List of female spacefarers

Gathering of current and past female NASA astronauts at Johnson Space Center, September 2012. Seated (from left): Carolyn Huntoon (JSC's first female director), Ellen Baker, Mary Cleave, Rhea Seddon, Anna Fisher, Shannon Lucid, Ellen Ochoa, Sandra Magnus.
Standing (from left): Jeanette Epps, Mary Ellen Weber, Marsha Ivins, Tracy Caldwell Dyson, Bonnie Dunbar, Tammy Jernigan, Cady Coleman, Janet Kavandi, Serena Aunon, Kate Rubins, Stephanie Wilson, Dottie Metcalf-Lindenburger, Megan McArthur, Karen Nyberg, Lisa Nowak

The following is a list of women who have traveled into space, sorted by date of first flight. Although the first woman flew into space in 1963, very early in crewed space exploration, it would not be until almost twenty years later that another flew. Female astronauts went on to become commonplace in the 1980s. This list includes both cosmonauts and astronauts.

History

As of July 2016, of the 537 total space travelers, 61 have been women.^[1] There have been one each from France, India, Italy, South Korea, and the United Kingdom; two each from Canada, China, and Japan; four from the Soviet Union/Russia; and 45 from the United States. The time between the first male and first female astronauts varied widely by country. The first astronauts from Britain, South Korea, and Iran were women, while there was a two-year gap in Russia from the first man in space on Vostok 1 to the first woman in space on Vostok 6. The time between the first American man and first American woman in space was 22 years between Freedom 7 and STS-7, respectively. For China, this interval was almost eight and a half years between the Shenzhou 5 and Shenzhou 9 space missions,^[2] and for Italy, there was approximately twelve years between the STS-46 and Expedition 42 spaceflights.

A span of 19 years separated the first and second women in space. They were cosmonauts on the Vostok 6 and Soyuz T-7 missions. Though the Soviet Union sent the first two women into space, only four of the women in space have been Russian or Soviet citizens. However, British, French, Italian, Iranian, and South Korean women have all flown as part of the Soviet and Russian space programs. Similarly, women from Canada, India, Japan, and America have all flown under the US space program. A span of one year separated the first and second American women in space. While the first American man in space was separated from the first woman in space by 20 years, a span of one year separated the first and second Chinese women in space, taking place on consecutive missions, Shenzhou 9 and Shenzhou 10.

