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First Telescope
Hans Lippershet was credited with the invention of the telescope. -
First Moon Spotting
Galileo Galilei was the first to spot the moon and its craters through a telescope. -
First Successful Reflecting Telescope
Issac Newton built the first successful reflecting telescope. -
Exploration of Cosmic Space
Russian rocket scientist Konstantin Tsiolkovsky publishesThe Exploration of Cosmic Space by Means of Reaction Devices. This is the first serious work to be published that shows space exploration to be theoretically possible. -
Launch of Liquid Fueled Rockets
Robert H. Goddard launches the first multi-stage rocket and a rocket fueled with gasoline and liquid nitrous oxide. -
Soviet Union Launches their First Rocket
The Soviet Union launches their first rocket of there own -
First Research Flight Launch
The first research flight launched by the United States captured by the V-2 space rocket -
First Launch of United States High Altitude Flight
The U.S. military achieves its first high-altitude space flight using a rebuilt German V-2 rocket. Launched from the White Sands Proving Ground in New Mexico, the flight reaches an altitude of 70 miles. -
First American-Designed Rocket Reaches Space
The United States launches its first American-designed rocket. Known as the Wac Corporal, the rocket reaches the edge of space at an altitude of 50 miles after being launched from the White Sands Proving Ground in New Mexico. -
First Animal Launched into Orbit
The spacecraft contained a pressurized container that housed a dog named Laika. The capsule contained a controlled atmosphere, food supply, waste collection system and biological sensors. Laika lived 8 days until the food supply ran out, and proved that animals could survive in space. -
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Space Race
The United States and the Soviet Union compete to be the first to do things in space -
Sputnik 1
The launching of Sputnik 1 by the Soviet Union began the space war with the United States. It was the first artifical satellite that was put in to the Earth's orbit. -
NASA Formed
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) was formed by the United States during the space race. NASA controls all missions and launches to space. -
First Plant Returns from Space
First plants return to Earth safely and alive from Earth's orbit. -
Discoverer XIV Launched
The Discoverer 14 was the first satellite into space by coming off a moving spacecraft in orbit and then reattached in mid-air. The satellite was successfully launched by the United States. -
First American in Space
Alan Shepard was on a tiny mercury capsule named Freedom 7 and was the first Amercian in space. -
First Women in Space
Valentina Tereshkova was the first (Russian) women in space sent by the Soviets on the Vostok 6 spacecraft. She was chosen out of 400 other applicants. -
First American Spacewalk
Ed White was the first American to complete a spacewalk. He was sent on mission Gemini 4. He was in space for 23 minutes and was over Hawaii and the Gulf of Mexico -
Apollo 8
Apollo 8 was the first manned spacecraft to orbit the moon -
Apollo 11
The first flight that took men to the moon. This was a great achievement because the United States had reached the moon before the Soviet Union. -
The First People on the Moon
Neil Armstrong, Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin, and Michael Collins landed on the moon. Collins stayed in orbit around the moon to take pictures and do experiments. Armstrong and Aldrin walked on the moon for about 3 hours. They took samples, did expirements, and put the American flag on the moon. -
Apollo 17's Return from the Moon
Apollo 17 was th most recent moon landing by the United States. The crew consisted of Eugene Cernan, Ronald Evans, and Harrison Schmitt. The mission took about 12 days and no it's has returned to the moon since. -
First Space Shuttle Launch
The first manned mission of the Space Transportation System (STS-1), Columbia, is launched. -
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 Venus's soil. -
Maiden Voyage of Challenger
America's second Space Shuttle, Challenger, embarks on its first mission into space. -
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. -
Maiden Voyage of Discovery
The third orbiter of the American Space Shuttle fleet, Discovery, lifts off for its maiden voyage into space. -
Maiden Voyage of Atlantis
Atlantis, the forth orbiter in America's Space Shuttle fleet, begins its first mission in space. -
Mir Station Launched
The first module of the Mir space station is successfully launched and placed into Earth orbit. Mir becomes the first modular space station in orbit. It hosts a number of successful Russian and American missions and remains in orbit until 2001 when it comes crashing down into the Pacific Ocean. -
Voyager 2 Arrives at Neptune
The Voyager 2 spacecraft arrives at Neptune, giving us our first close-up views of the blue planet and its moons. Scientists expect the planet to be a blue, featureless sphere much like Uranus. Instead, they discover a curious blue spot and a number of dynamic cloud features. -
Launch of Hubble Space Telescope
Space Shuttle Discovery lifts off for mission STS-31, carrying the Edwin P. Hubble Space Telescope (HST). The telescope is successfully deployed, but is found to contain a seriously flawed primary mirror resulting in fuzzy images. -
Mars Pathfinder Lands on Mars
The Mars Pathfinder probe lands on the surface of Mars. A small robotic rover examines the nearby terrain, sending back amazingly detailed images of the planet's surface.
