L+500 and counting: 500th person in space

Among the seven astronauts launching on space shuttle Endeavour on Saturday, four are making their first flight, an achievement in any astronaut's career. One of the four however, will also be setting a benchmark as the 500th person in history to fly into space.Endeavour's pilot Doug Hurley, mission specialists Chris Cassidy and Tom Marshburn, together with arriving space station flight engineer Tim Kopra, all had a chance at the title, even though they may not have known about it until recently."We are so kind of bogged down in the training and the mission, and I know that sounds cliché, but I didn't even know that was the case until the press conference," said Cassidy, just a few hours after the May 28 media event where collectSPACE alerted the crew to the record they'd be setting.Determining who of the four would be the 500th, or even that he was aboard the STS-127 mission at all, involved defining the boundary between Earth and space, and who among Endeavour's crew would cross that boundary first."There's probably a protocol for stuff like [this]," explained Endeavour's commander Mark Polansky, "and if that's it, well, there you go."Rules for the recordEven before Yuri Gagarin became the first person to enter space in 1961, the governing body for world flight records, the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI), defined the demarkation altitude at 62 miles (100 km). Other lines separating the sky from space have existed, ranging from 50 to over 70 miles high, but the FAI definition, based on where aeronautics becomes astronautics, has been used as the ruler by which all past flights have been measured.In the 48 years that have followed up until STS-127, 498 men and women (447 men and 51 women) have crossed the 62 mile mark, earning their space explorer wings. All but eight launched on American or Russian government owned spacecraft, although in total they have come from 36 nations. Four first flew on short sub-orbital hops, which is why the 500th person in space is not also the 500th in orbit.Like on all space shuttle missions with seven astronauts, Endeavour's crew is divided for launch with four on the upper flight deck and three seated on the middeck. Of the four STS-127 rookies, Hurley and Cassidy are strapped in above, with Marshburn and Kopra below.
Their position at launch however, is less important for the record as where they will be when they cross the 62 mile mark. Marshburn had given some thought to that question as part of a light hearted rivalry with Cassidy. Chosen by NASA to be astronauts together in 2004, Marshburn joked with Cassidy as to who was going to beat who into space."I think my seat might be a few feet ahead of his but then you roll upside down, which might put me even more in the lead, but it is kind of hard to say," shared Marshburn.A similar rationale was put forth by members of the 2008 STS-122 crew when determining that astronaut Stan Love would be the 300th American to fly in space. Like Kopra and Marshburn, Love rode to space onboard the middeck.Given the flight profile of the shuttle, which rolls twice on its way to orbit, others on the STS-127 crew believed the 500th would be Cassidy, who is seated behind Hurley on the flight deck. Rather than leave the title open to debate, the seven astronauts met and voted on who would be Mr. 500."We decided between the crew that it would be Chris," Hurley told collectSPACE. "Officially, it is Chris, which I think is awesome."A number to build upon"I'm honored to have a position, whether it is 499, 500 or 501," explained Cassidy. "If it just so happens to be 500, that's great and it is exciting regardless."Cassidy, who is the second Navy SEAL-turned-astronaut, will perform three of the STS-127 mission's five planned spacewalks to complete the installation of the Japanese Kibo laboratory, move spare equipment, replace some of the International Space Station's solar power-fed batteries and finish configuring equipment delivered by prior crews.Using Cassidy's position aboard Endeavour as the model for determining some of the earlier records, cosmonaut Gennady Strekalov became the 100th into space onboard Soyuz T-3 in 1980; NASA Administrator nominee Charlie Bolden was no. 200, narrowly beating now-Senator (then Representative) Bill Nelson, Franklin Chang-Diaz and Bob Cenker; no. 300 was either Jim Newman or Dan Bursch, both seated on STS-51 on the aft flight deck like Cassidy (with fellow first time flier Carl Walz on the middeck); and the 400th was Paul Richards, who in 2001 was seated on STS-102 behind another first timer, James "Vegas" Kelly.For STS-127 pilot Hurley, the importance of these records wasn't so much in the title as it was in what it represents."I think we are still just in the beginning stages," he said. "We have done so much over the last several years putting the space station together and obviously we're still working on it, so in that regard, we're just learning how to live in space.""Right now we are just in the early stages of space flight and the future holds a lot, especially with the follow-on vehicles and the plans to go to Moon and Mars," Hurley continued. "We want to get to a point where everybody is going."