Spacefarers with completed spaceflights

#	Image	Name Birth date	Country	Comment	Missions (Launch date)
1		Valentina Tereshkova Mar. 6, 1937	Soviet Union	First woman in space. Youngest woman in space (aged 26). Only woman to make a solo spaceflight.	Vostok 6 (June 16, 1963)
2		Svetlana Savitskaya Aug. 8, 1948	Soviet Union	First woman to fly on a space station (Salyut 7, 1982). First woman to perform a spacewalk (July 25, 1984). First woman to make two spaceflights.	Soyuz T-5 (July 19, 1982) Soyuz T-12 (Jul. 17, 1984)
3		Sally Ride May 26, 1951 died Jul. 23, 2012	United States	First American woman in space.	STS-7 (June 18, 1983) STS-41-G (October 5, 1984)
4		Judith Resnik Apr. 5, 1949 died Jan. 28, 1986	United States	First Jewish-American in space. Died in the Challenger disaster.	STS-41-D (Aug. 30, 1984) STS-51-L (Jan. 28, 1986)
5		Kathryn D. Sullivan Oct. 3, 1951	United States	First American woman to perform a spacewalk (Oct. 11, 1984).	STS-41-G (Oct. 5, 1984) STS-31 (Apr. 24, 1990) STS-45 (Mar. 24, 1992)
6		Anna Lee Fisher Aug. 24, 1949	United States	First mother in space.[3]	STS-51-A (Nov. 8, 1984)
7		Margaret Rhea Seddon Nov. 8, 1947	United States		STS-51-D (Apr. 12, 1985) STS-40 (Jun. 5, 1991) STS-58 (Oct. 18, 1993)
8		Shannon Lucid Jan. 14, 1943	United States	First American woman to fly on a space station (Mir, 1996). First Chinese-born woman in space. First woman to make a third, a fourth and a fifth spaceflight.	STS-51-G (Jun. 17, 1985) STS-34 (Oct. 18, 1989) STS-43 (Aug. 2, 1991) STS-58 (Oct. 18, 1993) STS-76/79 (Mar. 22, 1996)
9		Bonnie J. Dunbar Mar. 3, 1949	United States		STS-61-A (Oct. 30, 1985) STS-32 (January 9, 1990) STS-50 (Jun. 25, 1992) STS-71 (Jun. 27, 1995) STS-89 (Jan. 22, 1998)
10		Mary L. Cleave Feb. 5, 1947	United States		STS-61-B (Nov. 26, 1985) STS-30 (May 4, 1989)
11		Ellen S. Baker Apr. 27, 1953	United States		STS-34 (Oct. 18, 1989) STS-50 (Jun. 25, 1992) STS-71 (Jun. 27, 1995)
12		Kathryn C. Thornton Aug. 17, 1952	United States	Third woman to walk in space. First woman to make multiple EVAs (May 14–15, 1992, Dec. 6, 1993, Dec. 8, 1993)	STS-33 (Nov. 22, 1989) STS-49 (May 7, 1992) STS-61 (Dec. 2, 1993) STS-73 (Oct. 20, 1995)
13		Marsha Ivins Apr. 15, 1951	United States		STS-32 (Jan. 9, 1990) STS-46 (Jul. 31, 1992) STS-62 (Mar. 4, 1994) STS-81 (Jan. 12, 1997) STS-98 (Feb. 7, 2001)
14		Linda M. Godwin Jul. 2, 1952	United States	Fourth woman to walk in space (March 27, 1996, Dec. 10, 2001)	STS-37 (Apr. 5, 1991) STS-59 (Apr. 9, 1994) STS-76 (Mar. 22, 1996) STS-108 (Dec. 5, 2001)
15		Helen Sharman May 30, 1963	United Kingdom	First British citizen in space. Second woman to fly on a space station (Mir, 1991).	Soyuz TM-12/TM-11 (May 18, 1991)
16		Tamara E. Jernigan May 7, 1959	United States	Fifth woman to walk in space (May 30, 1999)	STS-40 (Jun. 5, 1991) STS-52 (Oct. 22, 1992) STS-67 (Mar. 2, 1995) STS-80 (Nov. 19, 1996) STS-96 (May 27, 1999)
17		Millie Hughes-Fulford Dec. 21, 1945	United States	First female payload specialist.	STS-40 (Jun. 5, 1991)
18		Roberta Bondar Dec. 4, 1945	Canada	First Canadian woman in space. First Ukrainian Canadian woman in space.	STS-42 (Jan. 22, 1992)
19		Jan Davis Nov. 1, 1953	United States	Went to space with her husband, Mark C. Lee in 1992. They were the first married couple to go to space together. Member of Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity.	STS-47 (Sep. 12, 1992) STS-60 (Feb. 3, 1994) STS-85 (Aug. 7, 1997)
20		Mae Jemison Oct. 17, 1956	United States	First African-American woman in space	STS-47 (Sep. 12, 1992)
21		Susan J. Helms Feb. 26, 1958	United States	Sixth woman to walk in space (March 11, 2001)	STS-54 (Jan. 13, 1993) STS-64 (Sep. 9, 1994) STS-78 (Jun. 20, 1996) STS-101 (May 19, 2000) STS-102/105 (Mar. 8, 2001)
22		Ellen Ochoa May 10, 1958	United States	First Hispanic woman in space.	STS-56 (Apr. 8, 1993) STS-66 (Nov. 3, 1994) STS-96 (May 27, 1999) STS-110 (Apr. 8, 2002)
23		Janice E. Voss Oct. 8, 1956 died Feb. 6, 2012	United States		STS-57 (Jun. 21, 1993) STS-63 (Feb. 3, 1995) STS-83 (Apr. 4, 1997) STS-94 (Jul. 1, 1997) STS-99 (Feb. 11, 2000)
24		Nancy J. Currie Dec. 29, 1958	United States		STS-57 (Jun. 21, 1993) STS-70 (Jul. 13, 1995) STS-88 (Dec. 4, 1998) STS-109 (Mar. 1, 2002)
25		Chiaki Mukai May 6, 1952	Japan	First Japanese woman in space.	STS-65 (Jul. 8, 1994) STS-95 (Oct. 29, 1998)
26		Yelena V. Kondakova Mar. 30, 1957	Russia	First Russian woman to travel in 2 different spacecraft, Soyuz TM-20 and STS-84 both were on trips to Mir Space Station, and 1st Russian woman to travel on the Space Shuttle.	Soyuz TM-20 (Oct. 3, 1994) STS-84 (May 15, 1997)
27		Eileen Collins Nov. 19, 1956	United States	First female shuttle pilot and shuttle commander.	STS-63 (Feb. 3, 1995) STS-84 (May 15, 1997) STS-93 (Jul. 23, 1999) STS-114 (Jul. 26, 2005)
