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first man to see the moon on a telescope
The first spotting of the moon through a telescope by Galileo Galilei. -
First Exposition of Rocket Mechanics
The British mathematician William Moore publishes Treatise on the Motion of Rockets. This work features the first exposition of rocket mechanics based on Newton's third law of motion. -
first liquid rockets.
Robert H. Goddard launches first liquid fueled rockets. -
First Animal in Space
The Soviet Union launches a female dog into space on Sputnik II. -
sputnik
October 4 - The Soviet Union launched the first satellite, Sputnik, into space. -
first man in space
April 12 - Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first human in space. -
First American in orbit
Mercury Friendship 7 lifts off with John H. Glenn, Jr., the first American in orbit, and orbits the Earth three times. -
first man on orbit
February 20 - Astronaut John Glenn became the first American in orbit. -
First man on the moon
Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin, Jr. make the first manned soft landing on the Moon, and the first moonwalk, using Apollo 11. -
First international spacecraft rendezvous
American Apollo (18) and Soviet Soyuz 19 dock, the first international spacecraft rendezvous. -
voyager 2
Voyager 2 completes its flyby of Saturn. closest approach. -
First U.S women in space
Sally K. Ride is the first U.S. woman to travel in space, on Challenger mission STS-7. -
challenger explodes at lift off.
The space shuttle Challenger explodes shortly after liftoff of mission STS-51L. -
Hubble Telescope deployed
Space Shuttle Discovery launches on STS-31, deploying the Edwin P. Hubble Space Telescope (HST) astronomical observatory. -
First Landing on an Asteroid
The Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous spacecraft is successfully landed on the surface of the asteroid Eros.
