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First Flight
On December 17, 1903, two brothers from Dayton, Ohio, named Wilbur and Orville Wright, were successful in flying an airplane they built. Their powered aircraft flew for 12 seconds above the sand dunes of Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, making them the first people to pilot a heavier-than-air machine that took off on its own power, remained under control, and sustained flight. -
Robert Goddard Flies First Liquid-Fueled Rocket . It Flew for 2.5 Seconds
While engineers pursued many amazing developments in aviation during the first half of the 20th century, other Americans, like Robert H. Goddard, dedicated themselves to new achievements in the area of rocketry. In 1926, Goddard launched the first liquid-fueled rocket and laid the foundation for a technology that would eventually take man to the moon and beyond. Fueled by liquid oxygen and gasoline, Robert Goddard's rocket flew for only 2.5 seconds, climbed 41 feet, and landed 184 feet away. -
First Early Rocket Motor Designed by American Rocket Society
In addition to Dr. Goddard's pioneer work, American experimentation in rocketry prior to World War II grew, primarily in technical societies. This is an early rocket motor designed and developed by the American Rocket Society in 1932. -
Goddard Rocket Reaches Over 9000 feet
Von Braun and his team relocated to a special, purpose-built rocket testing facility at Peenemunde on the Baltic Coast of Germany. Russia established rocket test centers in Leningrad, Moscow and Kazan. Goddard watched one of his rockets fly to higher than 9,000 feet, on March 27. This was the highest altitude attained by any of the Goddard Rockets. -
A-5 Rockets Fired
German scientists fired, and recovered, A-5 rockets with gyroscopic controls that attained seven miles altitude and eleven miles range. -
First V-2 Rocket Launched
The U.S. Air Force launched it's first air-to-air and air-to-surface rockets. After a failed attempt in June, Germans managed to successfully launch an A-4 (V2) rocket, in October. It traveled 120 miles downrange from the launch pad. -
First V-2 Rocket Hits Britain
The U.S. Air Force launched it's first air-to-air and air-to-surface rockets. After a failed attempt in June, Germans managed to successfully launch an A-4 (V2) rocket, in October. It traveled 120 miles downrange from the launch pad. -
Old Reliable Launched
Early on, the Huntsville team developed the Redstone rocket, also known as "Old Reliable" because of its many diverse missions. The Redstone was a high-accuracy, liquid-propelled, surface-to-surface missile. The Von Braun team developed and launched the first Redstone missile in August 1953. -
Sputnik Launched
The Army Ballistic Missile Agency incorporated the Von Braun team in key positions with Dr. Von Braun as head of the Development Operations Division. On October 4, 1957, the nation was shocked when the Russians launched Sputnik, the world's first artificial satellite. Two months later, the United States suffered disappointment when a Navy Vanguard rocket, with its satellite payload, failed to develop sufficient thrust and toppled over on the launch pad. -
NASA Created
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) was created on October 1, 1958. It would perform civilian research related to space flight and aeronautics. President Eisenhower commissioned Dr. T. Keith Glennan, right, as the first administrator for NASA and Dr. Hugh L. Dryden as deputy administrator. -
Marshall's Mercury-Redstone Boosts America's First Astronaut, Alan B. Shepard, into Suborbital Flight
Marshall's Mercury-Redstone vehicle boosted the America's first astronaut, Alan B. Shepard on a suborbital flight. -
Project Mercury - First Human Spaceflight Program of United States
The United States began Project Mercury. It was designed to place a manned space capsule in orbital flight around the Earth, investigate man's reaction to this new environment, and recover the capsule and the pilot safely. -
Creation of Marshall Space Flight Center
The Marshall Space Flight Center, a NASA field installation, was established in Huntsville in 1960. The new Center was named in honor of General George C. Marshall, the Army Chief of Staff during World War II, of State, and Nobel Prize Winner for his world-renowned Marshall Plan. -
Yuri Gagarin Becomes First Man in Space
The urgency and importance of the Marshall Center's mission was apparent from the beginning. It became even more apparent on April 12, 1961, when the Soviet, Yuri Gagarin, became the first man in space. -
Saturn V Launches
The Marshall Center's first major program was development of the Saturn rockets. The Saturn V, first launched on November 9, 1967, was the most powerful member of the Saturn family producing as much power as 85 Hoover Dams. -
Saturn V Launches Apollo 11 to the Moon
The crowning achievement for the Saturn V rocket came when it launched Apollo 11 astronauts to the moon in July 1969. -
Skylab, America's First Space Station Launched
In 1973, Skylab, America's first space station, was launched aboard a two-stage Saturn V vehicle. Saturn IB rockets were used to launch three different three-man crews to the Skylab space station. -
Launch of Final Saturn Rocket, as Part of Apollo-Soyuz Test
The final launch of a Saturn rocket came on July 15, 1975, as part of the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project. Earlier that day, a Russian Soyuz spacecraft lifted off its launchpad at a Soviet launch site carrying three cosmonauts. Seven and one-half hours later, the U.S. Apollo spacecraft was launched with its crew of American astronauts. Rendezvous and docking of the two ships were accomplished on July 17. The two ships remained docked for 2 days, conducting joint experiments. -
First Space Shuttle Launch
A new era in space flight began on April 12, 1981. That's when the first Space Shuttle mission was launched. The Marshall Space Flight Center developed the propulsion system for the Shuttle. -
First Spacewalk to Repair Hubble Telescope
The Shuttle also provides a new capability to repair or service spacecraft in orbit. For example, spacewalking astronauts successfully completed repairs and upgrades to the Hubble Space Telescope in 1993. Today, the telescope, developed by the Marshall Space Flight Center, is returning unprecedented views of the universe.
