Astronaut Buzz Aldrin was one of the first people to walk on the moon. He and flight commander Neil Armstrong made the Apollo 11 moonwalk in 1969.
1930-
Astronaut, military pilot, and educator, Neil Armstrong made history on July 20, 1969, by becoming the first man to walk on the moon.
1930-2012
Bluford became the first African American to travel in space in 1983, as a mission specialist aboard the space shuttle Challenger.
1942-
When the space shuttle Columbia blasted off on July 23, 1999, pilot Eileen Collins became NASA's first female shuttle commander.
1956-
Michael Collins is a former astronaut who was part of the Gemini 10 and Apollo 11 missions, the latter of which included the first lunar landing in history.
1930-
Christopher Ferguson became famous when NASA selected him to fly aboard Atlantis on the last ever space shuttle launch.
1961-
Yuri Gagarin was a Soviet cosmonaut who in 1961 became the first man to travel into space
1934-1968
John Glenn was the first U.S. astronaut to orbit Earth, completing three orbits in 1962. He has also served as an Ohio senator.
1921-
Gus Grissom transitioned from successful Air Force test pilot to NASA astronaut, despite a controversial landing in the Liberty Bell 7.
1926-1967
Chris Hadfield is a pioneering Canadian astronaut who became a global celebrity through his Twitter feed while aboard the International Space Station in 2013.
1959-
Doctor Mae C. Jemison is the first African-American woman ever to be a U.S. astronaut. In 1992, she flew into space aboard the Endeavour.
1956-
Jim Lovell is a former U.S. astronaut who commanded NASA's nearly disastrous Apollo 13 flight to the moon.
1928-
Barbara Morgan was the first teacher-astronaut to complete a shuttle mission on board the Endeavor in 2007.
1951-
1959-
Selected by NASA in 1990, Ellen Ochoa became the world's first Hispanic female astronaut in 1991.
1958-
In 1983, astronaut and astrophysicist Sally Ride became the first American woman in space aboard the space shuttle Challenger. Ride died on July 23, 2012 at the age of 61, following a battle with pancreatic cancer.
1951-2012
Alan Shepard became one of the original seven Mercury program astronauts in 1959. He later commanded the Apollo 14 flight.
1923-1998