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Sputnik 1
the first man-made object to orbit the Earth, is launched by the U.S.S.R., and remains in orbit until January 4, 1958. -
Sputnik 2
carrying the dog Laika for 7 days in orbit, is launched by the U.S.S.R., and remains in orbit until April 13, 1958. -
Dog in space
Firat dog in space -
Explorer 1
The first U.S. satellite in orbit, lifts off at Cape Canaveral using a modified ABMA-JPL Jupiter-C rocket. It carries a scientific experiment of James A. Van Allen, and discovers the Earth's radiation belt. -
Explorer 2
Launched by a Jupiter-C rocket, and fails to reach orbit. -
Vanguard 1
satellite is launched into orbit, and continues to transmit for 3 years. -
Sputnik 3
launched by the U.S.S.R. -
Pioneer 1
U.S. - IGY space probe, launched to a height of 70,700 miles. -
N.A.S.A
N.A.S.A. is founded, taking over existing National Advisory Committee on Aeronautics. -
Luna 1
first man-made satellite to orbit the moon, is launched by the U.S.S.R. -
Pioneer 4
fourth U.S.-IGY space probe was launched by a Juno II rocket, and achieved an earth-moon trajectory, passing within 37,000 miles of the moon. It then fell into a solar orbit, becoming the first U.S. sun orbiter. -
Luna 2
Luna 2 is launched, impacting on the moon on September 13 carrying a copy of the Soviet coat of arms, and becoming the first man-made object to hit the moon. -
Luna 3
translunar satellite is launched, orbiting the moon and photographing 70 percent of the far side of the moon. -
Tiros 1
the first successful weather satellite, is launched by the U.S. -
Discoverer XIV
launches the first U.S. camera-equipped Corona spy satellite. -
Vostok 1
is launched by the U.S.S.R., carrying Cosmonaut Yuri A. Gargarin, the first man in space. He orbits the Earth once. -
Mercury Freedom 7
lifts off with John H. Glenn, Jr., the first American in orbit, and orbits the Earth three times. -
Vostok 2
launched by the U.S.S.R., carrying Cosmonaut Gherman Titov, the first day-long Soviet space flight. -
Mercury Friendship 7
lifts off with John H. Glenn, Jr., the first American in orbit, and orbits the Earth three times. -
Mercury Aurora 7
launched with M. Scott Carpenter, making three orbits. -
Telstar 1
U.S. satellite, beams the first live transatlantic telecast. -
U.S. Mariner 2
the first successful planetary spacecraft, flies past Venus, and enters a solar orbit. -
Martin Schmidt (the day of the date isnt right)
interprets the behavior of 3C 273 - the first known quasar. -
Vostok 6
carries Soviet Cosmonaut Valentia Tereshkova, the first woman in space and orbits the Earth 48 times. -
Ranger 9
transmits high-quality images of the moon, many of which were shown live in the first television spectacular about the moon. -
U.S. Ranger 7
relays the first close-range photographs of the Moon. -
First Space Walk
The first space walk is made from Soviet Voskhod 2 by Cosmonaut Alexei A. Leonov. Duration is 12 minutes. -
First Manned Flight
First manned flight of the Gemini program, Gemini 3 carrying Virgil I. Grissom and John W. Young. Made three orbits around the earth. -
Edward White II
makes the first U.S. space walk from Gemini 4. Duration is 22 minutes. -
U.S. Mariner 4
returns the first close-range images about Mars -
Venus 3
launched, becoming the first craft to impact Venus on March 1, 1966. -
Gemini 7
launched carrying Frank Borman and James A. Lovell, Jr., making 206 orbits around Earth and proving a trip to the Moon possible. -
First Space Rendezvous
American astronauts Walter Schirra, Jr. and Thomas Stafford in Gemini 6 make the first space rendezvous with Gemini 7. -
Luna 9
the first spacecraft to soft-land on the moon. -
Vernera 3
impacts on Venus, the first spacecraft to reach another planet. It fails to return data. -
Luna 10 (day of date is not right)
the first spacecraft to orbit the moon. -
Surveyor 1
launched, carrying Vladimir M. Komarov. On April 24 it crashed, killing Komarov, the first spaceflight fatality. -
U.S. Lunar Orditer 1
enters moon orbit, and takes the first picture of the Earth from the distance of the moon. -
Soviet Soyuz 1
launched, carrying Vladimir M. Komarov. On April 24 it crashed, killing Komarov, the first spaceflight fatality. -
Venera 4
sends a descent capsule into the Venusian atmosphere, returning data about its composition. -
Soviet Zond 5
launched, the first spacecraft to orbit the Moon and return. -
Apollo 7
the first manned Apollo mission with Walter M. Schirra, Jr., Donn F. Eisele, and Walter Cunningham. It orbited the earth once. -
Apollo 8
launched with Frank Borman, James A. Lovell, Jr. and William A. Anders, the first Apollo to use the Saturn V rocket, and the first manned spacecraft to orbit the Moon, making 10 orbits on its 6-day mission. -
Soyuz 4 & 5 (day of date not available)
perform the first Soviet spaceship docking, transferring Cosmonauts between vehicles. -
Apollo 11- First People to Walk on Moon
Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin, Jr. make the first manned soft landing on the Moon, and the first moonwalk, using Apollo 11. -