L+500 and counting...
Space explorers listed in order of their first flight*
1 Yuri Gagarin Vostok 1
2 Alan Shepard Mercury 3
3 Virgil Grissom Mercury 4
4 Gherman Titov Vostok 2
5 John Glenn Mercury 6
6 Scott Carpenter Mercury 7
7 Andrian Nikolaev Vostok 3
8 Pavel Popovich Vostok 4
9 Walter Schirra Mercury 8
10 Gordon Cooper Mercury 9
11 Valeri Bykovski Vostok 5
12 Valentina Tereshkova Vostok 6
13 Joseph Walker X-15, Flt 90
14 Vladimir Komarov Voskhod 1
15 Konstantin Feoktistov Voskhod 1
16 Boris Yegorov Voskhod 1
17 Pavel Belayaev Voskhod 2
18 Alexei Leonov Voskhod 2
19 John Young Gemini 3
20 James McDivitt Gemini 4
21 Edward White Gemini 4
22 Charles Conrad Gemini 5
23 Frank Borman Gemini 7
24 James Lovell Gemini 7
25 Thomas Stafford Gemini 6
26 Neil Armstrong Gemini 8
27 David Scott Gemini 8
28 Eugene Cernan Gemini 9
29 Michael Collins Gemini 10
30 Richard Gordon Gemini 11
31 Buzz Aldrin Gemini 12
32 Don Eisele Apollo 7
33 Walter Cunningham Apollo 7
34 Georgi Beregovoi Soyuz 3
35 William Anders Apollo 8
36 Vladimir Shatalov Soyuz 4
37 Boris Volnyov Soyuz 5
38 Alexei Yelisiev Soyuz 5
39 Yevgeni Khrunov Soyuz 5
40 Russell Schweickart Apollo 9
41 Georgi Shonin Soyuz 6
42 Valeri Kubasov Soyuz 6
43 Anatoli Filipchenko Soyuz 7
44 Vladislav Volkov Soyuz 7
45 Viktor Gorbatko Soyuz 7
46 Alan Bean Apollo 12
47 John Swigert Apollo 13
48 Fred Haise Apollo 13
49 Vitali Sevastyonov Soyuz 9
50 Stuart Roosa Apollo 14
51 Edgar Mitchell Apollo 14
52 Nikolai Rukavishnikov Soyuz 10
53 Georgi Dobrovolski Soyuz 11
54 Viktor Patsaev Soyuz 11
55 Alfred Worden Apollo 15
56 James Irwin Apollo 15
57 Thomas Mattingly Apollo 16
58 Charles Duke Apollo 16
59 Ronald Evans Apollo 17
60 Harrison Schmitt Apollo 17
61 Joseph Kerwin Skylab 2
62 Paul Weitz Skylab 2
63 Owen Garriott Skylab 3
64 Jack Lousma Skylab 3
65 Vasili Lazarev Soyuz 12
66 Oleg Makarov Soyuz 12
67 Gerald Carr Skylab 4
68 Edward Gibson Skylab 4
69 William Pogue Skylab 4
70 Pyotr Klimuk Soyuz 13
71 Valentin Lebedev Soyuz 13
72 Yuri Artyuhkin Soyuz 14
73 Gennadi Sarafanov Soyuz 15
74 Lev Dyomin Soyuz 15
75 Alexei Gubarev Soyuz 17
76 Georgo Grechko Soyuz 17
77 Vance Brand ASTP
78 Donald Slayton ASTP
79 Vitali Zholobov Soyuz 21
80 Vladimir Aksyonov Soyuz 22
81 Vyacheslav Zhudov Soyuz 23
82 Valeri Rozhdestvenski Soyuz 23
83 Yuri Glazkov Soyuz 24
84 Vladimir Kovalyonok Soyuz 25
85 Valeri Ryumin Soyuz 25
86 Yuri Romanenko Soyuz 26
87 Vladimir Dzhanibekov Soyuz 27
88 Vladimir Remek Soyuz 28
89 Alexander Ivanchenkov Soyuz 29
90 Miroslaw Hermaszewski Soyuz 30
91 Sigmund Jähn Soyuz 31
92 Vladimir Lyakhov Soyuz 32
93 Georgi Ivanov Soyuz 33
94 Leonid Popov Soyuz 35
95 Bertalan Farkas Soyuz 36
96 Yuri Malishev Soyuz T-2
97 Pham Tuan Soyuz 37
98 Arnoldo Tamayo Mendez Soyuz 38
99 Leonid Kizim Soyuz T-3
