The 30 Greatest Space Shuttle Astronauts of All Time

Is a first flight worth more than a seventh? This list weighs trailblazing launches against Hubble repairs, station building and the crews remembered from Challenger and Columbia.

1. 1
   Sally Ride

   Became the first American woman in space on STS-7 in June 1983 and flew again on STS-41-G in 1984.
   1000pts
2. 2
   John Young

   Commanded STS-1, the first Space Shuttle flight in April 1981, and STS-9 in 1983, which carried the first Spacelab module.
   536pts
3. 3
   Story Musgrave

   Flew six shuttle missions and is the only astronaut to have flown on all five orbiters, including the 1993 STS-61 Hubble repair spacewalks.
   536pts
4. 4
   Bruce McCandless II

   Made the first untethered spacewalk, using the Manned Maneuvering Unit, on STS-41-B in February 1984.
   496pts
5. 5
   Ronald McNair

   Physicist who became the second African American in space on STS-41-B in 1984 and died in the Challenger accident in 1986.
   496pts
6. 6
   Mark Kelly

   Flew four shuttle missions and commanded STS-124 in 2008 and STS-134 in 2011, Endeavour's final flight.
   496pts
7. 7
   Eileen Collins

   Became the first woman to pilot a shuttle on STS-63 in 1995, the first to command one on STS-93 in 1999, and commanded the STS-114 Return to Flight mission in 2005.
   496pts
8. 8
   Kalpana Chawla

   Became the first woman of Indian origin in space on STS-87 in 1997 and died with the STS-107 crew when Columbia broke up during reentry on February 1, 2003.
   449pts
9. 9
   Ilan Ramon

   Israel's first astronaut, who flew on Columbia's STS-107 research mission and died with its crew during reentry in February 2003.
   449pts
10. 10
    Ellison Onizuka

    Became the first Asian American in space on STS-51-C in January 1985 and died in the Challenger accident in 1986.
    449pts
11. 11
    Mae Jemison

    Became the first African American woman in space aboard Endeavour on STS-47 in September 1992.
    396pts
12. 12
    Jim Wetherbee

    Flew six shuttle missions and is the only astronaut to have commanded five of them.
    396pts
13. 13
    Robert "Hoot" Gibson

    Flew five shuttle missions and commanded STS-71 in 1995, the first Space Shuttle docking with the Russian space station Mir.
    396pts
14. 14
    Shannon Lucid

    Made five spaceflights, the last a 188-day mission in 1996, about 179 days of it aboard Mir, that began on STS-76 and ended on STS-79.
    396pts
15. 15
    Charles Bolden

    Flew four shuttle missions, piloting the 1990 Hubble deployment flight and commanding STS-60, the first to carry a Russian cosmonaut, before serving as NASA Administrator.
    396pts
16. 16
    Jerry Ross

    Flew seven shuttle missions between 1985 and 2002, including STS-88, the first International Space Station assembly flight, and made nine spacewalks.
    336pts
17. 17
    Judith Resnik

    Became the second American woman in space on STS-41-D, the maiden flight of Discovery in 1984, and died in the Challenger accident in 1986.
    335pts
18. 18
    John Grunsfeld

    Flew five shuttle missions, three of them to service the Hubble Space Telescope: STS-103, STS-109 and STS-125.
    335pts
19. 19
    Barbara Morgan

    Christa McAuliffe's backup in the Teacher in Space Project, who flew to the International Space Station aboard Endeavour on STS-118 in 2007.
    335pts
20. 20
    Christa McAuliffe

    New Hampshire teacher chosen for NASA's Teacher in Space Project, who died with her six crewmates when Challenger broke apart 73 seconds after launch on January 28, 1986.
    264pts
21. 21
    Guion Bluford

    Became the first African American in space on STS-8 in August 1983 and flew four shuttle missions in total.
    264pts
22. 22
    Franklin Chang-Díaz

    Costa Rican-born astronaut who flew seven shuttle missions between 1986 and 2002, a record he shares with Jerry Ross.
    264pts
23. 23
    Kathryn Sullivan

    Became the first American woman to walk in space on STS-41-G in 1984 and helped deploy the Hubble Space Telescope on STS-31 in 1990.
    264pts
24. 24
    Dick Scobee

    Piloted the 1984 STS-41-C mission that repaired the Solar Maximum Mission satellite and commanded Challenger on its final flight, STS-51-L.
    180pts
25. 25
    Ellen Ochoa

    Became the first Hispanic woman in space on STS-56 in 1993, flew four shuttle missions and later directed NASA's Johnson Space Center.
    180pts
26. 26
    Michael Massimino

    Made spacewalks on the Hubble servicing missions STS-109 and STS-125 and posted the first tweet from space in 2009.
    180pts
27. 27
    Chris Ferguson

    Piloted STS-115 in 2006, then commanded STS-126 and STS-135, the final Space Shuttle mission, flown by Atlantis in July 2011.
    180pts
28. 28
    Frederick Gregory

    Became the first African American to command a Space Shuttle mission on STS-33 in 1989, one of his three flights.
    0pts
29. 29
    Robert Crippen

    Piloted STS-1 alongside John Young in 1981 and went on to command STS-7, STS-41-C and STS-41-G.
    0pts
30. 30
    John Glenn

    Returned to orbit aboard Discovery on STS-95 in 1998 at age 77, becoming the oldest person to fly in space at the time.
    0pts

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