Timeline of astronauts by nationality
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Since the first spaceflight by the Soviet Union, citizens of 37 countries have flown in space. For each nationality, the launch date of the first mission is listed. The list is based on the nationality of the astronaut at the time of the spaceflight. Note: All dates given are UTC.
[edit] Notes
- ^1 In 1991, the Soviet Union broke up into Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan. At the time of the breakup, Sergei Krikalev and Alexander Volkov were orbiting Earth on Mir, having gone into orbit as Soviet citizens. They returned to Earth as Russian citizens. Kaleri and Viktorenko were the first Russians to go into orbit after the Soviet breakup.
- ^2 Shepard's spaceflight was suborbital. The first American to go into orbit was John Glenn, on February 20, 1962.
- ^3 In 1993, Czechoslovakia broke up into the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
- ^4 In 1990, East Germany and West Germany unified into Germany. On January 22, 1992, Ulf Merbold became the first citizen of the reunified Germany to go into space.
- ^5 Ilan Ramon was the first Israeli to go into space but he died during reentry. Under Fédération Aéronautique Internationale rules, this does not qualify as a completed spaceflight. However, under those same rules, Yuri Gagarin would not qualify as the first astronaut since he did not land with his spacecraft but ejected and landed separately. See FAI Astronautic Records Commission - Sporting Code Section 8 (PDF). Fédération Aéronautique Internationale. Retrieved on April 9, 2006..
- ^6 Although recognized as Iranian citizen by Iranian law, Ansari is also an American citizen and was prohibited from wearing Iranian state symbols by both the United States and Russian governments.
[edit] Other claims
The above list uses the nationality at the time of launch. Lists with differing criteria might include the following astronauts:
- Bill Pogue, first launched November 16, 1973, as an inductee to the 5 Civilized Tribes Hall of Fame can lay claim to being the first Native American in space. See John Herrington below regarding technicality of tribal registration.
- Paul D. Scully-Power, first launched October 5, 1984, was born in Australia, but was an American citizen when he went into space.
- Taylor Gun-Jin Wang, first launched April 29, 1985, was born in China to Chinese parents, but was an American citizen when he went into space.
- Lodewijk van den Berg, first launched April 29, 1985, was born in The Netherlands, but was an American citizen when he went into space.
- Patrick Baudry, first launched June 17, 1985, was born in French Cameroun (now part of Cameroon), and was a French citizen when he went into space.
- Shannon Lucid, first launched June 17, 1985, was born in China to American parents of European descent, and was an American citizen when she went into space.
- Franklin Chang-Diaz, first launched January 12, 1986, was born in Costa Rica, but was an American citizen when he went into space.
- Andy Thomas, first launched May 19, 1996, was born in Australia, but was an American citizen when he went into space.
- Carlos I. Noriega, first launched May 15, 1997, was born in Peru, but was an American citizen when he went into space.
- Bjarni Tryggvason, first launched August 7, 1997, was born in Iceland, but was a Canadian citizen when he went into space.
- John Herrington, an American citizen first launched November 24, 2002, is the first tribal registered Native American in space (Chickasaw). See also Bill Pogue above.
