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on a spacewalk during the
Gemini 4 mission.A
human spaceflight is a spaceflight with a
Astronaut, and possibly passengers. This makes it unlike
Robotic spacecraft space probes or remotely-controlled satellites. Human spaceflight is sometimes called
manned spaceflight, a term now deprecated by major space agencies in favor of its
Gender-neutral language in English alternative.
History
The first human spaceflight was undertaken on April 12,
1961, when cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin made one orbit around the Earth aboard the Vostok 1 spacecraft launched by the
Soviet Union. Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman in space on board Vostok 6 on
June 16,
1963. Both spacecraft were launched by
Vostok 3KA launch vehicles.
Alexei Leonov made the first spacewalk when he left the Voskhod 2 on March 8
1965.
Svetlana Savitskaya became the first woman to do so on July 25,
1984.
The first human spaceflight undertaken by a United States astronaut was the suborbital flight of Alan Shepard aboard
Freedom 7, carried out as part of
Project Mercury. The spacecraft was launched on May 5, 1961 on a Redstone rocket. The first U.S. orbital flight was that of
John Glenn aboard
Friendship 7, which was launched
February 20, 1962 on an Atlas rocket. Since
April 12,
1981 the U.S. has conducted all its human spaceflight missions with reusable Space Shuttles. Sally Ride became the first American woman in space in 1983.
Eileen Collins was the first female Shuttle pilot, and with Shuttle mission
STS-93 in July of 1999 she became the first woman to command a U.S. spacecraft.
The furthest destination for a human spaceflight mission has been the
Moon, and as of 2007 the only missions to the Moon have been those conducted by NASA as part of the Apollo program. The first such mission, Apollo 8, orbited the Moon but did not land. The first Moon landing mission was Apollo 11, during which -- on
July 20,
1969 -- Neil Armstrong became the first person to set foot on the Moon. Six missions landed in total, numbered Apollo 11–Apollo 17, excluding Apollo 13. Altogether twelve men reached the Moon's surface, the only humans to have been on an extraterrestrial body. The Soviet Union discontinued its program for lunar orbiting and landing of human spaceflight missions on
June 24,
1974 when
Valentin Glushko became General Designer of NPO Energiya.
The longest single human spaceflight is that of Valeriy Polyakov, who left earth on January 8, 1994, and didn't return until March 22, 1995. Sergei Krikalyov has spent the most time of anyone in space, 803 days, 9 hours, and 39 seconds altogether. Humans have had a presence in space for as long as 3,644 days in a row, eight days short of 10 years, spanning the launch of
Soyuz TM-8 on September 5, 1989 to the landing of Soyuz TM-29 on
August 28, 1999.
For many years beginning in
1961, only two countries, the USSR (later Russia) and United States, had their own astronauts. Later, cosmonauts and astronauts from other nations flew in space, beginning with the flight of
Vladimir Remek, a Czech Republic, on a Soviet spacecraft on March 2 1978. As of
As of 2007, citizens from 33 nations (including space tourism) have flown in space aboard Soviet, American, Russian, and Chinese spacecraft.
Yang Liwei of The
People's Republic of China became the first
astronaut launched into space on a Chinese-made vehicle, the
Shenzhou 5, on
October 15,
2003. This flight made China the third nation capable of launching its own manned spacecraft using its own launcher. Previous European (Hermes (shuttle)) and Japanese (HOPE-X) domestic manned programs were abandoned after years of development, as was the first Chinese attempt, the
Shuguang spacecraft. In 1989,
Iraq declared its intent to develop manned space facilities, but these plans were soon abandoned.
Safety concerns
Planners of human spaceflight missions face a number of safety concerns.
Life support
The immediate needs for breathable air and drinkable water are addressed by the
life support system of the spacecraft.
Adverse effects of radiation
NASA is using the International Space Station (ISS) to investigate questions like, "What happens to food and medicine exposed to six-plus months of space travel?" Even in its low-Earth orbit, where the ISS is largely protected from the
solar wind by the Earth's magnetic field, researchers suspect reduced nutritional value of foods and reduced potency of medicines, "Could be a sign of radiation at work."
Adverse effects of the microgravity environment
Medical data from ISS astronauts show several adverse effects of a microgravity environment: loss of bone density, decreased muscle strength and endurance, postural instability, and reductions in aerobic capacity. Over time these deconditioning effects can impair astronauts’ performance or increase their risk of injury.
Launch safety
Reentry safety
Reliability
Space programs
As of
2007, human spaceflight missions have been conducted by the Soviet Union, the
United States,
Russia, the
People's Republic of China and by the private spaceflight company
Scaled Composites.
Several other countries and space agencies have announced and begun human spaceflight programs by their own technology, including Japan(JAXA), India(
ISRO), Iran(
Iranian Space Agency),
Malaysia(Malaysian National Space Agency),
Turkey.
