Race To Space

Launching Explorer 1

Jan 31, 1958

The US enter the Space Race by launching Explorer 1, the first US satellite to reach orbit. It carried experimental equipment that led to the discovery of the Van Allen radiation belt.

NASA

Oct 1, 1958

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is created in the US, replacing the National Advisory Committee on Aeronautics (NACA).

Luna 1

Jan 2, 1959

The USSR launches Luna 1, known as the first "cosmic rocket" as it accidentally escaped the orbit of the Moon due to the object having too much speed. Luna 1 becomes the first human-made object to leave the orbit of the Earth and orbit the sun instead.

Explorer 6

Aug 2, 1959

The US launches Explorer 6, the world's first weather satellite and obtains the first pictures of Earth from space.

Luna 2

Sep 12, 1959

The USSR launches Luna 2 and accomplishes its mission of creating the first spacecraft to reach the surface of the Moon.

Luna 3

Oct 4, 1959

The USSR launches Luna 3 and succeeds in their mission of sending an object into orbit around the Moon and photographing the far side of the Moon.

Spudnik 5

Aug 19, 1960

Aboard the Soviet Union's Sputnik 5, the first animals (two dogs, Belka and Strelka) and a range of plants are returned alive from space.

Ham

Jan 31, 1961

Ham, a US chimpanzee, becomes the first hominid (or great ape) in space and the first to successfully survive the landing.

Vostok 6

Jun 16, 1963

Valentina Tereshkova becomes the first civilian and first woman in space. She spends almost three days in space, orbiting the Earth 48 times aboard her spacecraft, Vostok 6.

Mariner 4

Jul 14, 1965

The US satellite, Mariner 4, performs the first successful voyage to the planet Mars, returning the first close-up images of the Martian surface.

Apollo 1

1967

This year proves the most deadly of the Space Race for both the US and Soviet Union. In January, American astronauts Ed White, Gus Grissom, and Roger Chaffee die when a fire ignited in their Apollo 1 capsule on the launch pad. Only a few months later the Soviet cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov is also killed when the parachute on his Soyuz 1 capsule fails to open on his reentry into Earth's atmosphere.

Voskhod 2

Mar 18, 1968

Alexei Leonov leaves his spacecraft, the Voskhod 2, in a specialized spacesuit and conducts a twelve-minute spacewalk, the first of its kind.

Apollo 8

Dec 21, 1968

US spacecraft Apollo 8 becomes the first human-crewed spacecraft to reach the Moon, orbit it, and successfully return to Earth.

First men to walk on the moon

Jul 20, 1969

Neil Armstrong and later Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin become the first men to walk on the Moon while their crewmate Michael Collins continues to orbit the Moon aboard the Apollo 11. This secured a victory for America in the Space Race with a televised landing witnessed around the world by 723 million people.