100 Gennadi Strekalov Soyuz T-3
101 Viktor Savinykh Soyuz T-4
102 J. Gurragchaa Soyuz 39
103 Robert Crippen STS-1
104 Dumitru Prunariu Soyuz 40
105 Joe Engle STS-2
106 Richard Truly STS-2
107 Charles Fullerton STS-3
108 Anatoli Berezovoi Soyuz T-5
109 Jean-Loup Chretien Soyuz T-6
110 Henry Hartsfield STS-4
111 Alexander Serebrov Soyuz T-7
112 Svetlana Savitskaya Soyuz T-7
113 Robert Overmyer STS-5
114 Joseph Allen STS-5
115 William Lenoir STS-5
116 Karol Bobko STS-6
117 Donald Peterson STS-6
118 Story Musgrave STS-6
119 Vladimir Titov Soyuz T-8
120 Frederick Hauck STS-7
121 John Fabian STS-7
122 Sally Ride STS-7
123 Norman Thagard STS-7
124 Alexander Alexandrov Soyuz T-9
125 Daniel Brandenstein STS-8
126 Dale Gardner STS-8
127 Guion Bluford STS-8
128 William Thornton STS-8
129 Brewster Shaw STS-9
130 Robert Parker STS-9
131 Byron Lichtenberg STS-9
132 Ulf Merbold STS-9
133 Robert Gibson STS-41B
134 Bruce McCandless STS-41B
135 Ronald McNair STS-41B
136 Robert Stewart STS-41B
137 Vladimir Solovyov Soyuz T-10
138 Oleg Atkov Soyuz T-10
139 Rakesh Sharma Soyuz T-11
140 Francis Scobee STS-41C
141 George Nelson STS-41C
142 James van Hoften STS-41C
143 Terry Hart STS-41C
144 Igor Volk Soyuz T-12
145 Michael Coats STS-41D
146 Judith Resnik STS-41D
147 Steven Hawley STS-41D
148 Richard Mullane STS-41D
149 Charles Walker STS-41D
150 Jon McBride STS-41G
151 Kathryn Sullivan STS-41G
152 David Leestma STS-41G
153 Paul Scully-Power STS-41G
154 Marc Garneau STS-41G
155 David Walker STS-51A
156 Anna Fisher STS-51A
157 Loren Shriver STS-51C
158 Ellison Onizuka STS-51C
159 James Buchli STS-51C
160 Gary Payton STS-51C
161 Donald Williams STS-51D
162 Margaret Seddon STS-51D
163 Jeffrey Hoffman STS-51D
164 David Griggs STS-51D
165 Jake Garn STS-51D
166 Frederick Gregory STS-51B
167 Don Lind STS-51B
168 Lodewijk van den Berg STS-51B
169 Taylor Wang STS-51B
170 John Creighton STS-51G
171 Shannon Lucid STS-51G
172 Steven Nagel STS-51G
173 Patrick Baudry STS-51G
174 Sultan Al-Saud STS-51G
175 Roy Bridges STS-51F
176 Karl Henize STS-51F
177 Anthony England STS-51F
178 Loren Acton STS-51F
179 John-David Bartoe STS-51F
180 Richard Covey STS-51I
181 John Lounge STS-51I
182 William Fisher STS-51I
183 Vladimir Vasyutin Soyuz T-14
184 Alexander Volkov Soyuz T-14
185 Ronald Grabe STS-51J
186 David Hilmers STS-51J
187 William Pailes STS-51J
188 Bonnie Dunbar STS-61A
189 Reinhard Furrer STS-61A
190 Ernst Messerschmid STS-61A
191 Wubbo Ockels STS-61A
192 Bryan O'Connor STS-61B
193 Mary Cleave STS-61B
194 Sherwood Spring STS-61B
195 Jerry Ross STS-61B
196 Rodolfo Neri Vela STS-61B
197 William Nelson STS-61C
198 Franklin Chang-Diaz STS-61C
199 Robert Cenker STS-61C
200 Charles Bolden STS-61C
201 Alexander Laveikhin Soyuz TM-2
202 Alexander Viktorenko Soyuz TM-3
