Women In Space, From the NASA History Division

Dear Friends of Janet's Planet:

Let's celebrate great ladies in space history!

All statistics valid as of April 2010.

General Facts

53 different women total including cosmonauts, astronauts, payload specialists, and foreign nationals have flown in space.

6 different female cosmonauts have flown on the Soviet/Russian program*

47 different women have flown with NASA*

*Cosmonaut Yelena Kondakova has flown on both Soyuz TM-17 and on STS-84
*NASA astronaut Tracy Caldwell-Dyson has flown on Both Soyuz TMA-18 and STS-118

First Woman in Space

Valentina Tereshkova - Vostok 6. June 16, 1963

First U.S. Woman in Space

Sally Ride - STS-7. June 18-24, 1983

(She was the third woman in space overall after Valentina Tereshkova, above, and Svetlana Savitskaya, who flew on Soyuz T-7 August 19, 1982)

First Woman Space Shuttle Commander

Eileen Collins - STS-93. July 23-27, 1999. She commanded for a second time on STS-114 July 26, 2005

Pamela Melroy was the second woman commander on STS-120 October 23-November 7, 2007

First Woman to Command the International Space Station (ISS)

Peggy Whitson - Whitson completed a six month tour of duty aboard the International Space Station as the ISS Commander for Expedition 16 in April 2008.

First Woman to participate in an Extra-Vehicular Activity (EVA)

Svetlana Savitskaya - Soyuz T-12. July 17, 1984

First U.S. Woman to participate in an EVA

Kathryn (Kathy) Sullivan - STS 41-G. October 11, 1984

Women Space Shuttle Pilots

Eileen Collins - was first woman pilot on STS-63 February 3-11, 1995. She returned as pilot on STS-84
Susan Still - STS-83, STS-94
Pamela Ann Melroy - STS 92, STS-112

Space Shuttle Missions With More than One Woman

STS 41-G Kathryn D. Sullivan, Sally K. Ride
STS 51-L Judith A. Resnik, Sharon Christa McAuliffe
STS-34 Shannon W. Lucid, Ellen S. Baker
STS-32 Bonnie J. Dunbar, Marsha S. Ivins
STS-40 Tamara E. Jernigan, M. Rhea Seddon, Millie Hughes-Fulford
STS-50 Bonnie J. Dunbar, Ellen S. Baker
STS-47 N. Jan Davis, Mae C. Jemison
STS-57 Nancy J. Sherlock, Janice E. Voss
STS-58 M. Rhea Seddon, Shannon W. Lucid
STS-63 Eileen M. Collins, Janice E. Voss
STS-67 Tamara E. Jernigan, Wendy B. Lawrence
STS-71 Ellen S. Baker, Bonnie J. Dunbar
STS-70 Nancy Jane Currie, Mary Ellen Weber
STS-73 Kathryn C. Thornton, Catherine G. Coleman
STS-76 Shannon W. Lucid, Linda M. Godwin
STS-83 Susan L. Still, Janice E. Voss
STS-84 Eileen M. Collins, Elena V. Kondakova
STS-94 Susan L. Still, Janice E. Voss
STS-91 Wendy B. Lawrence, Janet L. Kavandi
STS-96 Ellen Ochoa, Tamara E. Jernigan, Julie Payette
STS-93 Eileen M. Collins, Catherine G. Coleman
STS-99 Janet L. Kavandi, Janice E. Voss
STS-101 Mary Ellen Weber, Susan J. Helms
STS-112 Pamela Melroy, Sandra Magnus
STS-107 Kalpana Chawla, Laurel Clark
STS-114 Eileen M. Collins, Wendy Lawrence
STS-121 Stephanie D. Wilson, Lisa M. Nowak
STS-116 Sunita Williams, Joan Higginbotham
STS-118 Barbara R. Morgan, Tracy E. Caldwell-Dyson
STS-120 Pamela A. Melroy, Stephanie D. Wilson
STS-126 Heidemarie M. Stefanyshyn-Piper, Sandra H. Magnus
STS-131 Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger, Stephanie Wilson, Naoko Yamazaki
(The 4 women in space during this mission set a record for the most women in space at the same time,
including these three from the STS-131 crew along with NASA astronaut Tracy Caldwell-Dyson who arrived on the ISS aboard Soyuz TMA-18)

Women Astronauts from Astronaut Classes of 1998, 2004, and 2009 who have not yet flown

PATRICIA HILLIARD ROBERTSON (M.D.) (Deceased)
ASTRONAUT CLASS OF 1998
Died May 24, 2001 of injuries sustained in the crash of a private plane.
Served as the office representative for the Crew Healthcare System (CHeCS), and a Crew Support Astronaut (CSA) for the ISS Expedition 2 Crew.

SHANNON WALKER
ASTRONAUT CLASS OF 2004
Dr. Walker is scheduled to launch on the Soyuz TMA-19 spacecraft in May 2010.
She will serve as a Flight Engineer (co-pilot) of the Soyuz during its launch and landing and will be a member of the 6 person crew aboard the Station for 6 months.

SERENA M. AUNON
ASTRONAUT CLASS OF 2009

JEANETTE J. EPPS
ASTRONAUT CLASS OF 2009

KATHLEEN (KATE) RUBINS
ASTRONAUT CLASS OF 2009

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Information about individual female astronauts may be found at Johnson Spaceflight Center's Astronaut Biographies page. Ames Research Center maintains a page about current Women of NASA. The History Office also maintains a page about the First Lady Astronaut Trainees, or Mercury 13.

Information about Eilene Galloway, who helped create NASA.

Steve Garber, NASA History Web Curator
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For further information email histinfo@hq.nasa.gov