List of astronauts by year of selection

:Fourteen pilots were directly involved with the X-15, although only twelve actually flew the vehicles. There was no formal selection process, since everyone chosen was already a qualified test pilot. :Scott Crossfield and Alvin White were the prime and backup North American Aviation test pilots who first became involved with the project. Air Force Captains Iven Kincheloe (prime pilot) and Robert White (backup) were assigned to the X-15 in 1957. When Kincheloe was killed in an accident through a different rocket aircraft program, White became prime pilot and Captain Robert Rushworth became his backup. The first NASA pilots were Joseph Walker and Neil Armstrong. Lieutenant Commander Forrest S. Petersen represented the Navy. :Walker and Armstrong were eventually replaced by NASA pilots John B. McKay (1960), Milton Thompson (1963) and William H. Dana (1965). White and Rushworth were succeeded by Captain Joe Engle (1963), Captain William Joseph Knight (1964) and Major Michael Adams (1966). The Navy selected Lieutenant Lloyd Hoover (1924–2016) as Peterson's replacement, though he never trained or flew. :The last surviving member of this group was Joe Engle; he died in 2024. ==1958==

June 25 – Man in Space Soonest (USA) :Neil Armstrong, William B. Bridgeman, Albert S. Crossfield, Iven C. Kincheloe, John B. McKay, Robert A. Rushworth, Joseph A. Walker, Alvin S. White, and Robert M. White. :Nine test pilots from the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), the United States Air Force (USAF), North American Aviation (NAA), and Douglas Aircraft Corporation were selected for the Man in Space Soonest project, a USAF initiative to put a man in space before the Soviet Union did. The project was cancelled on August 1, but two of these men would later reach space: Walker made two X-15 flights above 100 kilometers in 1963; and Neil Armstrong joined NASA in 1962 and flew in Project Gemini and Apollo, becoming the first human to set foot on the Moon at 02:56 UTC July 21, 1969. :The last surviving member of this group was Neil Armstrong; he died in 2012. ==1959==

'April 9 – NASA Group 1 – Mercury Seven (USA)' :Scott Carpenter, Gordon Cooper, John Glenn, Gus Grissom, Wally Schirra, Alan Shepard and Deke Slayton. :The first group of astronauts selected by NASA were for Project Mercury in April 1959. All seven were military test pilots, a requirement specified by President Eisenhower to simplify the selection process. All seven eventually flew in space, although one, Deke Slayton, did not fly a Mercury mission due to a medical disqualification, instead flying a decade later on the Apollo–Soyuz mission. The other six each flew one Mercury mission. For two of these, Scott Carpenter and John Glenn, the Mercury mission was their only flight in the Mercury/Gemini/Apollo era. Glenn later flew on the Space Shuttle. :Three of the Mercury astronauts, Gus Grissom, Gordon Cooper and Wally Schirra, also each flew a mission during the Gemini program. Alan Shepard was slated to fly Mercury 10 before its cancellation and was the original commander for the Gemini 3 mission, but did not fly due to a medical disqualification. After surgery to correct the problem, he later flew as commander of Apollo 14. He was the only Mercury astronaut to go to the Moon. :Wally Schirra was the only astronaut to fly into space on all three types of spacecraft, though Gus Grissom was scheduled to be first to complete that feat before he died in a fire on Apollo 1 during launchpad training. Gordon Cooper was a backup commander for Apollo 10, the "dress rehearsal" flight for the lunar landing, and would have commanded another mission—likely to have been Apollo 13, according to the crew rotation—but was bumped from the rotation after a disagreement with NASA management. :Collectively, at least one member of the Mercury Seven flew on every NASA class of human-rated spacecraft (but neither the Skylab nor ISS space stations) through the end of the 20th century: Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, and the Space Shuttle. :The last surviving member of this group was John Glenn; he died in 2016. ==1960==

