Early and Late Space Exploration

By JesseF

  • First telescope

    First telescope
    First telescopic observation of the night sky: Discovery of Jupiter's moons, Lunar craters and the phases of Venus. Observation by Galileo Galilei.

  • First photo of space

    First clear telescopic photograph of another world: The Moon. Photograph was taken by William Moore

  • Liquid rocket fuel

    Robert Goddard files for and is subsequently awarded U.S. patents on multistage and liquid-fueled rockets.

  • First rocket

    First rocket
    Robert Goddard launches the first liquid-fueled rocket.

  • First space organization

    Society for Space Travel has been formed; it includes many top European rocket scientists.

  • First military rockets

    First military rockets
    First German military liquid-fueled rocket engines developed. The researcher for the rockets was a German scientist named Walter Riedel

  • First Soviet launch

    Group for the Study of Reactive Motion (GIRD) launches the first Soviet liquid-fueled rocket.

  • First space shuttle

    First vehicle to cross the Kármán line (100 km/~62 mi above the Earth's surface) and thereby enter outer space.

  • First research flight

    First space research flight (cosmic radiation experiments) by the U.S.

  • First animals

    First animals in space (fruit flies) launched by the U.S.

  • First escape velocity and discoveries

    First firing of a rocket in Earth orbit, first reaching Earth escape velocity or Trans Lunar Injection and first detection of solar wind.

  • First earth photo

    First earth photo
    First photograph of Earth from orbit taken by NASA's explorer 6.

  • First moon contact

    First moon contact
    First impact into another world (the Moon) and first delivery of national (USSR) pennants to a celestial body.

  • First rocket fire from space

    First firing of a rocket in Earth orbit, first reaching Earth escape velocity or Trans Lunar Injection and first detection of solar wind.

  • First living return

    First plants and animals to return alive from earths orbit.

  • First man in space

    First human space flight (Yuri Gagarin) and first human crewed orbital flight.

  • First planet flyby

    First planetary flyby ( within 100,000km of Venus with no data returned).

  • First moon landing

    First soft landing on another world (the moon) and first photos from another world.

  • First man on the moon

    First man on the moon
    First human landing on the moon and first space launch from another celestial body with Apollo 11.

  • First planet landing

    First soft landing on another planet (Venus) and first signals from another.

  • First reusable space craft

    First Reusable manned spacecraft (orbital). Launched by NASA and called STS-1.

  • First spacecraft out of solar system

    First spacecraft beyond the orbit of Neptune (first spacecraft to pass beyond all Solar System planets).

  • Space station

    First consistently inhabited long-term research space station(USSR) called Mir.

  • First solar system picture

    First photograph of the entire solar system.

  • First sun orbit

    First polar orbit around the Sun. Launched by NASA and ESA.

  • Longest space flight

    Record longest duration spaceflight (437.7 days) set by Valeri Polyakov.

  • First rover

    First rover
    First operational rover on another planet (Mars) launched by NASA.

  • Multinational space station

    Multinational space station
    First multinational space station, and largest man-made object built in space to date. Launched by Russia, USA, Europe, Japan, and Canada.

  • Earth search

    Earth search
    Kepler Mission is launched, first space telescope designated to search for Earth-like exoplanets. Launched by NASA.

  • Space food

    First food eaten that was grown in space (lettuce).