On May 5 , 1961 which astronaut became the first American in space aboard " Freedom 7 " , launched by a Redstone booster on a 15 - minute ballistic ( suborbital ) flight ?
The longest period of continuous human presence in space is on the International Space Station , exceeding the previous record of almost 10 years ( or 3,634 days ) held by Mir , spanning the launch of Soyuz TM-8 on 5 September 1989 to the landing of Soyuz TM-29 on 28 August 1999 .