March 7 – Air Force Group 1 (USSR) :ru:Первый отряд космонавтов СССР :Ivan Anikeyev, Pavel Belyayev, Valentin Bondarenko, Valery Bykovsky, Valentin Filatyev, Yuri Gagarin, Viktor Gorbatko, Anatoli Kartashov, Yevgeny Khrunov, Vladimir Komarov, Alexei Leonov, Grigori Nelyubov, Andrian Nikolayev, Pavel Popovich, Mars Rafikov, Georgi Shonin, Gherman Titov, Valentin Varlamov, Boris Volynov, and Dmitri Zaikin. :The initial group of Soviet cosmonauts was chosen from Soviet Air Force jet pilots. :As of 2026, the only surviving member is Boris Volynov. April – Dyna–Soar Group 1 (USA) :Neil Armstrong, William H. Dana, Henry C. Gordon, Pete Knight, Russell L. Rogers, Milt Thompson, and James W. Wood. :In April 1960, seven men were secretly chosen for the Dyna-Soar program. Armstrong had previously been part of the MISS program. Armstrong and Dana left the program in the summer of 1962. :The last surviving member of this group was William H. Dana; he died in 2014. ==1962==

March 12 – Female Group (USSR) :ru:Женская группа космонавтов ВВС (1962) :Tatyana Kuznetsova, Valentina Ponomaryova, Irina Solovyova, Valentina Tereshkova, and Zhanna Yorkina. :On March 12, 1962, a group of five civilian women with parachuting experience was added to the cosmonaut training program. Only Tereshkova would fly. A leading Soviet high-altitude parachutist, 20-year-old Tatyana Kuznetsova was, and remains, the youngest person ever selected to train for spaceflight. 'September 17 – NASA Group 2 – The Next Nine, aka The Nifty Nine, The New Nine (USA)' :Neil Armstrong, Frank Borman, Pete Conrad, Jim Lovell, Jim McDivitt, Elliot See, Tom Stafford, Ed White, and John Young. :A second group of nine astronauts was selected by NASA in September 1962. All of this group flew missions in the Gemini program except Elliot See, who died in a flight accident while preparing for the Gemini 9 flight. All of the others also flew on Apollo, except for Ed White, who died in the Apollo 1 launchpad fire. :Three of this group, McDivitt, Borman and Armstrong, made single flights in both Gemini and Apollo. Four others, Young, Lovell, Stafford and Conrad, each made two flights in Gemini and at least one flight in Apollo. Young and Lovell both made two Apollo flights. Conrad and Stafford also made second flights in Apollo spacecraft, Conrad on Skylab 2 and Stafford in Apollo–Soyuz. :Six of this group, Borman, Lovell, Stafford, Young, Armstrong and Conrad, made flights to the Moon. Lovell and Young went to the Moon twice. Armstrong, Conrad, and Young walked on the Moon. McDivitt was later Apollo Program Director and became the first general officer and would have been either the prime LM Pilot or backup commander for Apollo 14, but left NASA due to a conflict between Alan Shepard and Deke Slayton. John Young also later flew on the Space Shuttle (STS-1 and STS-9) and would retire from NASA in 2004, 42 years after becoming an astronaut. He was both the first and last of his group to go into space. :The last surviving member of this group was Jim Lovell; he died in 2025. September 19 – Dyna-Soar Group 2 (USA) :On September 19, 1962, Albert Crews was added to the Dyna-Soar program and the names of the six active Dyna-Soar astronauts were announced to the public. :The last surviving member of this group was Albert Crews; he died in 2025. ==1963==

January 10 – Air Force Group 2 (USSR) :ru:2-й набор космонавтов ЦПК ВВС (1963) :Yuri Artyukhin, , Lev Dyomin, Georgy Dobrovolsky, Anatoly Filipchenko, Aleksei Gubarev, , Pyotr Kolodin, , , , Vladimir Shatalov, , , Vitaly Zholobov 'October 17, 1963 – NASA Group 3 – The Fourteen (USA)' :Buzz Aldrin, William Anders, Charles Bassett, Alan Bean, Eugene Cernan, Roger Chaffee, Michael Collins, Walter Cunningham, Donn Eisele, Theodore Freeman, Richard Gordon, Russell Schweickart, David Scott, Clifton Williams :While four members of Group 3 died in accidents before ever reaching space—Chaffee in the Apollo 1 fire, Bassett, Freeman and Williams in crashes of NASA T-38 jet trainers—the other ten all flew on the Apollo program. Aldrin, Bean, Cernan and Scott walked on the Moon. Five of them: Aldrin, Cernan, Collins, Gordon and Scott also flew missions during the Gemini program. Cernan would be the only astronaut from this group to fly to the Moon twice, being assigned to both Apollo 10 and Apollo 17, while Bean would command the Skylab 3 mission. ==1964==

