History of Space Flight

V-2 Rocket

1944

Germans launch the V-2 rocket becoming the first rocket to reach space (Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA)

Chuck Yeager

Oct 14, 1947

Chuck Yeager breaks the sound barrier (Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY)

Sputnik

Oct 4, 1957

Sputnik 1 is launched by the Soviet Union (Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND)

First Human in Space

Apr 12, 1961

Yuri Gagarin becomes the first human to travel to outer space (Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND)

First American in Space

May 5, 1961

Alan Shepard becomes the first US born person in space (Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA)

First American orbit of Earth

Feb 20, 1962

John Glenn orbits the earth 3 times (This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA)

First Woman in Space

Jun 16, 1963

Valentina Tereshkova becomes the first woman in space (This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY)

First crewed spaceflight

Oct 12, 1964

First crewed spaceflight with a multi-crewed vehicle done by the Soviet Union

First Space Walk

Mar 18, 1965

Alexei Leonov performs the first human spacewalk

First American to make a space walk

Jun 3, 1965

Ed White becomes the first American to make a space walk as part of Project Gemini (This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA)

First human orbit of the moon

Dec 21, 1968

Apollo 8 becomes the first spaceflight to leave earth orbit and orbit the moon

First foot steps on the Moon

Jul 20, 1969

Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin become the first to set foot on the Moon (This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY)

First Space Station

Apr 19, 1971

Salyut 1 becomes the first crewed space station in earth orbit and runs from 1971 to 1986.

International Space Station

2000

First crew member arrives on the ISS (This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA)