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Sputnik 1
The First man-made object to orbit Earth. It was launched by the USSR and remained in orbit until January 4, 1958. -
Sputnik 2
Carried Laika, a dog, for 7 days in orbit. It was launched by the USSR and remained in orbit until April 13,1958 -
Explorer 1
The Explorer 1 was the first U.S. satellite in orbit. It was launched at Cape Canaveral using a modified ABMA-JPL Jupiter-C rocket. It carried a scientific experiment created by James A. Van Allen. It also discovered the Earth's radiation belt. -
Explorer 2
Launched by a Jupiter-C rocket and failed to reach orbit. -
Vanguard 1
Launched into orbit and remains transmitting for 3 years before it is lost in space. It is the oldest man-made satellite still in orbit. -
Sputnik 3
Launched by the USSR, used to explore the upper most atmosphere and the near space. -
N.A.S.A
N.A.S.A founded and took over the existing National Advisory Committee on Aeronautics. -
Pioneer 1
U.S. - IGY space probe launched to a height of 70,700 miles. -
Luna 1
Luna 1, launched by the USSR, was the first man-made satellite to orbit the moon. -
Pioneer 4
Fourth US-IGY space probe, launched by a Juno II rocket, achieved and earth-moon trajectory, passing within 37,000 miles of the moon. It fell into solar orbit, becoming the first US sun orbiter. -
Luna 2
It impacted 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
Photographed 70% of the far side of the moon. -
TIROS 1
First successful weather satellite, launched by the US. -
Discoverer XIV
First US camera-equipped Corona spy satellite. -
Vostok 1
Launched by the USSR, carried Cosmonaut Yuri A Gargarin, the first man in space. He orbited the earth once. -
Mercury Freedom 7
Carried Alan B. Shepard, Jr., the first US Astronaut into space, in a suborbital flight. -
Vostok 2
Launched by the USSR, carrying Cosmonaut Gherman Titov, the first day-long Soviet space flight. -
Mercury Friendship 7
Launched by the US, with John H Gleen, Jr. Orbits the Earth 3 times -
Mercury Aurora 7
Launched with M. Scott Carpenter. It orbited 3 times. -
Telstar 1
Beamed the first live transatlantic telecast. -
Mariner 2
United State's first successful planetary spacecraft, flies past Venus and enters a solar orbit. -
Martin Schmidt
Martin interprets the behavior of 3C 273 - the first known quasar. -
Vostok 6
Carried Soviet Cosmonaut Valentia Tereshkove, the first woman in space and orbits Earth 48 times. -
Ranger 7
Relaied the first close-range photographs of the Moon. -
Voskhod 2
First space walk made by Cosmonaut Alexei A. Leonov for 12 minutes -
Gemini 3
First manned flight of the Gemini program. It carried Virgil I. Grissom and John W. Young and made 3 orbits around the earth. -
Ranger 9
Transmitted high-quality images of the moon, many of which were shown live in the first television spectacular about the moon. -
Gemini 4
Edward White II makes the first US space walk for 22 minutes. -
Mariner 4
Returned the first close-range images about Mars along with Mariner 3. -
Venus 3
The first craft to impact Venus on March 1, 1966. -
Gemini 7
Carried Frank Boman and James A. Lovell Jr. making 206 orbits around Earth and proving a trip to the Moon is possible. -
Gemini 6
American astronauts Walter Schirra, Jr. and Thomas Stafford in Gemini 6 make the first space rendezvous with Gemini 7. -
Luna 9
First spacecraft to soft-land on the moon. -
Venera 3
Imacts on Venus, the first spacecraft to reach another planet, but failed to return data. -
Luna 10
First spacecraft to orbit the moon. -
Surveyor 1
The first US spacecraft to soft-land on the Moon. -
Lunar Orbiter 1
Takes the first picture of the Earth from the distance of the moon. -
Venera 4
Sends a descent capsule into the Venusian atmosphere, returning data about its composition -
Soyuz 1
Soviet craft launched, carrying Vladimir M. Komarov. On April 24, it crashed, killing Komarov, the first spaceflight fatality. -
Zond 5
Became 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 Earth once. -
Apollo 8
Launched with Frank Boman, 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
Both perform the first Soviet spaceship docking, transferring Cosmonauts between vehicles -
Apollo 11
Neil Armstrong and Edwin Alrin, Jr. make the first manned soft-landing on the Moon, and the first moonwalk. -
Mariner 6
Returned high-resolution images of the Martian surface, concentrating on the equatorial region. -
Mariner 7