Currently the following spacecraft (and spaceports) are used for human spaceflight:
- Soyuz spacecraft with Soyuz launch vehicle—Baikonur Cosmodrome
- Space Shuttle—Kennedy Space Center
- International Space Station (ISS)—Assembled in orbit; crews transported by the previous two spacecraft
- Shenzhou spacecraft with Long March rocket—Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center
Historically, the following
spacecraft (and spaceports) have also been used for human spaceflight:
(two internationally recognized suborbotal flights in program)
Numerous private companies attempted human spaceflight programs in an effort to win the $10 million
Ansari X Prize. The first private human spaceflight took place on
June 21, 2004, when
SpaceShipOne conducted a suborbital flight. With its second flight within one week, SpaceShipOne captured the prize on
October 4,
2004.
Most of the time, the only humans in space are those aboard the ISS, whose crew of three spends up to six months at a time in low Earth orbit.
NASA and ESA now use the term "human spaceflight" to refer to their programs of launching people into space. Traditionally, these endeavors have been referred to as "manned space missions".
National spacefaring attempts
{| class="wikitable"| border=2 cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" style="margin: 1em 1em 1em 0; border: 1px #aaa solid; border-collapse: collapse; font-size: 95 %;"|- bgcolor="#f9f9b0"! Country||National term||First launched astronaut||Date||Spacecraft ||Launcher|-|
USSR||[April 12, 1961]||
Vostok rocket|-|
USA||
[May 5, 1961]||
Redstone rocket|-|
China), abandoned||[Shuguang spacecraft||Long March 2||yǔhángyuán, hángtiānyuán (in press releases in English: astronaut)||...||([1981), abandoned]||
Long March 2||astronaut, cosmonaut||...||([1999), abandoned]||
Ariane V||?||...||([2003), abandoned]||H-II||
yǔhángyuán, hángtiānyuán (English: astronaut, Russian: космонавт)||
[Yang Liwei],
2003]||
Long March 2F]||?||...||(?), abandoned||...||Al Abid|-|
India), planned||...||[Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle|-|
ESA), planned||[CSTS or Hopper (spacecraft)||
Ariane V||?||...||([2020), planned]||?||...||(2020), planned]||?||...||(?), planned||...||
Shahab|}
References
See also
Lists
External links
- NASA Human Space Flight
- Official Constellation NASA Web Site
- Official Orion NASA Web Site
- Official Ares NASA Web Site
- Human Spaceflight Profile by NASA's Solar System Exploration
on a
spacewalk during the
Gemini 4 mission.A
human spaceflight is a
spaceflight with a
Astronaut, and possibly passengers. This makes it unlike Robotic spacecraft space probes or remotely-controlled satellites. Human spaceflight is sometimes called
manned spaceflight, a term now deprecated by major space agencies in favor of its
Gender-neutral language in English alternative.
History
The first human spaceflight was undertaken on
April 12,
1961, when cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin made one orbit around the Earth aboard the Vostok 1 spacecraft launched by the Soviet Union.
Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman in space on board
Vostok 6 on
June 16, 1963. Both spacecraft were launched by
Vostok 3KA launch vehicles.
Alexei Leonov made the first
spacewalk when he left the
Voskhod 2 on
March 8 1965. Svetlana Savitskaya became the first woman to do so on July 25,
1984.
The first human spaceflight undertaken by a
United States astronaut was the suborbital flight of
Alan Shepard aboard
Freedom 7, carried out as part of
Project Mercury. The spacecraft was launched on May 5,
1961 on a
Redstone rocket. The first U.S. orbital flight was that of John Glenn aboard
Friendship 7, which was launched
February 20, 1962 on an
Atlas rocket. Since
April 12, 1981 the U.S. has conducted all its human spaceflight missions with reusable Space Shuttles. Sally Ride became the first American woman in space in 1983.
Eileen Collins was the first female Shuttle pilot, and with Shuttle mission STS-93 in July of 1999 she became the first woman to command a U.S. spacecraft.
The furthest destination for a human spaceflight mission has been the
Moon, and as of 2007 the only missions to the Moon have been those conducted by
NASA as part of the Apollo program. The first such mission, Apollo 8, orbited the Moon but did not land. The first Moon landing mission was
Apollo 11, during which -- on July 20,
1969 -- Neil Armstrong became the first person to set foot on the Moon. Six missions landed in total, numbered Apollo 11–Apollo 17, excluding
Apollo 13. Altogether twelve men reached the Moon's surface, the only humans to have been on an extraterrestrial body. The Soviet Union discontinued its program for lunar orbiting and landing of human spaceflight missions on
June 24,
1974 when Valentin Glushko became General Designer of NPO Energiya.
The longest single human spaceflight is that of
Valeriy Polyakov, who left earth on January 8, 1994, and didn't return until March 22, 1995. Sergei Krikalyov has spent the most time of anyone in space, 803 days, 9 hours, and 39 seconds altogether. Humans have had a presence in space for as long as 3,644 days in a row, eight days short of 10 years, spanning the launch of
Soyuz TM-8 on
September 5, 1989 to the landing of
Soyuz TM-29 on August 28, 1999.