January 25 – Air Force Group 2 Supplemental (USSR) :Georgi Beregovoi (1921–1995) May 26 – Voskhod Group – Medical Group 1 (USSR) :ru:Набор космонавтов для полёта на корабле «Восход» (1964) :, Georgy Katys, Vasili Lazarev, Boris Polyakov (1938–2021), Aleksei Sorokin, Boris Yegorov :The last surviving member of this group is Boris Polyakov. June 11 – Civilian Specialist Group 1 (USSR) :Konstantin Feoktistov (1926–2009) ==1965==

June 1 – Journalist Group 1 (USSR) :In 1965, three civilian journalists, Yaroslav Golovanov, , , were selected for cosmonaut training in preparation for flight on a Voskhod mission. When the Voskhod program was canceled, Golovanov and Letunov were dismissed. Rebrov, on the other hand, stayed with the space program as a journalist until 1974. :The last surviving member of this group was Yaroslav Golovanov; he died in 2003. June 1 – Medical Group 2 (USSR) :Three physicians were selected for the long-duration Voskhod flights: Yevgeni Illyin (born 1937), Aleksandr Kiselyov (born 1934), Yuri Senkevich. All were subsequently canceled to make way for the Soviet Moon program and dismissed at the beginning of the following year. 'June 28 – NASA Group 4 – The Scientists (USA)' :Owen Garriott, Edward Gibson, Duane Graveline, Joseph Kerwin, Curt Michel, Harrison Schmitt :Graveline and Michel left NASA without flying in space. Schmitt walked on the Moon with Apollo 17. Garriott, Gibson and Kerwin all flew to Skylab. Garriott also flew on Space Shuttle flight STS-9, becoming the first Amateur radio operator (callsign W5LFL) to operate from orbit. October 28 – Air Force Group 3 (USSR) :ru:3-й набор космонавтов ЦПК ВВС (1965) :, Vladimir Degtyarov (born 1932), , Yuri Glazkov, , , Leonid Kizim, Pyotr Klimuk, , , , , , Valery Rozhdestvensky, Gennadi Sarafanov, Ansar Sharafutdinov (born 1939), , Aleksandr Skvortsov (1942–2024), , , , Vyacheslav Zudov :This cosmonaut group was selected for participation in five separate Soyuz programmes that the USSR was running. These included military programs—with and without the Almaz/Salyut space stations—and two lunar programs, only one of which aimed at an actual lunar landing. In the end, only the orbital program and the space station program went ahead. Few of the cosmonauts from this group ever were given the chance to fly. November – USAF MOL Group 1 (USA) :Michael J. Adams, Albert H. Crews Jr., John L. Finley, Richard E. Lawyer, Lachlan Macleay, Francis G. Neubeck, James M. Taylor, Richard H. Truly. :This group was selected for training for the US Air Force's Manned Orbiting Laboratory (MOL) program. Of this group, only Truly transferred to NASA after the cancellation of the MOL program and later flew on the Space Shuttle. In 1989, Truly became the first astronaut to be NASA Administrator. ==1966==