203 Muhammed Faris Soyuz TM-3
204 Musa Manarov Soyuz TM-4
205 Anatoli Levchenko Soyuz TM-4
206 Anatoli Solovyov Soyuz TM-5
207 Alexander Alexandrov Soyuz TM-5
208 Valeri Polyakov Soyuz TM-6
209 Abdul Ahad Mohmand Soyuz TM-6
210 Sergei Krikalev Soyuz TM-7
211 Guy Gardner STS-27
212 William Shepherd STS-27
213 John Blaha STS-29
214 James Bagian STS-29
215 Robert Springer STS-29
216 Mark Lee STS-30
217 Richard Richards STS-28
218 James Adamson STS-28
219 Mark Brown STS-28
220 Michael McCulley STS-34
221 Ellen Baker STS-34
222 Manley Carter STS-33
223 Kathryn Thornton STS-33
224 James Wetherbee STS-32
225 David Low STS-32
226 Marsha Ivins STS-32
227 Alexander Balandin Soyuz TM-9
228 John Casper STS-36
229 Pierre Thuot STS-36
230 Gennadi Manakov Soyuz TM-10
231 Robert Cabana STS-41
232 Bruce Melnick STS-41
233 Thomas Akers STS-41
234 Frank Culbertson STS-38
235 Carl Meade STS-38
236 Charles Gemar STS-38
237 Samuel Durrance STS-35
238 Ronald Parise STS-35
239 Viktor Afanasyev Soyuz TM-11
240 Toyohiro Akiyama Soyuz TM-11
241 Kenneth Cameron STS-37
242 Jerome Apt STS-37
243 Linda Godwin STS-37
244 Blaine Hammond STS-39
245 Gregory Harbaugh STS-39
246 Donald McMonagle STS-39
247 Charles Lacy Veach STS-39
248 Richard Hieb STS-39
249 Anatoli Artsebarski Soyuz TM-12
250 Helen Sharman Soyuz TM-12
251 Sidney Gutierrez STS-40
252 Tamara Jernigan STS-40
253 Andrew Gaffney STS-40
254 Millie Hughes-Fulford STS-40
255 Michael Baker STS-43
256 Kenneth Reightler STS-48
257 Tokhtar Aubakirov Soyuz TM-13
258 Franz Viehböck Soyuz TM-13
259 Terence Henricks STS-44
260 Mario Runco STS-44
261 James Voss STS-44
262 Thomas Hennen STS-44
263 Stephen Oswald STS-42
264 William Readdy STS-42
265 Roberta Bondar STS-42
266 Alexander Kaleri Soyuz TM-14
267 Klaus-Dietrich Flade Soyuz TM-14
268 Brian Duffy STS-45
269 Michael Foale STS-45
270 Dirk Frimout STS-45
271 Kevin Chilton STS-49
272 Kenneth Bowersox STS-50
273 Lawrence DeLucas STS-50
274 Eugene Trinh STS-50
275 Sergei Avdeev Soyuz TM-15
276 Michel Tognini Soyuz TM-15
277 Andrew Allen STS-46
278 Claude Nicollier STS-46
279 Franco Malerba STS-46
280 Curtis Brown STS-47
281 Jan Davis STS-47
282 Mae Jemison STS-47
283 Mamoru Mohri STS-47
284 Steven MacLean STS-52
285 Michael Clifford STS-53
286 Susan Helms STS-54
287 Alexander Poleshchuk Soyuz TM-16
288 Kenneth Cockrell STS-56
289 Ellen Ochoa STS-56
290 Charles Precourt STS-55
291 Bernard Harris STS-55
292 Ulrich Walter STS-55
293 Hans Schlegel STS-55
294 Nancy Currie STS-57
295 Peter Wisoff STS-57
296 Janice Voss STS-57
297 Vasili Tsibliev Soyuz TM-17
298 Jean-Pierre Haigneré Soyuz TM-17
300 James Newman STS-51
300 Daniel Bursch STS-51
301 Carl Walz STS-51
302 Richard Searfoss STS-58
303 William McArthur STS-58
304 David Wolf STS-58
305 Martin Fettman STS-58