28		Wendy B. Lawrence Jul. 2, 1959	United States		STS-67 (Mar. 2, 1995) STS-86 (Sep. 25, 1997) STS-91 (Jun. 2, 1998) STS-114 (Jul. 26, 2005)
29		Mary E. Weber Aug. 24, 1962	United States		STS-70 (Jul. 13, 1995) STS-101 (May 19, 2000)
30		Catherine Coleman Dec. 14, 1960	United States		STS-73 (Oct. 20, 1995) STS-93 (Jul. 23, 1999) Soyuz TMA-20 (15 December 2010)
31		Claudie Haigneré May 13, 1957	France	First Frenchwoman in space. 1996 flight as Claudie André-Deshays	Soyuz TM-24/TM-23 (Aug. 17, 1996) Soyuz TM-33/32 (Oct. 21, 2001)
32		Susan Still Kilrain Oct. 24, 1961	United States	Second female shuttle pilot.	STS-83 (Apr. 4, 1997) STS-94 (Jul. 1, 1997)
33		Kalpana Chawla Jul. 1, 1961 died Feb. 1, 2003	India/ United States	First Indian-American woman in space. Died in the Columbia disaster.	STS-87 (Nov. 19, 1997) STS-107 (Jan. 16, 2003)
34		Kathryn P. Hire Aug. 26, 1959	United States		STS-90 (Apr. 17, 1998) STS-130 (Feb. 8, 2010)
35		Janet L. Kavandi Jul. 17, 1959	United States		STS-91 (Jun. 2, 1998) STS-99 (Feb. 11, 2000) STS-104 (Jul. 12, 2001)
36		Julie Payette Oct. 20, 1963	Canada	First French Canadian woman in space.	STS-96 (May 27, 1999) STS-127 (July 15, 2009)
37		Pamela Melroy Sep. 17, 1961	United States	Second female shuttle commander.	STS-92 (Oct. 11, 2000) STS-112 (Oct. 7, 2002) STS-120 (Oct. 23, 2007)
38		Peggy Whitson Feb. 9, 1960	United States	Most time in space (cumulative) for a US astronaut (665 days) Seventh woman to walk in space (Aug. 16, 2002, Nov. 9, 2007, Nov. 20, 2007, Nov. 24, 2007, Dec. 18, 2007, Jan. 30, 2007, Jan. 6, 2017, Mar. 30, 2017, May 12, 2017, May 23, 2017). Most EVAs and most time spent on EVA of all female space travelers. First female ISS commander (ISS Expedition 16). Oldest female in space (aged 57).	STS-111/113 (Jun. 5, 2002) Soyuz TMA-11 (Oct. 10, 2007) Soyuz MS-03 (Nov. 17, 2016)
39		Sandra Magnus Oct. 30, 1964	United States		STS-112 (Oct. 7, 2002) STS-126/119 (Nov. 14, 2008) STS-135 (July 8, 2011)
40		Laurel B. Clark Mar. 10, 1961 died Feb. 1, 2003	United States	Died in the Columbia disaster.	STS-107 (Jan. 16, 2003)
41		Stephanie Wilson Sep. 27, 1966	United States		STS-121 (Jul. 4, 2006) STS-120 (Oct. 23, 2007) STS-131 (Apr. 5, 2010)
42		Lisa Nowak May 10, 1963	United States		STS-121 (Jul. 4, 2006)
43		Heidemarie M. Stefanyshyn-Piper Feb. 7, 1963	United States	Eighth woman to walk in space (Sep. 12, 2006, Sep. 15, 2006, Nov. 18-19, 2008, Nov. 20-21, 2008, Nov. 22-23, 2008). First Ukrainian American woman in space.	STS-115 (Sep. 9, 2006) STS-126 (Nov. 14, 2008)
44		Anousheh Ansari Sep. 12, 1966	Iran /  United States	Fourth space tourist and first female space tourist. First Iranian in space.	Soyuz TMA-9/8 (Sep. 18, 2006)
45		Sunita Williams Sep. 19, 1965[4]	United States	Ninth woman to walk in space (Dec. 16, 2006, Jan. 31, 2007, Feb. 4, 2007, Feb. 8, 2007, Aug. 30, 2012, Sep. 5, 2012).[4]	STS-116/117 (Dec. 9, 2006)[4] Soyuz TMA-05M (July 15, 2012)
46		Joan Higginbotham Aug. 3, 1964	United States		STS-116 (Dec. 9, 2006)
47		Tracy Caldwell Dyson Aug. 14, 1969	United States	Eleventh woman to walk in space (Aug. 7, 2010, Aug. 11, 2010, Aug. 16, 2010). First astronaut born after Apollo 11 flight.[5]	STS-118 (Aug. 8, 2007) Soyuz TMA-18 (April 2, 2010).
48		Barbara Morgan Nov. 28, 1951	United States	First educator astronaut (Teacher in Space Project) Oldest woman in space by the time of first flight (aged 55).	STS-118 (Aug. 8, 2007)
49		Yi So-yeon Jun. 2, 1978	South Korea	First Korean in space.	Soyuz TMA-12 (Apr. 8, 2008)
50		Karen L. Nyberg Oct. 7, 1969	United States		STS-124 (May 31, 2008) Soyuz TMA-09M (May 28, 2013)
51		K. Megan McArthur Aug. 30, 1971	United States		STS-125 (May 11, 2009)
52		Nicole P. Stott Nov. 11, 1962	United States	Tenth woman to walk in space (September 1–2, 2009).	STS-128 (August 28, 2009) STS-133 (February 24, 2011)
53		Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger May 15, 1975	United States		STS-131 (April 5, 2010)
54		Naoko Yamazaki Dec. 27, 1970	Japan		STS-131 (April 5, 2010)
55		Shannon Walker Jun. 4, 1965	United States		Soyuz TMA-19 (June 15, 2010)
56		Liu Yang Oct. 6, 1978	China	First Chinese woman in space.	Shenzhou 9 (June 16, 2012)
57		Wang Yaping Jan. 27, 1980	China		Shenzhou 10 (June 11, 2013)
58		Yelena Serova Apr. 22, 1976	Russia	Member of ISS Expedition 41. First Russian woman to visit the ISS.[6]	Soyuz TMA-14M (September 25, 2014)
59		Samantha Cristoforetti Apr. 26, 1977	Italy	ESA Astronaut. First Italian woman in space and first Italian woman on ISS. Expedition 42/43.	Soyuz TMA-15M (November 23, 2014)
60		Kathleen Rubins Oct. 14, 1978	United States		Soyuz MS-01 (July 6, 2016)
61		Serena M. Auñón-Chancellor Apr. 9, 1976	United States		Expedition 56 (June 2018)