Mariner 6
Returns high-resolution images of the Martian surface, concentrating on the equatorial region. -
Mariner 7
returns high-resolution images of the Martian surface, concentrating on the southern hemisphere. -
Apollo 13
launched, suffering an explosion in its SM oxygen tanks. Its Moon landing is aborted, and the crew, James A. Lovell, Jr., John L. Swigert, Jr. and Fred W. Haise, Jr., return safely. -
Soviet Luna 16
launched, conducting the first successful return of lunar soil samples by an automatic spacecraft. -
Luna 17
Lands on the moon, with the first automatic robot, Lunokhod 1. Driven by a five-man team on earth, traveled over surface for 11 days. -
Soviet Venera 7
Is the first probe to soft-land on Venus, transmitting for 23 minutes. -
Apollo 14
Apollo 14 moon mission is launched by the U.S. with the legendary Alan Shepard, along with Stuart Roosa and Edgar Mitchell on board. They land in the planned Apollo 13 site, the Fra Mauro highlands, which they explore with the help of a two-wheeled cart that permits the transport of a significantly greater quantity of lunar material than previous missions. Shepard becomes the first man to hit a golf ball on the moon. -
Salyut 1
Salyut 1 space station is launched by the U.S.S.R. It remains in orbit until May 28, 1973. -
Mariner 9
The United States launches Mariner 9, which becomes the first spacecraft to survey Mars from orbit. -
Soyuz 11
Soyuz 11 carried Cosmonauts G.T. Dobrovolsky, V.N. Volkov, and V.I. Patsayev to Salyut 1, the first manned occupancy of an orbital station. However, on June 29, the Cosmonauts died upon Soyuz 11's reentry. -
Apollo 15
Apollo 15 astronauts David Scott and James Irwin drive the first moon rover. The next year, Apollo 17 astronaut Harrison Schmitt drives a similar rover. -
Mariner 9
American Mariner 9 (launched May 30, 1971) is the first spacecraft to orbit another planet, Mars. Over the next year, it maps 100 percent of the Martian surface. -
Pioneer 10
Pioneer 10 is launched on an Atlas/Centaur/TE364-4 towards Jupiter by the U.S., designed to familiarize alien life with humans. It returns the first close-up images of Jupiter in 1973. -
Pioneer 10
Pioneer 10 becomes the first man-made object to travel through the asteroid belt. -
Cignus X-1 (day of date not available)
Scientists designate Cignus X-1 as the first probable black hole. -
Pioneer 11- Jupiter
Launched on an Atlas/Centaur/TE364-4, flying past Jupiter in 1974, and Saturn in 1979, where it discovers new rings. -
Skylab
Skylab Workshop is launched by the U.S., and maintained by three crews. -
First crew to Skylab, Skylab 2 launched
First crew to Skylab, Skylab 2, are launched, repairing damage incurred to Skylab during its launch. -
Marnier 10
American Mariner 10 is launched, on the first dual-planet mission. Over the next year, it returned photographs of Venus and Mercury. -
SMS-1
NASA launches the first Synchronous Meteorological Satellite, SMS-1. -
Salyut 3
Soviet Salyut 3, their first military space station, is launched. It remains in orbit until January 1975. -
Salyut 4
Soviet Salyut 4, civilian space station, is launched. It remains in orbit until February 2, 1977. -
Venera 9 & 10 (day of date not right)
Soviet Venera 9 and 10 send the first pictures of the Venusian surface to Earth. -
Apollo 18 and Soyuz 19 (day of date not right)
American Apollo (18) and Soviet Soyuz 19 dock, the first international spacecraft rendezvous. -
Salyut 5
Soviet military space station Salyut 5 is launched, remaining in orbit until August 8, 1977. -
Viking 1
Pictures of the Martian surface are taken by Viking 1, the first U.S. attempt to soft land a spacecraft on another planet. -
Soviet Venera 15
Soviet Venera 15 returns the first high-resolution images of the Venus polar area, and compiled a thermal map of most of the northern hemisphere. -
The European Space Agency
The European Space Agency launches the Giotto spacecraft from an Ariane rocket. It encounters Halley's Comet in 1986, and Comet P/Grigg-Skjellerup in 1992. -
Voyager 2- Uranus (day of date not right)
Voyager 2 flies past Uranus. -
Space Shuttle Discovery
Space Shuttle Discovery launches on STS-31, deploying the Edwin P. Hubble Space Telescope (HST) astronomical observatory. -
Space Shuttle Endeavour
Space Shuttle Endeavour lifts off to carry out the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission, cosponsored by NASA and the National Imagery and Mapping Agency. A large radar antenna in the payload bay and a smaller element deployed on a 60-meter boom work together in the synthetic-aperture mode to produce the effect of a much larger antenna. The mission produces a three-dimensional map of about 80% of the world's landmass. -
Deep space 1
Deep Space 1 successfully completes its flyby of comet 19P/Borrelly. -
Galileo
Galileo completes another flyby of Jupiter's moon Io, passing only 181 km from Io's south polar region. -
Space Shuttle Endeavour
Space Shuttle Endeavour is launched carrying the Raffaello logistics module back to the ISS with new supplies.