April 4 – NASA Group 5 (USA) :Vance Brand, John S. Bull, Gerald Carr, Charles Duke, Joseph Engle, Ronald Evans, Edward Givens, Fred Haise, James Irwin, Don Lind, Jack Lousma, Ken Mattingly, Bruce McCandless II, Edgar Mitchell, William Pogue, Stuart Roosa, Jack Swigert, Paul Weitz, Alfred Worden. :Veteran astronaut John Young christened this group the "Original Nineteen", in parody of the original seven Mercury astronauts. Roughly half of them flew in the Apollo program, while others flew during Skylab and the Space Shuttle, with Brand also flying on the American half of the Apollo–Soyuz Test Project in 1975. Engle was the only NASA astronaut to have earned his astronaut wings before his selection. :Two of this group never flew into space: Givens was killed in a car accident in 1967, and Bull resigned from the Astronaut Corps in 1968 after discovering he had pulmonary disease. Engle, Lind, and McCandless were the only ones from this group who never flew an Apollo spacecraft; Brand, Haise, Lousma, Mattingly, and Weitz all flew both an Apollo and a Shuttle (though Haise only flew the Approach and Landing Tests in the Shuttle program, not into space). May 23 – Civilian Specialist Group 2 (USSR) :Sergei Anokhin, Vladimir Bugrov, Gennadi Dolgopolov, Georgi Grechko, Valeri Kubasov, Oleg Makarov, Vladislav Volkov, Aleksei Yeliseyev June 30 – USAF MOL Group 2 (USA) :Karol Bobko, Robert Crippen, Gordon Fullerton, Henry Hartsfield, Robert Overmyer. :This group was selected for training for the US Air Force's MOL program. All transferred to NASA after the MOL program was canceled and all five flew on the Space Shuttle as pilot astronauts. :As of 2024, the only surviving member is Robert Crippen. September – Military Cosmonaut Group (USSR) :Pavel Popovich, Alexei Gubarev, Yuri Artyukhin, Vladimir Gulyaev, Boris Belousov, and Gennadiy Kolesnikov. :Cosmonaut training for the Soyuz 7K-VI Zvezda program, a radically modified Soyuz. In December 1967, the project was closed. 1966–67 – Military Cosmonaut Group (USSR) :Cosmonauts training for aerospace system Project "Spiral", 1969, the 4th Division of the 1st Cosmonaut Training Center Management: :Gherman Titov (1966–70), Anatoly Kuklin (1966–67), Vasily Lazarev (1966–67), Anatoly Filipchenko (1966–67), Leonid Kizim (1969–73), Vladimir Kozelskiy (August 1969 – October 1971) Vladimir Lyakhov (1969–73), Yury Malyshev (1969–73), Alexander Petrushenko (1970–73), Anatoly Berezovoy (1972–73), Anatoly Dedkov (1972–73), Vladimir Dzhanibekov (July–December 1972), Yuri Romanenko (1972), and Lev Vorobyov (1973). In 1973, the department was disbanded in connection with the termination of the project. ==1967==

January 31 – Civilian Specialist Group 2 Supplemental (USSR) :Nikolai Rukavishnikov and Vitali Sevastyanov. :The last surviving member of this group was Vitali Sevastyanov; he died in 2010. February – Soviet crewed lunar programs cosmonauts in two training groups (USSR) :First group: commanded by Vladimir Komarov (Gagarin, Nikolayev, Bykovskiy, Khrunov; Engineer – Cosmonauts: Gorbatko, Grechko, Sevastyanov, Kubasov, Volkov). :Second group: commanded by Alexei Leonov (Popovich, Belyayev, Volynov, Klimuk; Engineer – Cosmonauts: Makarov, Voronov, Rukavishnikov, Artyukhin). May 7 – Air Force Group 4 (USSR) :ru:4-й набор космонавтов ЦПК ВВС (1967) :, , , , Vladimir Isakov (born 1940), Vladimir Kovalyonok, Vladimir Kozelsky (born 1942), Vladimir Lyakhov, Yuri Malyshev, Viktor Pisarev (born 1941), , May 22 – Academy of Sciences Group (USSR) :Mars Fathulin, Rudolf Gulyayev, Ordinard Kolomitsev, Vsevolod Yegorov, Valentin Yershov June – USAF MOL Group 3 (USA) :James Abrahamson, Robert Herres, Robert H. Lawrence Jr, and Donald Peterson. :This group was selected for training for the US Air Force's MOL program. Lawrence was the first African-American to be chosen as an astronaut, but was killed in a jet accident before the MOL program was canceled in 1969. Had Lawrence not died, he would have been, if accepted by NASA, the first African-American astronaut candidate, predating Guion Bluford, Ronald McNair and Frederick Gregory by nine years. Peterson transferred to NASA in 1969 after the MOL cancellation and would fly on the Space Shuttle. Herres would later become the first Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under the Goldwater–Nichols Act in 1987. :As of 2023, the only surviving member is James Abrahamson. 'October 4 – NASA Group 6 – XS-11 (The Excess Eleven) (USA)' :Joseph Allen, Philip Chapman, Anthony W. England, Karl Henize, Donald Holmquest, William B. Lenoir, Anthony Llewellyn, Story Musgrave, Brian O'Leary, Robert Parker, William Thornton. :This second group of scientist-astronauts were assigned as support crew members for the last three Apollo missions or as backup crew members for Skylab. :Chapman, Holmquest, Llewellyn, and O'Leary resigned from NASA before the end of the Apollo program, and the rest of the group members eventually flew as mission specialists during the Space Shuttle program. With his flight on STS-80 at the age of 61, Musgrave held the title of "oldest astronaut" prior to John Glenn's second flight and subsequently Don Pettit’s most recent flight. England resigned from NASA in 1972 but rejoined the astronaut corps in 1979. ==1968==

