# Total number of humans who have been in outer space?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/total-number-of-humans-who-have-been-in-outer-space/273844>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [November 9, 2004, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/total-number-of-humans-who-have-been-in-outer-space/273844 "2004-11-09T15:53:13Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Survey1215](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecb155/32.png) [@Survey1215](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Survey1215)\
**Post date:** [November 9, 2004, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/total-number-of-humans-who-have-been-in-outer-space/273844/1 "2004-11-09T15:53:13Z")

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My boss was at his church’s trivia night this weekend and this was the tiebreaker question:

‘How many humans have been in space?’

My initial response is that there is no way to know for sure since the Russians probably kept some of their missions quiet re: number of cosmonauts, etc. Naturally, the boss left w/o getting the answer. He says its at least 500, which I find to be absurdly high - even w the Mir and the other space stations, my guess would be way lower, maybe in the 100s. Who in DoperNation can help me? I tried googling for the answer but saw nothing.

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**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\
**Post date:** [November 9, 2004, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/total-number-of-humans-who-have-been-in-outer-space/273844/2 "2004-11-09T16:03:55Z")

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Your boss is closer. There is a [complete listing](http://www.worldspaceflight.com/bios/alpha_names.htm) on this page. I count 456 names, although that includes those who died in training before getting into space.

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**Author:** ![Survey1215](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecb155/32.png) [@Survey1215](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Survey1215)\
**Post date:** [November 9, 2004, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/total-number-of-humans-who-have-been-in-outer-space/273844/3 "2004-11-09T16:20:01Z")

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thanks, **Expano.** [This part of the site](http://www.worldspaceflight.com/bios/stats.htm) says either 438 or 444 people have been in space, depending on your definition.

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**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\
**Post date:** [November 9, 2004, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/total-number-of-humans-who-have-been-in-outer-space/273844/4 "2004-11-09T16:30:38Z")

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I looked for a page that gave the numbers and somehow missed the obvious one. :smack:

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**Author:** ![Crandolph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7cd45c/32.png) [@Crandolph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crandolph)\
**Post date:** [November 10, 2004, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/total-number-of-humans-who-have-been-in-outer-space/273844/5 "2004-11-10T06:47:53Z")

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:: puts on tinfoil hat::

Oh sure, in the low hundreds if you don’t count the probings!

:: removes tinfoil hat::