Space

7 published verified records

JWR VerifiedFounding Record

Space · Human Spaceflightfarthest

Farthest Distance from Earth Reached by a Jewish Woman

Record holder

Record value

428.9 kilometers

On 27 August 2026, a Cygnus XL reboost raised the International Space Station to an apogee of 266.5 statute miles, approximately 428.9 kilometers. Jessica Meir was aboard the station as part of Expedition 75, so she physically reached that maximum orbital altitude. JWR compares documented apogees on a like-for-like basis rather than mixing average altitude, perigee or launch trajectory values. Earlier missions flown by verified Jewish women were screened, including flights by Marsha Ivins, Judith Resnik and Ellen Baker. Their published maximum orbital values remained below the 2026 ISS apogee. The resulting record is a precise example of how a station reboost can create a new human altitude mark even without a new launch.

Country represented: United States
Achievement location: United States
Achievement date: 27 August 2026

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JWR VerifiedFounding Record

Space · Human SpaceflightFirst

First Jewish Person in Space

Record holder

Boris Volynov

Record value

15 January 1969

Boris Volynov became the first Jewish person to travel into outer space on 15 January 1969. He achieved this as commander of an orbital human spaceflight aboard the Soviet Union's Soyuz 5 mission, which lasted until 18 January 1969. NASA's historical human-spaceflight tables confirm the Soyuz 5 launch date and list Boris V. Volynov as a member of the crew.

Country represented: Soviet Union
Achievement location: Soviet Union
Achievement date: 15 January 1969

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JWR VerifiedFounding Record

Space · Human SpaceflightFirst

First Jewish Person to Command a Crewed Space Mission

Record holder

Boris Volynov

Record value

15 January 1969

When Soyuz 5 launched on 15 January 1969, Boris Volynov was its commander. The mission participated in the first docking of two crewed spacecraft and a crew transfer between them, while Volynov remained aboard Soyuz 5 for a famously difficult return to Earth. Contemporary Jewish reporting identified him as Jewish through his mother and explicitly described him as the Soyuz 5 commander. Because the same chronology establishes Volynov as the first Jewish person to reach space, the command claim has a particularly strong logical boundary: no earlier Jewish space traveler existed who could have commanded a crewed mission. JWR therefore recognizes Volynov as the first Jewish person to command a crewed space mission.

Country represented: Soviet Union
Achievement location: Soviet Union
Achievement date: 15 January 1969

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JWR VerifiedFounding Record

Space · Space StationsFirst

First Jewish Person to Live Aboard a Space Station

Record holder

Boris Volynov

Record value

7 July 1976

Boris Volynov of the Soviet Union became the first Jewish person to reside aboard an operational crewed space station on 7 July 1976. As commander of the Soyuz 21 mission, he docked with the Salyut 5 station and commenced his residence on that date. NASA’s historical Salyut mission account and other spaceflight chronologies record the docking and a total mission duration of 49 days in space. Volynov’s time aboard the station concluded with the mission’s undocking and landing on 24 August 1976.

Country represented: Soviet Union
Achievement location: Soviet Union
Achievement date: 7 July 1976

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JWR VerifiedFounding Record

Space · Human SpaceflightFirst

First Jewish Woman in Space

Record holder

Judith Resnik

Record value

First Jewish woman to travel into outer space

Judith Resnik became the first Jewish woman to travel into outer space on 30 August 1984. The record was achieved during her flight as a mission specialist on the maiden voyage of the Space Shuttle Discovery, mission STS-41D. According to official NASA records, the orbital human spaceflight launched on 30 August 1984 and concluded with its landing on 5 September 1984.

Country represented: United States
Achievement location: United States
Achievement date: 30 August 1984

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JWR VerifiedFounding Record

Space · Human SpaceflightFirst

First Torah Reading in Space

Record holder

Jeffrey Hoffman

Record value

2 March 1996

On 2 March 1996, during Space Shuttle Columbia mission STS-75, Jewish-American astronaut Jeffrey Hoffman read from a small Torah scroll while orbiting Earth. The scroll had been arranged through his Houston Jewish community and was light enough to fly aboard the Shuttle. Hoffman read from Genesis on Shabbat, creating a documented milestone in Jewish religious life beyond Earth. The act became the centerpiece of the later Space Torah Project, which preserved Hoffman's footage, photographs and the story of the congregation that helped make the flight possible. NASA identifies STS-75 as a Columbia flight that launched on 22 February 1996 and returned on 9 March. Its principal scientific payloads included the Tethered Satellite System and the United States Microgravity Payload. The Torah reading therefore took place during a research mission, rather than a flight organized primarily for a religious ceremony.

Country represented: United States
Achievement location: Earth orbit, United States
Achievement date: 2 March 1996

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JWR VerifiedFounding Record

Space · Human Spaceflightlongest cumulative duration

Longest Cumulative Time in Space by a Jewish Man

Record holder

Gregory Chamitoff

Record value

198 days 18 hours 2 minutes

Gregory Chamitoff’s record is built primarily on his six-month residence aboard the International Space Station in 2008, followed by a return to orbit on STS-134 in 2011. Combined, his completed missions total 198 days, 18 hours and 2 minutes. The metric is cumulative elapsed time in space, not number of flights or time on a single mission. JWR compared Chamitoff with other documented Jewish male space travelers, including David Wolf, Garrett Reisman, Jeffrey Hoffman and Boris Volynov. His total remains the highest verified completed cumulative duration for a Jewish man. The record also reflects the transition from short Shuttle missions to long-duration habitation aboard the ISS.

Country represented: United States
Achievement location: United States
Achievement date: 1 June 2011

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