List of women astronauts
The following is a list of women who have traveled into space serving as a commander or crew member of a spacecraft, commonly referred to as astronauts or cosmonauts, sorted by date of first flight. This list includes Russian cosmonauts, who were the first women to cross the Karman Line into space. Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman to go to space in 1963, very early in crewed space exploration, and it would be almost twenty years before another flew.
By the end of the 1980s, women in space had become more common. By 2019, roughly 12% of all the space travelers were women., 105 women had completed spaceflights and counting the astronauts that haven't completed any spaceflight there are 119.
History
, there has been one female space traveler each from France, Italy, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, and the United Kingdom; two each from Canada and Japan; three from China; six from the Soviet Union/Russia; and 56 from the United States. The time between the first male and first female astronauts varied widely by country. The first astronauts originally from Britain, South Korea, and Iran were women, while there was a two-year gap in Russia from the first man in space on Vostok1 to the first woman in space on Vostok6. 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, and for Italy, there was approximately twelve years between the STS-46 and Expedition 42 spaceflights.A span of 19 years separated the first two 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 six of the women in space have been Russian or Soviet citizens. However, British, French, Italian, dual-citizen Iranian-American and South Korean women have all flown as part of the Soviet and Russian space programs. Similarly, women from Canada, 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, as well as the first and second Chinese women in space, taking place on consecutive missions, Shenzhou 9 and Shenzhou 10.
Spacefarers with current and completed spaceflights
The below is a list of astronauts and cosmonauts that have served as commanders/crews on space-flights. Note that it does not include non-crew space tourists, which are also referred to as spaceflight participants.| # | Image | Name Birth date | Country | Comment | Missions |
| 1 | Valentina Tereshkova Mar. 6, 1937 | First woman in space. Only woman to make a solo spaceflight. | Vostok 6 | ||
| 2 | Svetlana Savitskaya Aug. 8, 1948 | First woman to fly on a space station. First woman to perform a spacewalk. First woman to make two spaceflights. | Soyuz T-5 Soyuz T-12 | ||
| 3 | Sally Ride May 26, 1951 died Jul. 23, 2012 | First American woman in space. | STS-7 STS-41-G | ||
| 4 | Judith Resnik Apr. 5, 1949 died Jan. 28, 1986 | Fourth woman in space, second American woman in space. First Jewish woman in space. Died in the Challenger disaster. | STS-41-D STS-51-L | ||
| 5 | Kathryn D. Sullivan Oct. 3, 1951 | Second woman to perform a spacewalk. | STS-41-G STS-31 STS-45 | ||
| 6 | Anna Lee Fisher Aug. 24, 1949 | First mother in space. | STS-51-A | ||
| 7 | Margaret Rhea Seddon Nov. 8, 1947 | STS-51-D STS-40 STS-58 | |||
| 8 | Shannon Lucid Jan. 14, 1943 | First American woman to fly on a space station. First Chinese-born woman in space. First woman to make a third, a fourth and a fifth spaceflight. | STS-51-G STS-34 STS-43 STS-58 STS-76/79 | ||
| 9 | Bonnie J. Dunbar Mar. 3, 1949 | STS-61-A STS-32 STS-50 STS-71 STS-89 | |||
| 10 | Mary L. Cleave Feb. 5, 1947 died Nov. 27 2023 | STS-61-B STS-30 | |||
| 11 | Ellen S. Baker Apr. 27, 1953 | STS-34 STS-50 STS-71 | |||
| 12 | Kathryn C. Thornton Aug. 17, 1952 | Third woman to walk in space. First woman to make multiple EVAs | STS-33 STS-49 STS-61 STS-73 | ||
| 13 | Marsha Ivins Apr. 15, 1951 | STS-32 STS-46 STS-62 STS-81 STS-98 | |||
| 14 | Linda M. Godwin Jul. 2, 1952 | Fourth woman to walk in space | STS-37 STS-59 STS-76 STS-108 | ||
| 15 | Helen Sharman May 30, 1963 | First British citizen in space. First European woman outside of Soviet Union in space. Second woman to fly on a space station. | Soyuz TM-12/TM-11 | ||
