Space Race

Sputnik 1

Oct 4, 1957

First successful artificial satellite placed into Earth-orbit

Explorer 1

Jan 31, 1958

Explorer 1's flight data confirmed the existence of an Earth-encompassing radiation belt.

NASA Formed

Jul 29, 1958

First Man In Space

Apr 12, 1961

Russians successfully put a Yuri Gagarin into orbit and back to Earth safely. He completed one orbit of earth and his flight lasted 108 minuites

First American into space

May 5, 1961

A modified Redstone rocket with a 2.9 metre tall "Mercury" capsule sent Alan B. Shepard Jr into space for 15 minutes.

First Spacewalk

Mar 18, 1965

Russians astronaut ventures into space and perfoms repairs on exterior of his ship

First American Spacewalk

Jun 3, 1965

Edward H. White the 2nd became the first American to "walk" in space. He was connected to his craft via an 8 metre cord and controlled his movements with a hand held rocket gun filled with gas.

First Men on the Moon

Jul 6, 1969

Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin & Michael Collins effectively ended the space race by landing on the Moon.

Apollo 17

Dec 19, 1972

Apollo 17 Returns from the moon