery's second flight (STS-51-A). In addition, during the...

19. Nicole Stott (1962)

Astronaut

Retired NASA astronaut who is best known for having served as a flight engineer on both ISS Expeditions 20 and 21. In June of 2015, she announced her retirement after...

20. John Fabian (1939)

Astronaut

Retired U.S. Air Force Colonel who flew two Space Shuttle missions, including the first with a five-person crew.

21. Miroslaw Hermaszewski (1941)

Astronaut

The first Polish cosmonaut, he participated in the 1978 Soyuz 30 mission. He earned a Hero of the Soviet Union honor for his bravery on the space flight.

22. Leonid Kizim (1970)

Astronaut

Soviet cosmonaut who was part of the first crew to fly to two space stations on one spaceflight.

23. Robert Springer (1942)

Astronaut

Served as Mission Specialist on Space Shuttle missions STS-29 and STS-38.

24. Valentin Lebedev (1970)

Astronaut

Soviet cosmonaut who spent 211 days aboard Space Station Salyut 7 in 1982, a record at that time.

25. Robert Stewart (1942)

Astronaut

Retired Brigadier General who was the first active duty U.S. Army soldier in space.

26. Donald Williams (1942)

Astronaut

Astronaut who served on two Space Shuttle missions, first as pilot, then as spacecraft commander.

27. Oleg Artemyev (1970)

Astronaut

Astronaut who has served as a Russian Cosmonaut for the Russian Federal Space Agency. He was part of Expedition 55/56 that left in March 2018. 

28. Michael Baker (1953)

Astronaut

After four spaceflights, he became International Space Station Program Manager for International and Crew Operations.

29. Sergei Treshchov (1970)

Astronaut

Cosmonaut who served as Flight Engineer on Expedition 5 for the International Space Station.

30. John Herrington (1958)

Astronaut

Flew one Space Shuttle mission and became the first enrolled member of a Native American tribe to fly in space.

31. Jeff Williams (1958)

Astronaut

American astronaut who, as of January 2019, has held the record for the longest time in space by an American man. He completed his fourth spaceflight in 2016 during NASA's...

32. Susan Helms (1958)

Astronaut

USAF Lieutenant General and former astronaut who flew on five Space Shuttle missions.

33. Yury Romanenko (1970)

Astronaut

Once a resident of the Mir Space Station, he set the record at the time for longest stay in space at 326 days.

34. James Adamson (1946)

Astronaut

United States Army Colonel who went on to serve on two NASA space missions. He spent over three hundred hours in space on the Space Shuttles Columbia and Atlantis.

35. Bryan O'Connor (1946)

Astronaut

Former astronaut who organized the wreckage reassembly after the Challenger explosion.

36. Vladimir Solovyov (1946)

Astronaut

Retired cosmonaut who went on to head the Russian segment of the International Space Station.

37. Alexander Gerst (1987)

Astronaut

German European Space Agency astronaut and geophysicist who became the commander of the International Space Station in 2018. He was selected as an astronaut in 2009 by the European Space...

38. Charles Brady Jr. (1970)

Astronaut

American physician and astronaut who flew on STS-78, which, at the time, set the record for the longest space mission ever at 16 days and 21 hours.

39. Mark Brown (1951)

Astronaut

Retired Colonel who flew on two space missions, including one for the Department of Defense. He spent approximately 10 and a half days in space.

40. Lloyd Hammond (1970)

Astronaut

Piloted the Space Shuttle Discovery on the first unclassified Department of Defense mission.

41. Vladimir Vasyutin (1970)

Astronaut

Cosmonaut and commander of the 1985 Soyuz T-14 mission to the Salyut 7 space station. He spent more than sixty days in space.

42. Carlos Noriega (1959)

Astronaut

After winning an Air Medal, a Navy Achievement Medal, and several other honors for his service as a United States Marine Corps aviator, this Peruvian-born pilot joined NASA's Astronaut Corps...

43. Sergei Avdeyev (1956)

Astronaut

Retired cosmonaut who at one point held the record for cumulative time in space.

44. Aleksandr Kaleri (1970)

Astronaut

Russian cosmonaut who in 2011 was the person to have spent the second-longest amount of time in space.

45. William Gregory (1957)

Astronaut

U.S. Air Force Lieutenant Colonel who piloted Space Shuttle Endeavor on STS-67.

46. Kalpana Chawla (1962)

Astronaut

NASA's first Indian astronaut and the first Indian-born woman in space. She died in the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster.

47. Kevin A Ford (1960)

Astronaut

United States Air Force officer and test pilot and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) astronaut. He participated in several space missions, including STS-128, Soyuz TMA-06M, and Expeditions 33 and...

48. Doug Wheelock (1970)

Astronaut

Astronaut who has worked on developing the Orion spacecraft at the Glenn Research Center in Ohio, a post he took up in September 2019. He became the first ever US Army...

49. Mikhail Tyurin (1970)

Astronaut

Russian cosmonaut who served on Expedition 3 and Expedition 14 aboard the International Space Station.

50. Jessica Andrea Watkins (1988)

Astronaut

American astronaut and geologist known for being the first black woman to be assigned a mission on the International Space Station. She has also been selected as part of the Artemis...