| 16 | Tamara E. Jernigan May 7, 1959 | Fifth woman to walk in space | STS-40 STS-52 STS-67 STS-80 STS-96 | ||
| 17 | Millie Hughes-Fulford Dec. 21, 1945 died Feb. 2, 2021 | First female payload specialist. | STS-40 | ||
| 18 | Roberta Bondar Dec. 4, 1945 | First Canadian woman in space. First Ukrainian Canadian woman in space. | STS-42 the first neurologist in space. | ||
| 19 | Nancy Jan Davis Nov. 1, 1953 | With husband Mark Lee, became the first married couple to launch into space together. | STS-47 STS-60 STS-85 | ||
| 20 | Mae Jemison Oct. 17, 1956 | First African American woman in space | STS-47 | ||
| 21 | Susan J. Helms Feb. 26, 1958 | Sixth woman to walk in space. This walk was the longest duration EVA by a woman. | STS-54 STS-64 STS-78 STS-101 STS-102/105 | ||
| 22 | Ellen Ochoa May 10, 1958 | First Hispanic American woman in space. | STS-56 STS-66 STS-96 STS-110 | ||
| 23 | Janice E. Voss Oct. 8, 1956 died Feb. 6, 2012 | STS-57 STS-63 STS-83 STS-94 STS-99 | |||
| 24 | Nancy J. Currie Dec. 29, 1958 | STS-57 STS-70 STS-88 STS-109 | |||
| 25 | Chiaki Mukai May 6, 1952 | First Japanese woman and first Asian woman in space. | STS-65 STS-95 | ||
| 26 | Yelena V. Kondakova Mar. 30, 1957 | First Russian woman to travel in two different spacecraft, Soyuz TM-20 and STS-84; both were on trips to Mir Space Station. First Russian woman to travel on the Space Shuttle. | Soyuz TM-20 STS-84 | ||
| 27 | Eileen Collins Nov. 19, 1956 | First female shuttle pilot and shuttle commander. | STS-63 STS-84 STS-93 STS-114 | ||
| 28 | Wendy B. Lawrence Jul. 2, 1959 | STS-67 STS-86 STS-91 STS-114 | |||
| 29 | Mary E. Weber Aug. 24, 1962 | STS-70 STS-101 | |||
| 30 | Catherine Coleman Dec. 14, 1960 | STS-73 STS-93 Soyuz TMA-20 | |||
| 31 | Claudie Haigneré May 13, 1957 | First Frenchwoman in space. 1996 flight as Claudie André-Deshays. | Soyuz TM-24/TM-23 Soyuz TM-33/32 | ||
| 32 | Susan Still Kilrain Oct. 24, 1961 | Second female shuttle pilot. | STS-83 STS-94 | ||
| 33 | Kalpana Chawla Jul. 1, 1961 died Feb. 1, 2003 | First Asian American woman in space. First Hindu woman in space. Died in the Columbia disaster. | STS-87 STS-107 | ||
| 34 | Kathryn P. Hire Aug. 26, 1959 | STS-90 STS-130 | |||
| 35 | Janet L. Kavandi Jul. 17, 1959 | STS-91 STS-99 STS-104 | |||
| 36 | Julie Payette Oct. 20, 1963 | Second Canadian woman in space. First French Canadian woman in space. Became Governor General of Canada in 2017. | STS-96 STS-127 | ||
| 37 | Pamela Melroy Sep. 17, 1961 | Second female shuttle commander. Appointed Deputy Administrator of NASA Jun. 21, 2021. | STS-92 STS-112 STS-120 | ||
| 38 | Peggy Whitson Feb. 9, 1960 | Most time in space for a US astronaut Seventh woman to walk in space. Most EVAs and most time spent on EVA of all female space travelers. First female ISS commander. | STS-111/113 Soyuz TMA-11 Soyuz MS-03/04 Axiom Mission 2 Axiom Mission 4 | ||
| 39 | Sandra Magnus Oct. 30, 1964 | STS-112 STS-126/119 STS-135 | |||
| 40 | Laurel B. Clark Mar. 10, 1961 died Feb. 1, 2003 | Died in the Columbia disaster. | STS-107 | ||
| 41 | Stephanie Wilson Sep. 27, 1966 | The second African American woman to go into space | STS-121 STS-120 STS-131 | ||
| 42 | Lisa Nowak May 10, 1963 | STS-121 | |||
| 43 | Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper Feb. 7, 1963 | Eighth woman to walk in space. First Ukrainian American woman in space. | STS-115 STS-126 | ||
| 44 | Anousheh Ansari Sep. 12, 1966 | / | Fourth space tourist and first female space tourist. First Iranian and first Muslim woman in space. | Soyuz TMA-9/8 | |
| 45 | Sunita Williams Sep. 19, 1965 | Ninth woman to walk in space. First female astronaut to fly on an orbital spacecraft's maiden flight, i.e., Boeing Starliner. | STS-116/117 Soyuz TMA-05M Starliner Crewed Flight Test | ||
| 46 | Joan Higginbotham August 3, 1964 | STS-116 | |||
| 47 | Tracy Caldwell Dyson August 14, 1969 | Eleventh woman to walk in space. First astronaut born after Apollo 11 flight. | STS-118 Soyuz TMA-18 Soyuz MS-25 | ||
| 48 | Barbara Morgan Nov. 28, 1951 | First educator astronaut. Originally selected for the Teacher in Space Project. | STS-118 | ||