Returned high-resolution images of the Martian surface, concentrating on the southern region. -
Apollo 13
Suffered 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. -
Luna 16
Conducted 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. -
Venera 7
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
A space station that is launched by the USSR and remains in orbit until May 28, 1973. -
Mariner 9
The United States launches Mariner 9, 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 Maps 100% of Mars
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
First man-made object to travel through the asteroid belt. -
Cygnus X-1
The first probable black hole. -
Pioneer 11
Pioneer 11 is launched on an Atlas/Centaur/TE364-4, flying past Jupiter in 1974, and Saturn in 1979, where it discovers new rings. -
Skylab
Launched by the US, and maintained by 3 crews. -
Skylab 2
First crew to Skylab, Skylab 2, are launched, repairing damage incurred to Skylab during its launch. -
Mariner 10
American Mariner 10 is launched, on the first dual-planet mission. Over the next year, it returned photographs of Venus and Mercury. -
Synchronous Meteorological Satellite (SMS-1)
NASA developed two weather satellites which were placed into geosynchronous orbit, SMS-1 and SMS-2. -
Salyut 3
Soviet Salyut 3, their first military space station, is launched. It remains in orbit until January 1975. -
Apollo 18
American Apollo (18) and Soviet Soyuz 19 dock, the first international spacecraft rendezvous. -
Venera 9 & 10
Soviet Venera 9 and 10 send the first pictures of the Venusian surface to Earth. -
Salyut 4
Soviet Salyut 4, civilian space station, is launched. It remains in orbit until February 2, 1977. -
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. -
Viking 2
Viking 2 lands on Mars on the Plain of Utopia, where it discovered water frost. -
Period: to
Voyagers 1 and 2
Voyagers 1 and 2 leave Earth to meet with Jupiter in 1979 and Saturn in 1980. -
Salyut 6
Soviet Salyut 6 space station is launched. Its crews include members from Czechoslovakia, Poland, GDR, Bulgaria, Hungary, Vietnam, Cuba, Mongolia, and Romania. -
Einstein Observatory
The Einstein Observatory begins its 30-day mission. -
Venus
Two Pioneer spacecraft reach Venus. One drops four probes into the atmosphere, while the other maps the surface. -
Pioneer 11
Pioneer 11 reaches Saturn, flying to within 13,000 miles and taking the first close-up photographs. -
Columbia
The first manned mission of the Space Transportation System (STS-1), Columbia , is launched. -
Ariane
The European Space Agency launches its third Ariane rocket. -
Ariane
The ESA launches a fourth Ariane rocket. -
Venera 13
Venera 13 lands on Venus, and provides the first Venusian soil analysis. -
Salyut 7
Soviet Salyut 7 space station is launched. -
Rendezvous
Soviet Cosmonauts Anatoly N. Berezovoi and Valentin V. Lebedev are launched in Soyuz-T 5 to rendezvous with Salyut 7, the first team to inhabit the space station. They return to Earth in Soyuz-T 7, setting a (then) duration record of 211 days. -
Voyager 2
Voyager 2 completes its flyby of Saturn. -
Columbia's 5th mission
The space shuttle Columbia's fifth mission, its first operational one, begins, deploying two satellites. Crew: Vance Brand, Robert Overmyer, Joseph Allen, and William Lenoir. -
Period: to
Infrared Astronomical Satellite
The Infrared Astronomical Satellite finds new comets, asteroids, galaxies, and a dust ring around the star Vega that may be new planets. -
Challenger (STS-6)
The space shuttle Challenger lifts off for its first mission (STS-6) and has the first American space walk in nine years. Crew: Paul Weitz, Karol Bobko, Donald Peterson, and Story Musgrave. -
Challenger (STS-7)
Sally K. Ride is the first U.S. woman to travel in space, on Challenger mission STS-7. -
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. -
ESA Spacelab-1
The space shuttle Columbia carries the ESA Spacelab-1 into orbit (STS-9). Its crew includes Ulf Merbold, A German and first ESA member in space.. -
Challenger (STS-41B)
Bruce McCandless takes the first untethered space walk using MMU from the space shuttle Challenger (STS-41B). -
Soyuz-T 12
Launch of Soyuz-T 12 carrying Svetlana Savitskaya, who becomes the first woman to walk in space. -
Discovery (STS-41D)
The third space shuttle, Discovery, lifts off on it's maiden voyage (STS-41D). Crew: Henry W. Hartsfield, Michael L. Coats, Richard Mullane, Steven Hawley, Judith A. Resnik, and Charles D. Walker. -
Soyuz T 10
