Famous Astronauts - List of Famous Astronauts

An astronaut, otherwise known as ‘cosmonaut’ or ‘taikonaut’, is any person who travels to space on a human spaceflight program to partake as a crew member or command a spacecraft during a mission or exploration. These professionals need years of training in multidisciplinary fields, before they are sent to space on various missions and before they are officially known as ‘professional space travelers’ or ‘spaceflight participants’. The first manned expedition to outer space was by Yuri Gagarin in 1961, followed by the first woman, Valentina Tereshkova in 1963, both of whom were Soviets. The first American in space in a sub-orbital flight was Alan Shepard and the first American to walk on the moon was Neil Armstrong. It takes years to consolidate a space mission and more than a hundred people to prepare astronauts for their space missions. These professionals are pivotal to the success of the space assignments but the flight opportunities are limited. Thus, space agencies like NASA launch astronauts every year and make sure that the astronaut selected will make the best possible use of the available resources for assigned tasks in space. Up until 2003, astronauts were trained by military, government and civil space agents, but now they are trained by the SSO-SpaceShipOne. Here is a collection of biographies of famous astronauts. Explore all the details about them in their biographies, which include trivia, interesting facts, timeline and life history.

The Most Famous Astronauts

NameBirthdayNationalityBio
Mae JemisonOctober 17, 1956AmericanMae Carol Jemison is a famous American astronaut who became the first African American astronaut to travel to space
Georgi IvanovJuly 2, 1940BulgarianGeorgi Ivanov is the first Bulgarian astronaut
Neil ArmstrongAugust 5, 1930AmericanNeil Armstrong was the first man ever to land on the Moon
Yuri GagarinMarch 9, 1934RussianYuri Gagarin was a famous Russian cosmonaut and the first man to enter space and orbit the Earth, on the ‘Vostok 1.’
Franklin Chang DíazApril 5, 1950Chinese, Costa Rican, AmericanFranklin Chang-Diaz is an American-Costa Rican physicist and former NASA astronaut
Sunita WilliamsSeptember 19, 1965AmericanSunita Williams is an American astronaut and former US Navy officer
Alan ShepardNovember 18, 1923AmericanAlan Shepard was the first American to travel into space
Buzz AldrinJanuary 20, 1930AmericanBuzz Aldrin was a US Astronaut and was the second man to set foot on the moon
Bjarni TryggvasonSeptember 21, 1945Canadian, IcelanderBjarni Tryggvason is a former Icelandic-Canadian astronaut
Valentina TereshkovaMarch 6, 1937RussianValentina Tereshkova a Russian cosmonaut created history when she became the first woman to travel to space
Kalpana Chawla

Kalpana Chawla

Kalpana Chawla was American astronaut who died in the Space Shuttle ‘Columbia’ disaster

AmericanMarch 17, 1962238 views

Gus Grissom

Gus Grissom was an American astronaut, mechanical engineer, and US test pilot

AmericanApril 3, 1926210 views

Peggy Whitson

Peggy Annette Whitson is an American biochemist and astronaut

Roberta Bondar

Roberta Bondar or Roberta Lynn Bondar is the first Canadian woman to travel into space

Valentina Tereshkova

Valentina Tereshkova a Russian cosmonaut created history when she became the first woman to travel to space

RussianMarch 6, 1937299 views

Mae Jemison

Mae Carol Jemison is a famous American astronaut who became the first African American astronaut to travel to space

AmericanOctober 17, 1956465 views

Muhammed Faris

Muhammed Faris is an astronaut and the first Syrian to fly into space

SyrianMay 26, 1951173 views

Georgi Ivanov

Georgi Ivanov is the first Bulgarian astronaut

BulgarianJuly 2, 1940456 views

Bjarni Tryggvason

Bjarni Tryggvason is a former Icelandic-Canadian astronaut

CanadianSeptember 21, 1945303 views

Franklin Chang Díaz

Franklin Chang-Diaz is an American-Costa Rican physicist and former NASA astronaut

ChineseApril 5, 1950385 views