May 27 – Civilian Specialist Group 3 (USSR) :Vladimir Fartushny, Viktor Patsayev, Valeri Yazdovsky ==1969==

August 14 – NASA Group 7 (USA) :Karol Bobko, Robert Crippen, Gordon Fullerton, Henry Hartsfield, Robert Overmyer, Donald H. Peterson, Richard Truly. :This group is all USAF MOL astronauts who transferred to NASA after the cancellation of the MOL program in 1969. All flew on early Space Shuttle flights. Truly, in 1989, would become the first astronaut to be NASA Administrator, holding the post until 1992. :As of July 2024, the final surviving member of this group is Robert Crippen. September 10 – Civilian Engineer Group (USSR) :Anatoli Demyanenko, Valeri Makrushin, and Dmitri Yuyukov. ==1970==

April 27 – Air Force Group 5 (USSR) :ru:5-й набор космонавтов ЦПК ВВС (1970) :Anatoli Berezovoi, Aleksandr Dedkov, Vladimir Dzhanibekov, Nikolai Fefelov, Valeri Illarianov, Yuri Isaulov, Vladimir Kozlov, Leonid Popov, Yuri Romanenko ==1971==

February 25 – 1971 Scientific Group (USSR) :Gurgen Ivanyan May – Shuguang Group 1970 (China) :Chai Hongliang, Dong Xiaohai, Du Jincheng, Fang Guojun, Hu Zhanzi, Li Shichang, Liu Chongfu, Liu Zhongyi, Lu Xiangxiao, Ma Zizhong, Meng Senlin, Shao Zhijian, Wang Fuhe, Wang Fuquan, Wang Quanbo, Wang Rongsen, Wang Zhiyue, Yu Guilin, Zhang Ruxiang ==1972==

March 22 – Civilian Specialist Group 4 (USSR) :Boris Andreyev, Valentin Lebedev, Yuri Ponomaryov March 22 – Medical Group 3 – USSR :ru:Отряд космонавтов ИМБП :Georgi Machinski, Valeri Polyakov, Lev Smirenny ==1973==

March 27 – Civilian Specialist Group 5 (USSR) :Vladimir Aksyonov, Vladimir Gevorkyan, Aleksandr Ivanchenkov, Valeri Romanov, Valery Ryumin, Gennady Strekalov ==1974==

January 1 – Physician Group (USSR) :Ziyadin Abuzyarov ==1976==

August 23 – Air Force Group 6 – Space shuttle Buran crew (USSR) :ru:6-й набор космонавтов ЦПК ВВС (1976) :Leonid Ivanov, Leonid Kadenyuk, Nikolai Moskalenko, Sergei Protchenko, Yevgeni Saley, Anatoly Solovyev, Vladimir Titov, Vladimir Vasyutin, Alexander Volkov Protchenko was removed from the squad for health reasons, Ivanov was killed in the crash of a MiG-27 during test pilot training and Kadenyuk was removed from the squad over marital issues (but accepted back into the Cosmonaut Detachment in 1988). Vasyutin concealed a medical condition from doctors that resulted in his falling ill during the Soyuz T-14/ Salyut 7 EO-4 flight causing the premature termination of the mission 4 months early. This resulted in more stringent cosmonaut medical checks which Moskalenko and Saley failed. November 25 – 1976 Intercosmos Group (USSR) :Mirosław Hermaszewski (Poland), Zenon Jankowski (Poland), Sigmund Jähn (East Germany), Eberhard Köllner (East Germany), Oldřich Pelčák (Czechoslovakia), Vladimír Remek (Czechoslovakia) ==1977==