Salyut 7's cosmonauts L. D. Kizim, V. A. Solovyov, and O. Y. Atkov set a (then) 237-day record in space. They arrive at Salyut 7 in Soyuz-T 10 and depart in Soyuz-T 11 -
Challenger (STS-41G)
launch of space shuttle Challenger mission STS-41G carrying the first crew with two women aboard - Sally Ride and Katherine Sullivan. Sullivan becomes the first American woman to walk in space. -
Vega 1 & 2
Soviet/International Vega 1 & 2 are launched, dropping probes into Venus' atmosphere before continuing to Halley's Comet. -
Sakigake
The Sakigake probe is launched by Japan's Institute of Space and Aeronautical Science, becoming the first interplanetary probe as it rendezvous with Halley's Comet. -
Challenger (STS-51B)
The Challenger carries the ESA Spacelab-3 into orbit (STS-51B). -
Giotto
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. -
Spacelab D1
Spacelab D1, the first joint German/ESA mission, is flown. Its crew consists of two German DARA astronauts, and Danish Wubbo Ockels of the ESA. -
Atlantis (STS-51J)
The fourth space shuttle Atlantis takes off on its first mission (STS-51J). Crew: Karol J. Bobko, Ronald J. Grabe, Robert A. Stewart, David C. Hilmers, and William A. Pailes. -
Voyager 2
Voyager 2 flies past Uranus. -
Challenger (STS-51L)
The space shuttle Challenger explodes shortly after liftoff of mission STS-51L. -
Mir
The core unit of Soviet space station Mir is launched. -
Halley's Comet 30th appearance
Spacecraft from the U.S.S.R, Japan, and Western Europe fly by Halley's Comet on it's 30th recorded appearance. -
Milky Way Galaxy
Astronomers find that our galaxy is smaller than they thought and the Sun is 23,000 light-years from it's center. -
Supernova 1987A
Supernova 1987A blazes into view. -
Mir
Cosmonaut Yuri V. Romanenko returns from space station Mir, having arrived there from Soyuz-TM 2, and sets a (then) space endurance record of 326 days. -
Magellan
Space Shuttle Atlantis is launched (STS-30), deploying the spacecraft Magellan. -
Phobos 2
Soviet/International Phobos 2 launched, which orbits Mars to study its surface, atmosphere and magnetic field. -
Galileo
U.S. launches the Galileo spacecraft from Shuttle Atlantis flight STS-34, which took infrared images of Venus, and images of the asteroid Ida, before continuing to Jupiter. -
Pegasus
U.S. Pegasus rocket is deployed from a B-52 bomber, and launched the Pegsat satellite in the first demonstration of the Pegasus launch vehicle. -
Hubble Space Telescope
Space Shuttle Discovery launches on STS-31, deploying the Edwin P. Hubble Space Telescope (HST) astronomical observatory. -
Magellan
U.S. spacecraft Magellan arrives at Venus, where for the next year it took radar images of the surface. -
Ulysses
Space Shuttle Discovery launches the Ulysses spacecraft with two upper stages, on mission STS-41. Ulysses flies toward Jupiter, to be slingshot towards the sun, to obtain data from high solar latitudes. -
Salyut 7
Salyut 7 falls from orbit and burns up over Argentina. -
Compton Gamma Ray Observatory
Space Shuttle Atlantis carries the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory into orbit. This new space telescope, built by NASA, was the first to provide an all-sky continuous survey in the gamma-ray and X-ray spectra. -
Spacelab SLS-1
Shuttle Columbia carries the Spacelab SLS-1 into orbit, to conduct investigations into the effects of weightlessness on humans. (STS-40) -
Ulysses
Spacecraft Ulysses flies around Jupiter, on its way to the sun. -
Intelsat VI satellite
Space Shuttle Endeavour lifts off on its first mission (STS-49), repairing the Intelsat VI satellite. Crew: Daniel C. Brandenstein, Kevin P. Chilton, Richard J. Hieb, Bruce E. Melnick, Pierre J. Thout, Kathryn C. Thornton, and Thomas D. Akers. -
Mars Observer
Mars Observer lifts off, the first American probe to Mars in 17 years, since Viking 2. This probe is intended as an orbital mapper to study the red planet's atmosphere, surface, and geological make-up. The spacecraft functions well during its cruise to Mars, then all contact was lost on August 21, 1993, three days before orbital insertion. -
Hubble Space Telescope on-orbit service
Space Shuttle Endeavour launches on STS-61, making the first on-orbit service of the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). -
Clementine
U.S. launches Clementine, a new DOD satellite that performs a lunar mapping mission using advanced ballistic missile defense technologies. It suffers a malfunction on May 10, 1994, ending its mission. -