306 Yuri Usachev Soyuz TM-18
307 Ronald Sega STS-60
308 Thomas Jones STS-59
309 Yuri Malenchenko Soyuz TM-19
310 Talgat Musabayev Soyuz TM-19
311 James Halsell STS-65
312 Leroy Chiao STS-65
313 Donald Thomas STS-65
314 Chiaki Mukai STS-65
315 Jerry Linenger STS-64
316 Terrence Wilcutt STS-68
317 Steven Smith STS-68
318 Yelena Kondakova Soyuz TM-20
319 Joseph Tanner STS-66
320 Jean-Francois Clervoy STS-66
321 Scott Parazynski STS-66
322 Eileen Collins STS-63
323 William Gregory STS-67
324 John Grunsfeld STS-67
325 Wendy Lawrence STS-67
326 Vladimir Dezhurov Soyuz TM-21
327 Nikolai Budarin STS-71
328 Kevin Kregel STS-70
329 Mary Ellen Weber STS-70
330 Yuri Gidzenko Soyuz TM-22
331 Thomas Reiter Soyuz TM-22
332 Michael Gernhardt STS-69
333 Kent Rominger STS-73
334 Catherine Coleman STS-73
335 Michael Lopez-Alegria STS-73
336 Fred Leslie STS-73
337 Albert Sacco STS-73
338 Chris Hadfield STS-74
339 Brent Jett STS-72
340 Winston Scott STS-72
341 Koichi Wakata STS-72
342 Daniel Barry STS-72
343 Yuri Onufrienko Soyuz TM-23
344 Scott Horowitz STS-75
345 Maurizio Cheli STS-75
346 Umberto Guidoni STS-75
347 Andrew Thomas STS-77
348 Richard Linnehan STS-78
349 Charles Brady STS-78
350 Jean-Jacques Favier STS-78
351 Robert Thirsk STS-78
352 Valeri Korzun Soyuz TM-24
353 Claudie André-Deshays Soyuz TM-24
354 Alexander Lazutkin Soyuz TM-25
355 Reinhold Ewald Soyuz TM-25
356 Susan Kilrain STS-83
357 Roger Crouch STS-83
358 Gregory Linteris STS-83
359 Carlos Noriega STS-84
360 Edward Lu STS-84
361 Pavel Vinogradov Soyuz TM-26
362 Robert Curbeam STS-85
363 Stephen Robinson STS-85
364 Bjarni Tryggvason STS-85
365 Michael Bloomfield STS-86
366 Steven Lindsey STS-87
367 Kalpana Chawla STS-87
368 Takao Doi STS-87
369 Leonid Kadenyuk STS-87
370 Joe Edwards STS-89
371 James Reilly STS-89
372 Michael Anderson STS-89
373 Salizan Sharipov STS-89
374 Leopold Eyharts Soyuz TM-27
375 Scott Altman STS-90
376 Kathryn Hire STS-90
377 Dafydd Rhys Williams STS-90
378 Jay Buckey STS-90
379 James Pawelczyk STS-90
380 Dominic Gorie STS-91
381 Janet Kavandi STS-91
382 Gennadi Padalka Soyuz TM-28
383 Yuri Baturin Soyuz TM-28
384 Pedro Duque STS-95
385 Frederick Sturckow STS-88
386 Ivan Bella Soyuz TM-29
387 Rick Husband STS-96
388 Julie Payette STS-96
389 Valeri Tokarev STS-96
390 Jeffrey Ashby STS-93
391 Scott Kelly STS-103
392 Gerhard Thiele STS-99
393 Sergei Zalyotin Soyuz TM-30
394 Jeff Williams STS-101
395 Dan Burbank STS-106
396 Richard Mastracchio STS-106
397 Boris Morukov STS-106
398 Pamela Melroy STS-92
399 Mark Polansky STS-98
400 Paul Richards STS-102
401 James Kelly STS-102
402 John Phillips STS-100
403 Yuri Lonchakov STS-100
404 Dennis Tito Soyuz TM-32
405 Charles Hobaugh STS-104
406 Patrick Forrester STS-105
407 Mikhail Turin STS-105
