NASA Timeline

By mtyer2020

  • First Space Shuttle launch

    First Space Shuttle launch
    A new era in space flight began on April 12, 1981, when Space Shuttle Columbia, or STS-1, soared into orbit from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida citation

  • Orbiters first launch

    Orbiters first launch
    The first launch of the Space Shuttle occurred on 12 April 1981, exactly 20 years after the first manned space flight, when the orbiter Columbia, with two crew members, astronauts John W. Young, commander, and Robert L. Crippen, pilot, lifted off from Pad A, Launch Complex 39, at the Kennedy Space Center. citation image

  • Challengers first launch

    Challengers first launch
    After another delay due to a problem with TDRS, Challenger launched successfully on April 4, 1983, on mission STS-6. Crew members set the satellite free; astronauts Story Musgrave and Donald Peterson also did the first spacewalk of the shuttle program. citation
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  • First woman to fly on the shuttle

    First woman to fly on the shuttle
    On June 18, 1983, Sally Ride became the first American woman to fly in space when the space shuttle Challenger launched on mission STS-7. citation
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  • Space shuttle Challenger disaster

    Space shuttle Challenger disaster
    On January 28, 1986, the NASA shuttle orbiter mission STS-51-L and the tenth flight of Space Shuttle Challenger (OV-99) broke apart 73 seconds into its flight, killing all seven crew members, which consisted of five NASA astronauts and two payload specialists. citation
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  • First space walk from a space station

    First space walk from a space station
    On May 13, 1992, following the successful capture of the Intelsat VI satellite, three astronauts continue moving the 4.5 ton communications satellite into the space shuttle Endeavour's cargo baycitation
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  • Longest space mission

    Longest space mission
    March 22, 1995: Longest Human Space Adventure Ends. 1995: Cosmonaut Valeri Polyakov returns to Earth from the longest-ever stay in space by a human. He spent just over 437 days in the Mir space station. citation
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  • First woman to pilot the space shuttle

    First woman to pilot the space shuttle
    In 1990, Eileen Collins was only the second woman to graduate as a test pilot and be selected as a NASA astronaut. She became the first woman to pilot a space shuttle mission during the Discovery's rendezvous with the Mir space station in 1995. citation
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  • Space shuttle Columbia disaster

    Space shuttle Columbia disaster
    On February 1, 2003, the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated upon reentering Earth's atmosphere, killing all seven crew members. The disaster was the second fatal accident in the Space Shuttle program after Space Shuttle Challenger, which broke apart and killed the seven-member crew 73 seconds after liftoff in 1986.
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  • Last Space Shuttle Launch

    Last Space Shuttle Launch
    Atlantis was the fourth shuttle constructed and the last one to fly into space. It performed well in 25 years of service, flying 33 missions that included secret missions for the U.S. military, ferrying astronauts to and from space stations and launching several probes. citation
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