Ulysses
Spacecraft Ulysses reaches a maximum Southern latitude of 80.2 degrees at the sun, proceeding towards the Northern latitudes, maintaining an orbital period of six years. -
Magellan
Spacecraft Magellan enters the atmosphere of Venus, burning up following the completion of its mapping mission. -
Asteroid XM1
Asteroid XM1 passes within 65,000 miles of Earth. -
Mir
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. -
Space endurance record
Cosmonaut Valeriy Polyakov returns to Earth after a 438-day mission aboard Russian space station Mir, setting a new space endurance record. -
Atlantis
Space Shuttle Atlantis rendezvous with Russian space station Mir during a ten-day mission on STS-71. Cosmonauts are transferred to and from Atlantis, and Astronaut Norman Thagard is returned from Mir, having arrived on Soyuz-TM 21, and making a new American space endurance record of 115 days. -
Pioneer 11
Pioneer 11 ceases making scientific observations, its power source nearly depleted. -
Atlantis
Space Shuttle Atlantis lifts off on mission STS-74, making the second docking with Russian space station Mir. It delivers two solar arrays, and a docking module for future Shuttle dockings. -
Galileo
The Galileo spacecraft arrives at Jupiter, performing an orbit while dropping a probe into the atmosphere, and putting a satellite into orbit, which will spend the next two years orbiting the planet. -
Soyuz TM25
Soyuz TM25 lifts off to dock with the Mir space station. New Russian crew members Vasily Tsibliyev and Alexander Lazutkin relieve Russians Korzun and Kaleri for the beginning of an eventful and difficult tour of duty. Before the resident crew leaves, a fierce fire breaks out on board which is contained and put out before serious damage is done. After the old crew leaves, an attempt to re-dock with the Progress supply freighter fails, with the freighter just missing collision with Mir. These even -
Pioneer 10 Terminated
After 25 years of operation, routine telemetry and ground control with Pioneer 10 is terminated. The probe at that moment is 6.7 billion miles from Earth, traveling at 28,000 miles per hour. In two million years, it will reach the red giant Aldeberan in the constellation of Taurus. -
Columbia
Space Shuttle Columbia lifts off for the shortest shuttle flight in 12 years (four days). The flight is cut short due to a failure of one of the spacecraft's three fuel cells. -
NEAR Probe
NEAR (Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous) probe passes the asteroid Mathilde on its way to meeting up with 433 Eros. -
Mars Pathfinder
Mars Pathfinder becomes the first probe to successfully land on Mars since Viking 2 in 1976. It is also the first planetary probe to include a separate roving robot probe (Sojourner) since the Soviet Union's Luna 21 in 1973. -
Soyuz TM26
Soyuz TM26 arrives at Mir with a relief crew. The fresh Russian crew, along with Michael Foale, undertake seven internal and external spacewalk missions over a six month period in order to repair the crippled station. During the repairs, the station has a near collision with an abandoned satellite (MSTI 2), which speeds past to within 500 meters of Mir. -
Discovery
Space Shuttle Discovery lifts off for a 12-day mission to deploy and retrieve the Crista-Spas 2 satellite, which studied the Earth's middle atmosphere. This flight also tested various infra-red and ultraviolet instrumentation, and tested the Japanese robot-arm to be used for the International Space Station. -
Mars Global Surveyor
Mars Global Surveyor arrives at Mars and begins the process of adjusting its highly elliptical orbit into a circular one using aerobraking - friction with the top of the Martian atmosphere to slow the craft down. Taking about 2,000 images of the planet, this probe shows the entire life of a dust storm, evidence of Martian streams, ponds, oceans, and underground water drainage systems. -
Cassini
Launch of the double probe Cassini/Huygens, aimed at Saturn. This is probably the most ambitious and complex unmanned planetary project ever attempted, costing more than $2.5 billion and involving 17 nations and hundreds of scientists from the U.S. and Europe. It carries a sophisticated camera package and 11 other instruments aimed at performing 19 experiments on the ringed planet. It will arrive at Saturn in 2004, will orbit Saturn up to 60 times sending back close-up photographs of Saturn's ri -
Lunar Prospector
