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MEN IN SPACE
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First man-made object in space
October 4, 1957 - 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. -
First dog in space
November 3, 1957 - 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. -
NASA is founded
October 1, 1958 - N.A.S.A. is founded, taking over existing National Advisory Committee on Aeronautics. -
First man-made object to orbit the moon
January 2, 1959 - Luna 1, first man-made satellite to orbit the moon, is launched by the U.S.S.R. -
First man-made object to impact the moon
September 12, 1959 - 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. -
First man in space
April 12, 1961 - 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. -
First woman in space
June 16, 1963 - Vostok 6 carries Soviet Cosmonaut Valentia Tereshkova, the first woman in space and orbits the Earth 48 times. -
First space walk
March 18, 1965 - The first space walk is made from Soviet Voskhod 2 by Cosmonaut Alexei A. Leonov. Duration is 12 minutes. -
Soviet 3 impacts on venus
November 16, 1965 - Soviet Venus 3 is launched, becoming the first craft to impact Venus on March 1, 1966. -
First craft to land on the moon
February 3, 1966 - Soviet Luna 9 is the first spacecraft to soft-land on the moon. -
First spacecraft to reach another planet
March 1, 1966 - Soviet Venera 3 impacts on Venus, the first spacecraft to reach another planet. It fails to return data. -
First manned landing on the moon
July 20, 1969 - Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin, Jr. make the first manned soft landing on the Moon, and the first moonwalk, using Apollo 11. -
First man to hit a golf ball on the moon
January 31, 1971 - 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. -
First rover to be driven on the moon
July 30, 1971 - 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. -
First probable black hole
December, 1972 - Scientists designate Cignus X-1 as the first probable black hole. -
Mariner 10 is launched
American Mariner 10 is launched, on the first dual-planet mission. Over the next year, it returned photographs of Venus and Mercury. -
Soviet venera 9 and 10 launched
October, 1975 - Soviet Venera 9 and 10 send the first pictures of the Venusian surface to Earth. -
Viking 2
September 3, 1976 - Viking 2 lands on Mars on the Plain of Utopia, where it discovered water frost. -
Venera 13 lands on Venus
March 1, 1982 - Venera 13 lands on Venus, and provides the first Venusian soil analysis -
Sally k. Ride - first woman in space
June 19, 1983 - Sally K. Ride is the first U.S. woman to travel in space, on Challenger mission STS-7. -
space shuttle Challenger
January 28, 1986 - The space shuttle Challenger explodes shortly after liftoff of mission STS-51L. -
Space shuttle Discovery
February 6, 1995 - Space shuttle Discovery maneuvers to within 37 feet of Russian space station Mir, in preparation for a shuttle-Mir docking (STS-63). This is the first shuttle mission to be flown by a female pilot. -
Mir space station
March 23, 2001 - fifteen years after its first launch, and after nearly 10 years of continuous occupation by astronauts, the Mir space station is de-orbited, breaking up in the atmosphere and impacting in the Pacific Ocean. -
Space shuttle Atlantis
Space shuttle Atlantis launches on the final flight of the space shuttle program.