For many years beginning in 1961, only two countries, the USSR (later Russia) and United States, had their own astronauts. Later, cosmonauts and astronauts from other nations flew in space, beginning with the flight of
Vladimir Remek, a
Czech Republic, on a Soviet spacecraft on March 2 1978. As of As of 2007, citizens from 33 nations (including space tourism) have flown in space aboard Soviet, American, Russian, and Chinese spacecraft.
Yang Liwei of The
People's Republic of China became the first astronaut launched into space on a Chinese-made vehicle, the Shenzhou 5, on
October 15, 2003. This flight made China the third nation capable of launching its own manned spacecraft using its own launcher. Previous European (
Hermes (shuttle)) and Japanese (HOPE-X) domestic manned programs were abandoned after years of development, as was the first Chinese attempt, the
Shuguang spacecraft. In
1989, Iraq declared its intent to develop manned space facilities, but these plans were soon abandoned.
Safety concerns
Planners of human spaceflight missions face a number of safety concerns.
Life support
The immediate needs for breathable air and drinkable water are addressed by the life support system of the spacecraft.
Adverse effects of radiation
NASA is using the
International Space Station (ISS) to investigate questions like, "What happens to food and medicine exposed to six-plus months of space travel?" Even in its
low-Earth orbit, where the ISS is largely protected from the
solar wind by the
Earth's magnetic field, researchers suspect reduced nutritional value of foods and reduced potency of medicines, "Could be a sign of radiation at work."
Adverse effects of the microgravity environment
Medical data from ISS astronauts show several adverse effects of a microgravity environment: loss of bone density, decreased muscle strength and endurance, postural instability, and reductions in aerobic capacity. Over time these deconditioning effects can impair astronauts’ performance or increase their risk of injury.
Launch safety
Reentry safety
Reliability
Space programs
As of
2007, human spaceflight missions have been conducted by the Soviet Union, the
United States, Russia, the People's Republic of China and by the private spaceflight company Scaled Composites.
Several other countries and space agencies have announced and begun human spaceflight programs by their own technology, including Japan(JAXA), India(ISRO), Iran(Iranian Space Agency), Malaysia(Malaysian National Space Agency),
Turkey.
Currently the following spacecraft (and spaceports) are used for human spaceflight:
Historically, the following spacecraft (and spaceports) have also been used for human spaceflight:
(two internationally recognized suborbotal flights in program)
Numerous private companies attempted human spaceflight programs in an effort to win the $10 million
Ansari X Prize. The first private human spaceflight took place on June 21,
2004, when
SpaceShipOne conducted a suborbital flight. With its second flight within one week, SpaceShipOne captured the prize on
October 4,
2004.
Most of the time, the only humans in space are those aboard the ISS, whose crew of three spends up to six months at a time in
low Earth orbit.
NASA and ESA now use the term "human spaceflight" to refer to their programs of launching people into space. Traditionally, these endeavors have been referred to as "manned space missions".
National spacefaring attempts
{| class="wikitable"| border=2 cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" style="margin: 1em 1em 1em 0; border: 1px #aaa solid; border-collapse: collapse; font-size: 95 %;"|- bgcolor="#f9f9b0"! Country||National term||First launched astronaut||Date||Spacecraft ||Launcher|-|
USSR||
[April 12, 1961]||
Vostok rocket|-|
USA||
[May 5, 1961]||
Redstone rocket|-|
China), abandoned||[Shuguang spacecraft||
Long March 2||yǔhángyuán, hángtiānyuán (in press releases in English: astronaut)||...||([1981), abandoned]||Long March 2||astronaut, cosmonaut||...||([1999), abandoned]||Ariane V||?||...||([2003), abandoned]||
H-II||yǔhángyuán, hángtiānyuán (English: astronaut, Russian: космонавт)|| [Yang Liwei], 2003]||
Long March 2F]||?||...||(?), abandoned||...||Al Abid|-|
India), planned||...||[Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle|-|
ESA), planned||[CSTS or
Hopper (spacecraft)||
Ariane V||?||...||([2020), planned]||?||...||(
2020), planned]||?||...||(?), planned||...||Shahab|}
References
See also
- Astronaut
- Astronautical hygiene
- Atmospheric reentry
- Human adaptation to space
- Interplanetary travel
- Monkeys in space
- NASA
- Nigerian space program
- Roskosmos (Russian Federal Space Agency)
- Soviet space program
- Space and survival
- Space colonization
- Spaceflight records
- SpaceShipOne
- Timeline of space travel by nationality
- Timeline of first orbital launches by country
- X-15
Lists
External links
- NASA Human Space Flight
- Official Constellation NASA Web Site
- Official Orion NASA Web Site
- Official Ares NASA Web Site
- Human Spaceflight Profile by NASA's Solar System Exploration