Other astronauts and astronaut candidates

Image	Name	Birth date Death date	Country	Comment
	Anne McClain	June 7, 1979	United States	NASA Astronaut Group 21, "The 8 Balls", 2013. McClain has been selected for Expedition 58, set to travel by Soyuz to the International Space Station in December 2018.
	Christina Hammock	Feb. 2, 1979	United States	NASA Astronaut Group 21, "The 8 Balls", 2013. Hammock has been selected for Expedition 61, set to travel by Soyuz to the International Space Station in November 2019.
	Jessica Meir	July 15, 1977	United States	NASA Astronaut Group 21, "The 8 Balls", 2013. Meir has been selected for Expedition 62, set to travel by Soyuz to the International Space Station in June 2020.
	Nicole Aunapu Mann	June 27, 1977	United States	NASA Astronaut Group 21, "The 8 Balls", 2013.
	Jeanette J. Epps	Nov. 2, 1970	United States	Completed Astronaut Candidate Training in 2011. Epps has been selected for Expedition 56, set to travel by Soyuz to the International Space Station in May 2018, but on January 16, 2018, NASA announced that Epps had been replaced by her backup Serena M. Auñón-Chancellor.
	Patricia Robertson	Mar. 12, 1963 Died May 24, 2001.	United States	NASA Astronaut Group 17, "The Penguins", 1998
	Nadezhda Kuzhelnaya	Nov. 6, 1962	Russia	Retired May 27, 2004.
	Marianne Merchez	Nov. 25, 1960	Belgium	Retired 1995.
	Yvonne Cagle	Apr. 24, 1959	United States
	Christa McAuliffe	September 2, 1948 died Jan. 28, 1986	United States	Died on the Challenger, January 28, 1986. Mission launched, but did not cross the Kármán line. The crew cabin peaked approx. 70,000 ft (above the Armstrong limit)
	Tatyana Kuznetsova	Jul. 14, 1941	Soviet Union	Retired 1969.
	Zhanna Yorkina	May 6, 1939	Soviet Union	Retired 1969.
	Irina Solovyova	Sep. 6, 1937	Soviet Union	Retired 1969.
	Valentina Ponomaryova	Sep. 18, 1933	Soviet Union	Retired 1969.

See also

• Chinese women in space
• Mercury 13—the Women in Space Program (WISP)
• List of space travelers by name—all people who have flown in space
• List of space travelers by nationality
• List of astronauts by name—people trained to serve as spaceflight crew

References