Space Raace

Russia

Oct 4, 1957

USSR launches Sputnik 1

Russia

Nov 3, 1957

USSR launches Sputnik 2 which carried a small dog named Laika into orbit

America

Jan 31, 1958

Explorer 1, the first American satellite to reach orbit, is launched. It carried scientific equipment that lead to the discovery of the Van Allen radiation belt.

America

Mar 5, 1958

Explorer 2 is launced but it fails to reach orbit

Russia

Mar 15, 1958

Sputnik 3 is launched.

America

Mar 17, 1958

The Vanguard 1 satellite is launched. It continues to function for 3 years.

America

Oct 1, 1958

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is formed, it replaces the National Advisory Committee on Aeronautics (NACA).

America

Oct 11, 1958

Pioneer 1 is launched to a height of 70,700 miles.

Russia

Jan 2, 1959

Luna 1 is launched by the USSR. It is the first man made object to orbit the Sun.

America

Mar 3, 1959

Pioneer 4 is launched on a Earth-Moon trajectory. It passed within 37,000 miles of the Moon before falling into a solar orbit.

America

Apr 2, 1959

The "Mercury Seven" astronauts are selected by NASA

Russia

Sep 12, 1959

Luna 2 is launched. It impacts the Moon on September 13, becoming the first man-made object to do so.

Russia

Oct 4, 1959

Luna 3 orbits the Moon and photographs 70% of its surface.

America

Apr 1, 1960

Tiros 1, the first successful weather satellite, is launched.

America

Aug 18, 1960

The US launches Discoverer XIV, its first camera equipped spy satellite.

America

Nov 8, 1960

John F. Kennedy is elected the 35th President of the United States.

russia

Apr 12, 1961

Yuri Gagarin orbits the Earth once and becomes the first man in space.

america

May 5, 1961

Alan B. Shepard becomes the first American in space.

america

May 25, 1961

President John F. Kennedy addresses Congress and challenges the nation to go to the Moon before the end of the decade.

america

Jul 21, 1961

Gus Grissom is launched on a sub-orbital flight. His Liberty-Bell capsule is lost when it fills with water and sinks after splashdown.

russia

Aug 6, 1961

Gherman Titov spends a day in space aboard Vostok 2.

america

Dec 7, 1961

NASA announces the Gemini Program.

american

Feb 20, 1962

John Glenn orbits the Earth three times.

america

May 24, 1962

Scott Carpenter repeats John Glenn's flight aboard "Aurora 7".

america

Sep 12, 1962

President Kennedy gives a speech at Rice University reaffirming the importance of the Moon program.

america

Sep 17, 1962

NASA selects its second group of astronauts.

america

Oct 3, 1962

Walter Schirra orbits the Earth six times.

america

Dec 14, 1962

Mariner 2 flies past Venus and enters a solar orbit

America

May 15, 1963

L. Gordon Cooper spends 34 hours in space. He is the last American to fly in space alone.

Russia

Jun 16, 1963

Cosmonaut Valentia Tereshkova becomes the first woman in space.

America

Oct 17, 1963

A third group of NASA astronauts is selected.

America

Nov 22, 1963

President Kennedy is assassinated.

America

Jul 31, 1964

Ranger 7 transmits the first close range images of the Moon.

America

Oct 31, 1964

Astronaut Theodore Freeman dies in a plane crash.

Russia

Feb 3, 1965

Luna 9 becomes the first spacecraft to soft-land on the Moon.

Russia

Mar 18, 1965

Alexei Leonov spends 12 minutes outside of his Voskhod spacecraft performing the first spacewalk.

America

Mar 23, 1965

Gus Grissom and John Young fly the first manned Gemini spacecraft.

America

Jun 3, 1965

Ed White performs America's first spacewalk. Jim McDivitt remains in the Gemini capsule.

America

Jul 14, 1965

Mariner 4 returns close ranger images of Mars.

Russia

Nov 16, 1965

Venus 3 is launched. It becomes the first man made object to impact Venus on March 1, 1966.

America

Dec 4, 1965

Frank Borman and James Lovell begin a two week stay in Earth orbit aboard Gemini 7.

America

Dec 15, 1965

Walter Schirra and Thomas Stafford, in their Gemini 6 spacecraft, make the first space rendezvous with Gemini 7.

America

Feb 28, 1966

Astronauts Charles Bassett and Elliott See die when their plane crashes in bad weather.

America

Jun 2, 1966

Surveyor 1 soft-lands on the Moon.

America

Aug 14, 1966

Lunar Orbiter 1 enters orbit around the Moon and takes the first picture of the Earth from that distance.

America

Nov 11, 1966

Gemini 12, the last flight of the Gemini Program, launches with James Lovell and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin aboard.

Russia

Jan 17, 1967

Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee are killed when a fire ignites in their Apollo 1 capsule while performing a test on the launch pad.

Russia

Apr 24, 1967

Cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov is killed when the parachutes of his Soyuz 1 capsule fail to open properly following re-entry.

America

Jun 6, 1967

Astronaut Edward Givens is killed in an automobile accident.

America

Oct 5, 1967

Astronaut Clifton Williams is killed in a plane crash.

Russia

Oct 18, 1967

Venera 4 transmits data about the atmosphere of Venus.

Russia

Mar 27, 1968

Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, the first man in space, dies in a plane crash.

Russia

Sep 15, 1968

Zond 5 is launched. It carried a biological payload (including two turtles) around the Moon and returned to Earth six days later.

America

Oct 11, 1968

The crew of Apollo 7 begin a 10 day mission to study the new spacecraft.

America

Dec 21, 1968

Frank Borman, James Lovell, and William Anders begin the first manned journey from the Earth to the Moon. On Christmas Eve they take turns reading Genesis in a broadcast heard around the world.

Russia

Jan 16, 1969

Soyuz 4 & 5 perform the first Soviet spacecraft docking.

America

Jul 20, 1969

Neil Armstrong and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin become the first men to walk on the Moon while crewmate Michael Collins orbits around the Moon alone.

America

Nov 19, 1969

Pete Conrad and Alan Bean perform the first precision lunar landing, touching down just 600 feet from the Surveyor 3 probe that arrived two years earlier.