| 49 | Yi So-yeon Jun. 2, 1978 | First Korean in space. | Soyuz TMA-12 | ||
| 50 | Karen L. Nyberg Oct. 7, 1969 | STS-124 Soyuz TMA-09M | |||
| 51 | K. Megan McArthur Aug. 30, 1971 | STS-125 SpaceX Crew-2 | |||
| 52 | Nicole P. Stott Nov. 11, 1962 | Tenth woman to walk in space. | STS-128/129 STS-133 | ||
| 53 | Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger May 15, 1975 | First Space Camp alumna to become an astronaut | STS-131 | ||
| 54 | Naoko Yamazaki Dec. 27, 1970 | STS-131 | |||
| 55 | Shannon Walker Jun. 4, 1965 | First Native Houstonian to go aboard the International Space Station. She returned to space for her second long duration mission on 15 November 2020, onboard SpaceX Crew-1, the first operational flight of SpaceX's Crew Dragon spacecraft. | Soyuz TMA-19 SpaceX Crew-1 | ||
| 56 | Liu Yang Oct. 6, 1978 | First Chinese woman in space. Second Chinese woman and nineteenth woman to walk in space. | Shenzhou 9, Shenzhou 14 | ||
| 57 | Wang Yaping Jan. 27, 1980 | First Chinese woman on long duration expedition. Sixteenth woman to walk in space during Shenzhou 13. First Chinese female astronaut to walk in space. | Shenzhou 10 Shenzhou 13 | ||
| 58 | Yelena Serova Apr. 22, 1976 | Member of ISS Expedition 41. First Russian woman to visit the ISS. | Soyuz TMA-14M | ||
| 59 | Samantha Cristoforetti Apr. 26, 1977 | ESA Astronaut. First Italian woman in space and first Italian woman on the ISS, with Expedition 42/43. Eighteenth woman to walk in space, during Expedition 67. | Soyuz TMA-15M SpaceX Crew-4 | ||
| 60 | Kathleen Rubins Oct. 14, 1978 | Twelfth woman to walk in space during ISS Expedition 48. | Soyuz MS-01 Soyuz MS-17 | ||
| 61 | Serena Auñón-Chancellor Apr. 9, 1976 | Soyuz MS-09 | |||
| 62 | Anne McClain Jun. 7, 1979 | Thirteenth woman to walk in space during ISS Expedition 59. | Soyuz MS-11 SpaceX Crew-10 | ||
| 63 | Beth Moses May 29, 1969 | Virgin Galactic Chief instructor. First woman to make a spaceflight on a commercially launched vehicle. The maximum altitude achieved was 295,007 ft. | VSS Unity VF-01 Virgin Galactic Unity 22 Virgin Galactic Unity 25 Galactic 02 Galactic 03 Galactic 04 | ||
| 64 | Christina Koch Feb. 2, 1979 | Fourteenth woman to walk in space, during Expedition 59. Jointly with Jessica Meir, became the first two women to undertake an all-female EVA during ISS Expedition 61. Greatest continuous number of days in space for a female | Soyuz MS-12/13 | ||
| 65 | Jessica Meir Jul. 15, 1977 | / | Fifteenth woman to walk in space, during Expedition 61. Jointly with Christina Koch, became the first two women to undertake an all-female EVA. | Soyuz MS-15 | |
| 66 | Sirisha Bandla C. 1988 | Vice President of Government Affairs and Research Operations, Virgin Galactic. | Virgin Galactic Unity 22 | ||
| 67 | Sian Proctor Mar. 26, 1970 | First female commercial astronaut spaceship pilot First African-American commercial astronaut | Inspiration4 | ||
| 68 | Hayley Arceneaux Dec. 9, 1991 | First in space with a prosthesis, a St. Jude Children's Research Hospital employee and bone cancer survivor who is now a physician assistant | Inspiration4 | ||
| 69 | Yulia Peresild Sep. 5, 1984 | First actress in space, filming footage for the 2023 film The Challenge aboard the International Space Station. | Soyuz MS-19 | ||
| 70 | Kayla Barron Sep. 19, 1987 | Seventeenth woman to walk in space, during SpaceX Crew-3/Expedition 66. | |||
| 71 | Jessica Watkins May 14, 1988 | First African-American woman on a long-duration mission. | SpaceX Crew-4 | ||
| 72 | Nicole Aunapu Mann Jun. 27, 1977 | First Native American woman in space. Twentieth woman to walk in space, during Expedition 68. | SpaceX Crew-5 | ||
| 73 | Anna Kikina Aug.27, 1984 | First Russian cosmonaut to fly a Crew Dragon. | SpaceX Crew-5 | ||
| 74 | Rayyanah Barnawi Sep., 1988 | First female Saudi astronaut in space. | Axiom Mission 2 | ||
| 75 | Jamila Gilbert | Senior manager, internal communications. Virgin Galactic | Virgin Galactic Unity 25 | ||
| 76 | Kelly Latimer | Pilot. Virgin Galactic | Galactic 02 Galactic 04 Galactic 05 | ||
| 77 | Keisha Schahaff 1977 |  |