IMBD (USSR) :ru:Отряд космонавтов ИМБП July 12 – The first group of test pilots for Buran – Gromov Flight Research Institute group (USSR) :Igor Volk, Oleg Grigoriyevich Kononenko, Anatoly Levchenko, Nikolai Sadovnikov, Rimantas Stankevicius, and Alexander Schukin. ==1978==

'January 16 – NASA Group 8 – TFNG Thirty-Five New Guys (USA)' :Pilots: Daniel Brandenstein, Michael Coats, Richard Covey, John Creighton, Robert Gibson, Frederick D. Gregory, Frederick Hauck, Jon McBride, Francis "Dick" Scobee, Brewster Shaw, Loren Shriver, David Walker, Donald Williams :Mission specialists: Guion Bluford, James Buchli, John Fabian, Anna Fisher, Dale Gardner, S. David Griggs, Terry Hart, Steven Hawley, Jeffrey Hoffman, Shannon Lucid, Ronald McNair, Richard Mullane, Steven Nagel, George Nelson, Ellison Onizuka, Judith Resnik, Sally Ride, Rhea Seddon, Robert Stewart, Kathryn D. Sullivan, Norman Thagard, James van Hoften :Due to the long delay between the last Apollo mission and the first flight of the Space Shuttle in 1981, few astronauts from the older groups stayed with NASA—though some did, including John Young. Thus, in 1978, a new group of 35 astronauts was selected after 9 years without new astronauts, including the first American female astronauts, with one of them, Judith Resnik, also being the first Jewish American astronaut, as well as the first African-American astronauts to fly, Guion Bluford and Frederick D. Gregory (the first black astronaut was Robert Henry Lawrence Jr), and the first Asian-American, Ellison Onizuka. Bob Stewart was the first Army astronaut to be selected (almost 19 years after the original Mercury Seven). Since then, a new group has been selected roughly every two years. :Two different astronaut groups were formed: pilots and mission specialists. Additionally, the Shuttle Program has payload specialists who are selected for a single mission and are not part of the astronaut corps—mostly scientists, with a few politicians, and many international astronauts. :Of the first of the post-Apollo group, Sally Ride would become the first American woman in space (STS-7). Later, she would fly with Kathryn Sullivan on a Shuttle flight in which Sullivan would become the first American woman to perform an EVA. Dr. Thagard, who flew with Ride on STS-7, would later become the first American to be launched on a Russian rocket (Soyuz TM-21 or "Mir-18") to the Mir space station, while Shannon Lucid would serve on Mir for slightly over six months, breaking all American space duration records (both the Skylab 4 record and Thagard's) from 1996 to 1997 until Sunita Williams, who was selected 20 years later, broke Lucid's record. :Of this group, Scobee, Resnik, Onizuka, and McNair would perish in the Challenger Disaster. Of the astronauts chosen, Anna Fisher remained on active duty the longest, retiring in 2017 (although her tenure included an extended leave of absence from 1989 to 1996), while Robert Gibson and Rhea Seddon became the first active-duty astronauts to marry (both are now retired). Shannon Lucid's tenure was unbroken from 1978 until she announced her retirement in 2012. In later years she served as a space shuttle CAPCOM, up to the final day of the final shuttle mission. After the Challenger disaster, Sally Ride would serve on both the Rogers Commission and the Columbia Accident Investigation Board. March 1 – 1978 Intercosmos Group (USSR) :Aleksandr Panayotov Aleksandrov (Bulgaria), Dumitru Dediu (Romania), Jose Lopez Falcon (Cuba), Bertalan Farkas (Hungary), Maidarjavyn Ganzorig (Mongolia), Jügderdemidiin Gürragchaa (Mongolia), Georgi Ivanov (Bulgaria), Béla Magyari (Hungary), Arnaldo Tamayo Méndez (Cuba), Dumitru Prunariu (Romania) May 1 – Spacelab Payload Specialists Group 1 (ESA) :Ulf Merbold (West Germany), Claude Nicollier (Switzerland), Wubbo Ockels (Netherlands), Franco Malerba (Italy) Air Force Group 7 (USSR) :ru:7-й набор космонавтов ЦПК ВВС (1978) ==1979==