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First Space Shuttle Launch
The first manned mission of the Space Transportation System (STS-1), Columbia, is launched. This mission, as well as the next three, will be a test flight to try out the spacecraft's systems -
Voyager 2 Arrives at Saturn
The Voyager 2 spacecraft arrives at Saturn and begins sending back images of the planet and its moons. -
First Venus Soil Samples
The Soviet Venera 13 spacecraft lands on the planet Venus and provides the first scientific analysis of the Venusian soil. -
New Space Endurance Record
Soviet cosmonauts Anatoli N. Berezovoi and Valentin V. Lebedev are launched in Soyuz T-5 to rendezvous with Salyut 7 and become the first team to inhabit the space station. They return to Earth in Soyuz T-7, setting a new duration record of 211 days. -
First Operational Space Shuttle Mission
The Space Shuttle Columbia begins its fifth mission, the first operational Space Shuttle mission. STS-5 launches with a four-member crew on a five day mission that deploys two commercial satellites and performs a number of scientific experiments. -
Maiden Voyage of Challenger
America's second Space Shuttle, Challenger, embarks on its first mission into space. The STS-6 mission includes America's first space walk in nine years. -
First American Woman in Space
Astronaut Sally K. Ride becomes the first American woman to travel into space on Space Shuttle Challenger mission STS-7. -
First Untethered Spacewalk
Astronaut Bruce McCandless takes the first untethered space walk using the new Manned maneuvering Unit (MMU). Over the next few days, McCandless and fellow astronaut and Robert L. Stewart perform a number of tests with the MMU to practice for a future satellite capture mission. -
Maiden Voyage of Atlantis
Atlantis, the forth orbiter in America's Space Shuttle fleet, begins its first mission in space. During mission STS-51J, the five-member crew performs a number of classified missions of the U.S. Department of Defense. -
Space Shuttle Challenger Tragedy
The space shuttle Challenger explodes shortly after liftoff of mission STS-51L, resulting in the loss of the spacecraft and her seven-member crew. The accident seems especially tragic because of Christa McAuliffe, the first civilian to fly into space. She is part of the Teacher in Space program and was to hold a number of classes for school children while in orbit. The accident is caused by unusually cold temperatures and a faulty O-ring seal in one of the solid rocket boosters. NASA grounds the
