NASA

This astronaut visited the International Space Station.

ISS Visitor

This astronaut crossed the Kármán Line (100 km), the internationally accepted boundary of space.

Crossed Kármán Line

This astronaut has spent over a month in space.

Space Resident

Randy “Komrade” Bresnik was selected as an astronaut in 2004. He was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Marine Corps in May 1989. During his military career, he attended the Marine Corps Weapons and Tactics Instructors Course (WTI) and Naval Fighter Weapons School (TOPGUN). After attending U.S. Naval Test Pilot’s School he became an F/A-18 Test Pilot and was eventually deployed to Kuwait to fly combat missions in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. A veteran of Space Shuttle mission STS-129, he has also trained as a Cave-a-naut with the European Space Agency to test living deep beneath the Earth’s surface as well as an Aqua-naut for NASA’s Extreme Environment Mission Operation (NEEMO) 19. In space, Bresnik most recently served as the Commander of the International Space Station for Expedition 53 and flight engineer for Expedition 52. He has more than 32 hours of Spacewalk experience over the course of 5 EVAs. A retired Colonel in the United States Marine Corps, he has logged more than 7,000+ hours in 95 types of aircraft/rotorcraft/gliders and an additional 3,600 hours in spacecraft. He is a Fellow of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots (SETP). Currently, he serves as the Assistant-to-the-Chief of the Astronaut Office for Exploration managing the development and testing of everything that will operate beyond low earth orbit on Artemis missions. Courtesy of NASA.

Soyuz MS-05

Soyuz MS-05 took three members of the Expedition 52 crew to the International Space Station.

Soyuz is a human-carrying capsule built and operated by Russia, capable of transporting up to three people to the Space Station at a time. It has been upgraded numerous times since its first use in the 1960s for the Soviet lunar program and was the only crewed vehicle for the Station from 2011 to 2020.

Soyuz

STS-129 (Atlantis)

The 31st flight of Space Shuttle Atlantis delivered 12,532 kg of spare parts and components to the International Space Station. Randy Bresnik became a father while flying this mission. His Space Shuttle and ISS crewmates congratulated him with candy cigars, as smoking is not permitted on the ISS. This marked the second and most recent time two people of African descent flew a mission together.

The first reusable launch and landing spacecraft, the Space Shuttle began a new chapter of human space exploration. It launched like a rocket but landed on a runway like a plane. Shuttle crews deployed dozens of commercial satellites and two interplanetary probes to Venus and Jupiter. The Shuttle served as a mini space station and hosted hundreds of biomedical, psychological, physiological, materials science, and physics experiments that have directly benefited life on Earth. The five flight-worthy Shuttles -- Columbia, Challenger, Discovery, Atlantis, and Endeavour -- flew 135 missions over 30 years. The Shuttles helped construct the Russian Mir space station and brought nearly 80% of the International Space Station to orbit. Shuttles also deployed and serviced the Hubble Space Telescope.

Space Shuttle

Randy Bresnik

United States of America

STS-129 EVA 2

STS-129 EVA 3

Expedition 53 ISS Quest EVA 1

Expedition 53 ISS Quest EVA 2

Expedition 53 ISS Quest EVA 3

STS-104 (Atlantis)

Atlantis' crew delivered the Quest Joint Airlock to the International Space Station.

STS-118 (Endeavour)

This Space Shuttle flight fulfilled the Challenger mission goal of putting a teacher in space when Barbara Morgan, Christa McAuliffe's backup, flew on the Shuttle built to take Challenger's place. Morgan recorded lessons and talked to school kids during the flight in addition to her duties on the mission. The flight delivered supplies and the S5 spacer truss to the International Space Station and continued the electrical rewiring of the outpost.

Charles O. Hobaugh

European Space Agency (ESA)

STS-120 (Discovery)

Discovery's crew delivered the Harmony connection module to the International Space Station where the European and Japanese modules would later be attached, relocated the P6 solar array and battery truss, performed emergency solar array surgery (with charged current still flowing through the arrays), and rotated a U.S. ISS crewmember. Coincidentally, this mission became the first time two spacecraft (Space Shuttle and ISS) were simultaneously commanded by women, with Pam Melroy commanding Shuttle Discovery and Peggy Whitson commanding the ISS. This flight marked the third and last time a Space Shuttle mission was commanded by a woman.

Soyuz TMA-20

Soyuz TMA-20 ferried three members of the Expedition 26 crew to the International Space Station.

Paolo Nespoli

Italy

STS-122 (Atlantis)

Atlantis brought ESA's Columbus science module up to the International Space Station and rotated a single ISS crewmember.

Leland D. Melvin

STS-123 (Endeavour)

During this first of three Space Shuttle flights to assemble the Japanese Kibo laboratory complex, Endeavour's crew delivered the Japanese Experiment Logistics Module to the International Space Station. The mission also rotated an ISS crewmember and brought Canada's human-esque DEXTRE robot to the outpost.

Michael J. Foreman

Boeing

This astronaut is in the top 5% for total time in space.

Elite Spaceflyer

Soyuz TMA-14M

Soyuz TMA-14M ferried three members of the Expedition 41 crew to the International Space Station.

SpaceX

Roscosmos

SpaceX Crew-9

Russia

SpaceX launched a NASA astronaut and a Russian cosmonaut to the ISS aboard Dragon. Due to technical issues with Boeing's Starliner, Crew-9 launched with two empty seats to accommodate the return of Boeing's Starliner crew.

Crew Dragon is the first privately built and operated orbital spacecraft capable of flying humans. As a reusable SpaceX capsule, it transports crew members to and from the International Space Station. It will also carry paying customers to the Station and low Earth orbit. While it typically accommodates a crew of four, this number can vary depending on the mission.

Crew Dragon

United Launch Alliance (ULA)

Starliner Crew Flight Test

NASA, Boeing, and ULA launched their first crewed Starliner mission. It carried two NASA astronauts to the ISS.

Starliner is Boeing’s orbital human carrier, designed and built for NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. It will transport at least four crew members to and from the Station and will also be available for missions with paying customers.

Starliner

Barry "Butch" Wilmore

Robert L. Satcher Jr.

Soyuz TMA-10M

Soyuz TMA-10M ferried three members of the Expedition 37 crew to the International Space Station.

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