408 Konstantin Kozeev Soyuz TM-33
409 Mark Kelly STS-108
410 Daniel Tani STS-108
411 Duane Carey STS-109
412 Michael Massimino STS-109
413 Steven Frick STS-110
414 Rex Walheim STS-110
415 Lee Morin STS-110
416 Roberto Vittori Soyuz TM-34
417 Mark Shuttleworth Soyuz TM-34
418 Paul Lockhart STS-111
419 Phillipe Perrin STS-111
420 Peggy Whitson STS-111
421 Sergei Treschev STS-111
422 Sandra Magnus STS-112
423 Piers Sellers STS-112
424 Fyodor Yurchikin STS-112
425 Frank DeWinne Soyuz TMA-1
426 John Herrington STS-113
427 Don Pettit STS-113
428 Willie McCool STS-107
429 David Brown STS-107
430 Laurel Clark STS-107
431 Ilan Ramon STS-107
432 Yang Liwei Shenzhou 5
433 Michael Fincke Soyuz TMA-4
434 Andre Kuipers Soyuz TMA-4
435 Mike Melvill SS1-15P
436 Brian Binnie SS1-17P
437 Yuri Shargin Soyuz TMA-5
438 Charles Camarda STS-114
439 Soichi Noguchi STS-114
440 Greg Olsen Soyuz TMA-7
441 Fei Junlong Shenzhou 6
442 Nie Haisheng Shenzhou 6
443 Marcos Pontes Soyuz TMA-8
444 Mike Fossum STS-121
445 Lisa Nowak STS-121
446 Stephanie Wilson STS-121
447 Chris Ferguson STS-115
448 Heide Stefanyshyn-Piper STS-115
449 Anousheh Ansari Soyuz TMA-9
450 William Oefelein STS-116
451 Nicholas Patrick STS-116
452 Christer Fuglesang STS-116
453 Joan Higginbotham STS-116
454 Sunita Williams STS-116
455 Oleg Kotov Soyuz TMA-10
456 Charles Simonyi Soyuz TMA-10
457 Lee Archambault STS-117
458 Steven Swanson STS-117
459 John Olivas STS-117
460 Clayton Anderson STS-117
461 Tracy Caldwell STS-118
462 Barbara Morgan STS-118
463 Alvin Drew STS-118
464 Muszaphar Shukor Soyuz TMA-11
465 George Zamka STS-120
466 Doug Wheelock STS-120
467 Paolo Nespoli STS-120
468 Alan Poindexter STS-122
469 Leland Melvin STS-122
470 Stanley Love STS-122
471 Gregory H. Johnson STS-123
472 Robert Behnken STS-123
473 Michael Foreman STS-123
474 Garrett Reisman STS-123
475 Sergei Volkov Soyuz TMA-12
476 Oleg Kononenko Soyuz TMA-12
477 Yi Soyeon Soyuz TMA-12
478 Kenneth Ham STS-124
479 Karen Nyberg STS-124
480 Ronald Garan STS-124
481 Akihiko Hoshide STS-124
482 Gregory Chamitoff STS-124
483 Liu Boming Shenzhou 7
484 Zhai Zhigang Shenzhou 7
485 Jing Haipeng Shenzhou 7
486 Richard Garriott Soyuz TMA-13
487 Eric Boe STS-126
488 Stephen Bowen STS-126
489 Robert Kimbrough STS-126
490 Tony Antonelli STS-119
491 Joseph Acaba STS-119
492 Richard Arnold STS-119
493 Michael Barratt Soyuz TMA-14
494 Gregory C. Johnson STS-125
495 Michael Good STS-125
496 Megan McArthur STS-125
497 Andrew Feustel STS-125
498 Roman Romanenko Soyuz TMA-15
499 Douglas Hurley STS-127
500 Christopher Cassidy STS-127
501 Thomas Marshburn STS-127
502 Timothy Kopra STS-127


* With the exception of the 100th, 200th, 300th, 400th and 500th positions, flight orders for those tied with others on the same mission are not specific as listed.