Astronauts and Cosmonauts

Neil Armstrong became the first person to walk on the moon on July 20, 1969, during the Apollo 11 mission.

The Soviet Union launched Sputnik 1, the first artificial satellite, into orbit on October 4, 1957.

Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman to travel into space on June 16, 1963, aboard the Soviet spacecraft Vostok 6.

NASA, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, is the lead space agency responsible for the International Space Station.

The Space Shuttle was the first reusable spacecraft, developed by NASA and used for missions from 1981 to 2011.

Anatoly Solovyev holds the record for the longest spacewalk, lasting 8 hours and 58 minutes, during a mission to the International Space Station in 2009.

The Hubble Space Telescope was the first space telescope, launched in 1990 and still in operation today.

China became the third country to send humans into space with the launch of the Shenzhou 5 mission in 2003.

SpaceX, founded by Elon Musk, was the first private company to launch a spacecraft into orbit, the Falcon 9 rocket, in 2010.

Anatoly Solovyev holds the record for the most spacewalks, with a total of 16 spacewalks during his career.

Viking 1 was the first spacecraft to land on Mars, successfully touching down on the surface in 1976.

Valeri Polyakov holds the record for the longest stay in space, spending 437 days aboard the Mir space station in 1994-1995.

New Horizons was the first spacecraft to reach Pluto, successfully completing its flyby of the dwarf planet in 2015.

India became the fourth country to send humans into space with the launch of the Gaganyaan mission in 2022.

NEAR Shoemaker was the first spacecraft to land on an asteroid, successfully touching down on the surface of Eros in 2001.