Many people have gone to space, including pioneering astronauts, cosmonauts, taikonauts, celebrities, and space tourists. Notable early astronauts and cosmonauts:
- Yury Gagarin (Soviet Union) was the first human in space on April 12, 1961.
- Alan Shepard (USA) was the first American in space on May 5, 1961.
- Valentina Tereshkova (Soviet Union) was the first woman in space in June 1963.
- Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin were the first humans to walk on the Moon in July 1969
Other significant astronauts:
- John Glenn was the first American to orbit Earth in 1962.
- Sally Ride was the first American woman in space in 1983.
- Guion Bluford was the first African American in space in 1983.
- Yang Liwei was the first Chinese astronaut in space in 2003
Celebrities who have traveled to space include:
- William Shatner, Jeff Bezos, Richard Branson, Katy Perry, Michael Strahan, and Emily Calandrelli among others
Space tourists:
- Dennis Tito was the first space tourist in 2001.
- More recently, private citizens like Oliver Daemen and Anastatia Mayers have traveled to space on commercial flights
Additional facts:
- The oldest person in space was 77 years old during the STS-95 mission in 1998.
- The youngest person in space was Oliver Daemen at 18 years old in 2021
In summary, hundreds of astronauts from many countries, as well as celebrities and private citizens, have gone to space since 1961, marking many historic milestones in human spaceflight
