The 32 Greatest NASA Astronauts of All Time

Mercury-era test pilots stand beside shuttle trailblazers, long-haul station residents and the newest lunar crew, which turns every matchup into a debate between eras.

1. 1
   Neil Armstrong

   Commander of Apollo 11 who became the first person to walk on the Moon on July 20, 1969, after commanding Gemini 8's first orbital docking in 1966.
   1000pts
2. 2
   Mae Jemison

   Became the first African American woman in space on Space Shuttle Endeavour's STS-47 mission in September 1992.
   843pts
3. 3
   John Glenn

   Became the first American to orbit Earth aboard Friendship 7 in February 1962 and flew again on Space Shuttle mission STS-95 in 1998 at age 77.
   784pts
4. 4
   Gene Cernan

   Commanded Apollo 17 in December 1972 and was the last person to step off the lunar surface.
   748pts
5. 5
   Sunita Williams

   Launched on Boeing Starliner's first crewed test flight in June 2024 and returned aboard a SpaceX Dragon in March 2025 after more than nine months on the ISS.
   748pts
6. 6
   Michael Collins

   Piloted Apollo 11's command module Columbia in lunar orbit in 1969 after making two spacewalks on Gemini 10 in 1966.
   686pts
7. 7
   Ellen Ochoa

   Became the first Hispanic woman in space on STS-56 in 1993 and later served as director of NASA's Johnson Space Center.
   686pts
8. 8
   Buzz Aldrin

   Apollo 11 lunar module pilot who followed Armstrong onto the Moon in 1969, three years after proving extended spacewalk techniques on Gemini 12.
   599pts
9. 9
   Bruce McCandless II

   Made the first untethered spacewalk, flying the Manned Maneuvering Unit away from Challenger during STS-41-B in February 1984.
   599pts
10. 10
    Alan Shepard

    Flew Freedom 7 in May 1961 as the first American in space, then commanded Apollo 14 in 1971 and hit golf balls on the lunar surface.
    490pts
11. 11
    Pete Conrad

    Commanded Apollo 12 in 1969 as the third person on the Moon and later led Skylab 2, the 1973 crew that repaired the damaged station.
    490pts
12. 12
    John Young

    Made six spaceflights across Gemini, Apollo and the Shuttle, walking on the Moon on Apollo 16 and commanding the first Space Shuttle flight, STS-1, in 1981.
    490pts
13. 13
    Jim Lovell

    Flew Gemini 7, Gemini 12 and Apollo 8, then commanded Apollo 13 in 1970, bringing its crew home after an oxygen tank explosion.
    425pts
14. 14
    Wally Schirra

    The only astronaut to fly in the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo programs, ending with command of Apollo 7 in 1968.
    425pts
15. 15
    Reid Wiseman

    Commanded Artemis II, the April 2026 crewed flight around the Moon, following a 2014 long-duration stay on the ISS.
    425pts
16. 16
    Story Musgrave

    The only astronaut to fly on all five Space Shuttle orbiters, he also spacewalked on the first Hubble servicing mission, STS-61, in 1993.
    425pts
17. 17
    Franklin Chang-Díaz

    Costa Rican-born physicist who flew seven Space Shuttle missions between 1986 and 2002.
    350pts
18. 18
    Kalpana Chawla

    First Indian-born woman in space, flying on STS-87 in 1997 before dying in the Columbia disaster on STS-107 in February 2003.
    350pts
19. 19
    Peggy Whitson

    Biochemist who became the first woman to command the International Space Station in 2007 and holds the American record for cumulative days in space.
    350pts
20. 20
    Doug Hurley

    Piloted STS-135, the final Space Shuttle mission in 2011, and commanded SpaceX's Demo-2 flight to the ISS in 2020.
    350pts
21. 21
    Sally Ride

    Became the first American woman in space on Space Shuttle Challenger's STS-7 mission in June 1983.
    350pts
22. 22
    Eileen Collins

    First woman to pilot a Space Shuttle on STS-63 in 1995 and first to command one on STS-93 in 1999.
    350pts
23. 23
    Scott Kelly

    Spent 340 consecutive days aboard the International Space Station in 2015 and 2016 while his identical twin Mark was studied on Earth for comparison.
    350pts
24. 24
    Victor Glover

    Piloted the Orion spacecraft on Artemis II in April 2026 after flying to the ISS on SpaceX Crew-1 in 2020.
    350pts
25. 25
    Gus Grissom

    Mercury Seven member who flew Liberty Bell 7 in 1961 and commanded Gemini 3 in 1965 before dying in the Apollo 1 fire in January 1967.
    264pts
26. 26
    Kathryn Sullivan

    Became the first American woman to walk in space on Challenger's STS-41-G mission in October 1984 and later served as NOAA administrator.
    264pts
27. 27
    Christina Koch

    Completed a 328-day ISS mission in 2020, the longest single spaceflight by a woman at the time, and flew around the Moon on Artemis II in April 2026.
    264pts
28. 28
    Gordon Cooper

    Flew Faith 7 in May 1963, the final Mercury mission and the first American flight to last more than a day, and later commanded Gemini 5.
    163pts
29. 29
    Ed White

    Made the first American spacewalk during Gemini 4 in June 1965 and died in the Apollo 1 launch pad fire in 1967.
    163pts
30. 30
    Jerry Ross

    Flew seven Space Shuttle missions from 1985 to 2002 and made nine spacewalks, several of them building the International Space Station.
    163pts
31. 31
    Bob Behnken

    Flew SpaceX's Demo-2 mission in May 2020, the first crewed orbital flight of a commercially built spacecraft, after two Space Shuttle missions.
    163pts
32. 32
    Guion Bluford

    Became the first African American in space aboard Challenger on STS-8 in August 1983.
    0pts

Comments