Human spaceflight

A human spaceflight is a spaceflight with a human crew, and possibly passengers. This makes it unlike robotic space probes or remotely-controlled satellites. Human spaceflight is sometimes called manned spaceflight, a term now deprecated by major space agencies in favor of its gender-neutral alternative.

As of 2007, only the Space Shuttle program and the Soyuz programme are actively launching human spaceflights. The Shenzhou program last launched a human spaceflight in 2005.

History

The first human spaceflight was undertaken on April 12, 1961, when cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin made one orbit around the Earth aboard the Vostok 1 spacecraft launched by the Soviet Union. Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman in space on board Vostok 6 on June 16, 1963. Both spacecraft were launched by Vostok 3KA launch vehicles. Alexei Leonov made the first spacewalk when he left the Voskhod 2 on March 8 1965. Svetlana Savitskaya became the first woman to do so on July 25, 1984.

The United States became the second nation to achieve manned spaceflight with the suborbital flight of astronaut Alan Shepard aboard Freedom 7, carried out as part of Project Mercury. The spacecraft was launched on May 5, 1961 on a Redstone rocket. The first U.S. orbital flight was that of John Glenn aboard Friendship 7, which was launched February 20, 1962 on an Atlas rocket. Since April 12, 1981 the U.S. has conducted all its human spaceflight missions with reusable Space Shuttles. Sally Ride became the first American woman in space in 1983. Eileen Collins was the first female Shuttle pilot, and with Shuttle mission STS-93 in July of 1999 she became the first woman to command a U.S. spacecraft.

The People's Republic of China became the third nation with human spaceflight when astronaut Yang Liwei launched into space on a Chinese-made vehicle, the Shenzhou 5, on October 15, 2003. This flight made China the third nation capable of launching its own manned spacecraft using its own launcher. Previous European (Hermes) and Japanese (HOPE-X) domestic manned programs were abandoned after years of development, as was the first Chinese attempt, the Shuguang spacecraft. In 1989, Iraq declared its intent to develop manned space facilities, but these plans were soon abandoned.^{[citation needed]}

The furthest destination for a human spaceflight mission has been the Moon, and as of 2007 the only missions to the Moon have been those conducted by NASA as part of the Apollo program. The first such mission, Apollo 8, orbited the Moon but did not land. The first Moon landing mission was Apollo 11, during which -- on July 20, 1969 -- Neil Armstrong became the first person to set foot on the Moon. Six missions landed in total, numbered Apollo 11–17, excluding Apollo 13. Altogether twelve men reached the Moon's surface, the only humans to have been on an extraterrestrial body. The Soviet Union discontinued its program for lunar orbiting and landing of human spaceflight missions on June 24, 1974 when Valentin Glushko became General Designer of NPO Energiya.^[1]

The longest single human spaceflight is that of Valeriy Polyakov, who left earth on January 8, 1994, and didn't return until March 22, 1995. Sergei Krikalyov has spent the most time of anyone in space, 803 days, 9 hours, and 39 seconds altogether. Humans have had a presence in space for as long as 3,644 days in a row, eight days short of 10 years, spanning the launch of Soyuz TM-8 on September 5, 1989 to the landing of Soyuz TM-29 on August 28, 1999.

For many years beginning in 1961, only two countries, the USSR (later Russia) and United States, had their own astronauts. Later, cosmonauts and astronauts from other nations flew in space, beginning with the flight of Vladimir Remek, a Czech, on a Soviet spacecraft on March 2 1978. As of 2007, citizens from 33 nations (including space tourists) have flown in space aboard Soviet, American, Russian, and Chinese spacecraft.

Safety concerns

Planners of human spaceflight missions face a number of safety concerns.

Life support

The immediate needs for breathable air and drinkable water are addressed by the life support system of the spacecraft.

Adverse effects of radiation

NASA is using the International Space Station (ISS) to investigate questions like, "What happens to food and medicine exposed to six-plus months of space travel?"^[2] Even in its low-Earth orbit, where the ISS is largely protected from the solar wind by the Earth's magnetic field, researchers suspect reduced nutritional value of foods and reduced potency of medicines, "Could be a sign of radiation at work."

Adverse effects of the microgravity environment

Medical data from ISS astronauts show several adverse effects of a microgravity environment: loss of bone density, decreased muscle strength and endurance, postural instability, and reductions in aerobic capacity. Over time these deconditioning effects can impair astronauts’ performance or increase their risk of injury.^[3]

Launch safety

Reentry safety

Reliability

Space programs

As of 2007, human spaceflight missions have been conducted by the Soviet Union, the United States, Russia, the People's Republic of China and by the private spaceflight company Scaled Composites.

Several other countries and space agencies have announced and begun human spaceflight programs by their own technology, including Japan(JAXA), India(ISRO), Iran(ISA), Malaysia(MNSA) and Turkey.

Currently the following spacecraft (and spaceports) are used for human spaceflight:

Soyuz with Soyuz launch vehicle—Baikonur Cosmodrome
Space Shuttle—Kennedy Space Center
International Space Station (ISS)—Assembled in orbit; crews transported by the previous two spacecraft
Shenzhou spacecraft with Long March rocket—Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center

Historically, the following spacecraft (and spaceports) have also been used for human spaceflight:

Vostok—Baikonur Cosmodrome
Mercury—Kennedy Space Center
Voskhod—Baikonur Cosmodrome
X-15—Edwards Air Force Base,^[4] (two internationally recognized suborbotal flights in program)
Gemini—Kennedy Space Center
Apollo—Kennedy Space Center
Salyut space station—Baikonur Cosmodrome
Almaz space station—Baikonur Cosmodrome
Skylab space station—Kennedy Space Center
Mir space station—Baikonur Cosmodrome
SpaceShipOne with White Knight—Mojave Spaceport

Numerous private companies attempted human spaceflight programs in an effort to win the $10 million Ansari X Prize. The first private human spaceflight took place on June 21, 2004, when SpaceShipOne conducted a suborbital flight. With its second flight within one week, SpaceShipOne captured the prize on October 4, 2004.

Most of the time, the only humans in space are those aboard the ISS, whose crew of three spends up to six months at a time in low Earth orbit.

NASA and ESA now use the term "human spaceflight" to refer to their programs of launching people into space. Traditionally, these endeavors have been referred to as "manned space missions".

National spacefaring attempts

Country	National term	First launched astronaut	Date	Spacecraft	Launcher
USSR	cosmonaut (Russian: космонавт)	Yuri Gagarin	April 12, 1961	Vostok 1	Vostok
USA	astronaut	Alan Shepard	May 5, 1961	Mercury-Redstone 3	Redstone
China	yǔhángyuán, hángtiānyuán (in press releases in English: astronaut)	...	(1973), abandoned	Shuguang 1	Long March 2
China	yǔhángyuán, hángtiānyuán (in press releases in English: astronaut)	...	(1981), abandoned	Piloted FSW	Long March 2
ESA	astronaut, cosmonaut	...	(1999), abandoned	Hermes	Ariane V
China	yǔhángyuán, hángtiānyuán (English: astronaut, Russian: космонавт)	Yang Liwei	October 15, 2003	Shenzhou 5	Long March 2F
Japan	...	...	(2003), abandoned	HOPE-X	H-II
India	gaganaut, brahmanaut, antariksha-yaatri	...	(2014), planned	...	GSLV-Mk II
ESA	astronaut	...	(2020), planned	CSTS or Hopper	Ariane V
Japan	...	...	(2020), planned	...	...
Turkey	...	...	(2020), planned	...	...
Iran	...	...	(?), planned	...	Shahab 6 or 7