Human spaceflight
Human spaceflight
Human spaceflight, also known as manned or crewed spaceflight, entails sending individuals aboard a spacecraft, typically operated directly by the onboard human crew. Alternatively, spacecraft can be controlled remotely from Earth-based ground stations or operate autonomously, devoid of direct human intervention. Those trained for space travel are commonly referred to as astronauts (in the American or other contexts), cosmonauts (in Russian), or taikonauts (in Chinese), while non-professionals are termed spaceflight participants or spacefarers.
The historic milestone of human space exploration began with Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, who ventured into space on 12 April 1961, kickstarting the Space Race under the Soviet Union’s Vostok program. Soon after, on 5 May 1961, Alan Shepard became the first American in space through Project Mercury. Subsequent significant achievements included the United States’ Apollo program, which saw humans journey to the Moon nine times between 1968 and 1972, and the establishment of a continuous human presence in space through the International Space Station (ISS), which has endured for 23 years and 192 days as of now.
The Chinese space program made its mark on 15 October 2003, with the launch of the first Chinese taikonaut, Yang Liwei, aboard Shenzhou 5, marking China’s entry into human spaceflight. However, since the Apollo 17 lunar mission in December 1972, humans have not ventured beyond low Earth orbit.
Presently, public or commercial human spaceflight-capable programs are primarily conducted by the United States, Russia, and China. Additionally, non-governmental spaceflight companies are actively developing their own human space programs, primarily for purposes such as space tourism or commercial in-space research. The onset of private human spaceflight occurred with the suborbital flight of SpaceShipOne on June 21, 2004. Notably, SpaceX achieved the first commercial orbital crew launch in May 2020, transporting NASA astronauts to the ISS under a United States government contract.
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History
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Applications
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Spacecraft
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Space launch
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Spaceflight types
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List of space organizations
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