History of Space Travel By tops2015 Oct 4, 1957 Sputnik is launched by Soviet Union Jan 31, 1958 U.S. launches first satellite into orbit Oct 1, 1958 NASA is formed Apr 12, 1961 First man, cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, is launched into space May 5, 1961 Alan Shepard is the first American in space Feb 20, 1962 John Glenn is the first American to orbit the Earth Jun 16, 1963 Valentina Tereshkova was first woman in space Mar 18, 1965 First spacewalk by Russian Alexey Leonov Jan 27, 1967 Fire inside command module during a launch pad practice of the Apollo I mission takes lives of three astronauts Jan 20, 1969 Neil Armstrong is the first person to set foot on the moon Jul 20, 1969 Apollo 11 is the first manned landing on the moon Apr 13, 1970 Apollo 13 is crippled by explosion, all men returned safely; journey to moon is cancelled Dec 19, 1972 Apollo 17 is the last American moon landing Apr 12, 1981 Space shuttle Columbia's first launch on mission STS-1 Apr 4, 1983 Space shuttle Challenger's first launch on mission STS-6 Jun 18, 1983 Sally Ride becomes first American woman in space Aug 30, 1984 Space shuttle Discovery's first launch on mission 41-D Oct 13, 1984 Marc Garneau is the first Canadian man in space on mission STS-41-G Oct 3, 1985 Space shuttle Atlantis' first launch on mission 51-J Jan 28, 1986 Challenger explodes minutes after takeoff, killing seven crew members Apr 14, 1990 Discovery launches carrying the Hubble Space Telescope Jan 22, 1992 Roberta Bondar is the first Canadian woman in space on mission STS-42 May 7, 1992 Space shuttle Endeavour is launched on mission STS-49 Feb 1, 2003 Space shuttle Columbia breaks apart during reentry, killing all seven members of the crew Mar 9, 2011 Last landing of Discovery on mission STS-133 Jun 1, 2011 Landing of Endeavour's last mission STS-134 Jul 21, 2011 Final space shuttle landing by Atlantis STS-135 End of Space Transportation System.