Lunar Prospector is the first NASA mission to the Moon in 25 years, and the first dedicated to lunar research since Apollo 17 in 1972. The spacecraft is placed in lunar orbit to make a careful spectroscopic analysis of the entire lunar surface, including its North and South poles, and soon confirms what the Department of Defense Clementine mission had found in 1994 - that trapped within some of the craters at the Moon's two poles is about 6.6 trillion tons of permanently frozen water ice. -
Globalstar
The four satellites Globalstar 1, 2, 3, and 4 are the first in Globalstar's planned 44-satellite constellation of medium-Earth-orbit (~900 miles altitude) communications satellites for providing voice and data links worldwide from both remote and home telephones. This system is planned as a direct competitor to Iridium's cluster, which began launching in May of 1997. -
Columbia
Space Shuttle Columbia lifts off on a 16-day mission, its 25th. The mission is dedicated to the study of the effects of weightlessness on the human neurological system, with the astronauts serving as both researchers and experimental subjects. -
Discovery
Space Shuttle Discovery lifts off on a 10-day mission, its 24th and the last shuttle docking with Mir. -
Nozomi
Japan launches the Nozomi probe to Mars, the first planetary mission by a country other than the U.S. or the Soviet Union/Russia. Using a combination of lunar gravity, Earth gravity, and rocket burns, Nozomi is scheduled to arrive at Mars in December 2003. -
Space Technology EXperiment (STEX)
Launched by the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office, the Space Technology EXperiment (STEX) satellite tests 29 new spacecraft designs, including an almost four-mile-long tether, advanced solar panels, and an ion engine test. -
Deep Space 1
NASA launches Deep Space 1, a technology test spacecraft which evaluates a dozen advanced spacecraft engineering designs, from mirror-enhanced solar panels to the first use of an ion engine to leave Earth orbit and rendezvous with the asteroid Braille. -
Zarya
The first component of the International Space Station, Zarya, is launched on a Russian rocket. This Russian built, U.S. financed module provides communications, electrical power, and attitude control for the station until the arrival of the third module (Zvezda, in July 2000). -
Unity
Space Shuttle Endeavour lifts off on its thirteenth space flight, with the International Space Station's second module, Unity. This module provides the docking ports and connections for every other docked module. -
Mars Climate Orbiter
Mars Climate Orbiter is launched by NASA, with the objective of studying Martian weather. The probe is lost as it approaches Mars on September 23, 1999, due to an error in propulsion software, using English instead of metric units. The probe passes too close to Mars and burns up in the atmosphere. -
NEAR
NEAR space probe flies to within 2400 miles of the asteroid 433 Eros, taking 222 photographs of nearly two-thirds of its surface. A software problem prevents the spacecraft from going into orbit around the asteroid, but a second engine burn on January 3, 1999 brings the spacecraft back to Eros in February of 2000. -
Mars Polar Lander
Mars Polar Lander lifts off on its ill-fated mission to Mars. This NASA probe is to land within about 600 miles of the Martian South Pole, along with dropping two surface-penetrating darts. Contact with the probe is lost on December 3, 1999 as it is descending through the Martian atmosphere and it is never heard from again, the first failure of a U.S. planetary soft landing in 30 years. -
Stardust
The NASA satellite Stardust lifts off for a rendezvous with the Comet Wild-2 in January of 2004. -
Soyuz TM29
The Russian Soyuz TM29 lifts off for the Mir space station. This is scheduled to be the final mission to Mir, and when the crew of TM29 departs Mir in August of 1999, they leave the space station empty for the first time in almost exactly 10 years. -
Starshine
Space Shuttle Discovery lifts off for the International Space Station. They bring supplies and perform a spacewalk of nearly eight hours to install two exterior cranes, along with a variety of tools and equipment for future astronaut use. They deploy the satellite Starshine for studying atmospheric density changes. -
Chandra X-Ray Observatory
Space Shuttle Columbia lifts off, carrying the Chandra X-Ray Observatory into orbit. -
Deep Space 1
Deep Space 1 flies to within 16 miles of the asteroid Braille and continues on its course to rendezvous with Comet Wilson-Harrington in January 2001. -
