Space Exploration Timeline By luisroayerdi Jul 29, 1958 NASA is founded Apr 12, 1961 Yuri Gargarin is the first person sent into space May 5, 1961 Alan Shepard becomes the first American in space Feb 20, 1962 John Glenn becomes the first American to orbit Earth Jun 16, 1963 Valentina Tareshkova is the first woman in space Jul 20, 1969 Apollo 11 mission successfully reaches the moon May 14, 1973 Skylab is launched Aug 20, 1977 Voyager 2 is launched Aug 30, 1983 Guion Bluford goes into space Apr 3, 1984 Rakesh Sharma goes into space as part of Soyuz mission Feb 20, 1986 Mir Space station is launched into orbit Apr 24, 1990 Hubble Space Telescope launched Nov 20, 1998 International Space Station launched Oct 15, 2003 Yang Liwei is the first Chinese person in space Mar 2, 2004 European Space Agency launches Rosetta space rover Aug 24, 2006 Pluto is downgraded to a dwarf planet from a planet Dec 1, 2013 Chang’e 3 moon rover is launched Feb 6, 2018 Elon Musk launched a Tesla car into space to prove that he could do it Aug 12, 2018 Parker Solar Probe launched from Cape Canaveral, Fla. Feb 22, 2019 Beresheet moon lander is launched Jul 30, 2020 Martian Rover Perseverance makes it to Mars and begins active study of the planet Feb 9, 2021 Hope orbiter of the United Arab Emirates is LAUNCHED into space toward Mars Apr 29, 2021 Tiangong space station launched Dec 25, 2021 James Webb Telescope is launched into space 2022 India plans to send manned mission into space