Shenzhou
China launches Shenzhou, the first unmanned test of their manned capsule. -
Galileo
The Galileo space probe safely completes its encounter with Jupiter's ice moon, Europa, at an altitude of 343 km. Later in the year, on May 30, Galileo flies by Jupiter's largest moon Ganymede at an altitude of 808 km. -
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. -
NEAR
NEAR (Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous) probe settles into orbit around the asteroid 433 Eros, producing a series of stunning close-up images. Ground controllers start tightening its orbit for an eventual soft impact with the tumbling, potato-shaped asteroid. -
Soyuz TM30
Soyuz TM30 lifts off on a return mission to Mir, reversing Russia's actions of the previous year to shut the space station down. The idea is to re-open the space station for commercial operations, including a Mir version of the Survivor TV show. The cosmonauts remain until mid-June, and two Progress freighters are flown up (one in April, one in October) before financial support disappears and the venture falls through. -
International Space Station
Space Shuttle Atlantis lifts off for the International Space Station for maintenance on the crane and a faulty antenna, installation of a Russian boom arm, handrails and upgrades to the ventilation system, and delivery of new batteries, supplies and equipment. -
Zvezda
The Zvezda service module for the International Space Station (ISS) is launched from Russia on a Proton rocket. The automated docking of this unit with the first linked pair of modules already in orbit - Zarya and Unity - allows the U.S. to start a series of space shuttle launches to add American-built components, which will be followed by laboratory modules from Europe and Japan. Zvezda will act as the control center and living quarters for the initial space station crews. -
Z1
Space Shuttle Discovery lifts off on a 14-day mission to install the Z1 segment, the first piece of the space station truss, and a third docking port (PMA-3) for the Unity adapter. They also test the new 'SAFER' spacesuit backpack propulsion units. -
Expedition Once
The Expedition One crew is launched on a Soyuz transport to become the first crew of the ISS. -
ISS
Space Shuttle Endeavour lifts off on a 12 day mission to the ISS. They install the first set of ISS's solar panels and radiators for removing heat. -
Destiny
Space Shuttle Atlantis lifts off for the ISS, carrying the U.S.'s Destiny laboratory module. In three space walks the astronauts install Destiny, a grappler for the station's robotic arm, and radio antennae. -
NEAR
NEAR soft impacts on the asteroid 433 Eros, at 2 m/s. Signals continue to be received from the probe hours after the landing, confirming its survival. -
Leonardo
Space Shuttle Discovery is launched on a 14-day ISS construction mission. In two spacewalks the astronauts install new equipment including the Leonardo logistics module, built by the Italian Space Agency to move racks of experimental equipment to the ISS, docking to the station as the equipment is used & transferred, then carrying equipment back in the shuttle after use. -
Mir De-orbited
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. -
Mars Odyssey
The 2001 Mars Odyssey probe is launched on a trajectory for Mars orbit to be achieved in October, with a mission similar to that of the Mars Climate Orbiter launched December 1998. Mars Odyssey successfully enters Mars orbit on October 24th. -
Canadarm 2
Space Shuttle Endeavour lifts off for the ISS on a construction mission. The crew will install the mobile robotic arm on the station (Canadarm 2) and supply the Destiny laboratory module with new experiments, using the Rafaello logistics module. -
First Space Tourist
Soyuz spacecraft TM-32 lifts off for the ISS with the first space tourist, business executive Dennis Tito, who pays the Russians $20 million for the ride. -
Microwave Anisotropy Probe
NASA's Microwave Anisotropy Probe (MAP) is launched on a trajectory for a gravity boost past the moon to a position 1.5 million km outside Earth's orbit. From that position it is to measure cosmic background radiation from the dark extragalactic sky. -
SimpleSat
Space Shuttle Discovery lifts off for the ISS with the Leonardo laboratory module and SimpleSat, an experimental low-cost astronomical telescope. -
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.
