Space Race

Launching of Sputnik I (Soviet)

Oct 4, 1957

Space Race

Period: Oct 4, 1957 to Dec 19, 1972

Vostok 1 (Soviet)

Apr 12, 1961

The first human spaceflight in history. The craft was manned by Yuri Gagarin. He orbitted the earth one time and landed. The flight lasted about 108 mintues.

Freedom 7 (American)

May 5, 1961

Alan Shepard piloted a small spacecraft for fifteen minutes, making him the first American in space. This mission put hope back into the American people that we could beat the Soviets. This flight occured just 3 weeks and Yuri's Earth orbit.

Friendship 7 (American)

Feb 20, 1962

The craft was piloted by John Glenn. He orbitted the Earth 3 times and became the first American to do so.

Vostok 3 (Soviet)

Aug 11, 1962

Another first for the Soviets as they orbit the Earth 64 times over a span of 4 days. The purpose of the flight was to test the ability of the body to function in weightlessness.

Mariner 2 (American)

Aug 27, 1962

The Mariner 2 was a probe sent to Venus. It was the first successful mission in the NASA Mariner program.

Ranger 7 (American)

Jul 28, 1964

First American space probe to transmit close picures of the moon. The pictures would help NASA plan the moon landings.

Voskhod 2 (Soviet)

Mar 18, 1965

Manned by Pavel Belyaev and Alexei Leonov. The flight marked yet another first for the Soviets. Alexeit Leonov, in a specialized spacesuit, became the first person to "spacewalk". He was outsisde of the craft for 12 minutes.

Gemini 5 (American)

Aug 21, 1965

The flight lasted for 8 days...long enough to get to the moon and back. The mission proved that it was possible to spend this much time in space.

Luna 9 (Soviet)

Jan 31, 1966

Unmanned sviet lunar mission. It was the first spacecraft to land softly on another planetary body (other than Earth). This mission was vital becausde it proved that something could land, without crashing, on the moon.

Gemini 12 (American 12)

Nov 11, 1966

The final manned Gemini flight. Buzz Aldrin spent five hours outside of the craft. This proved that work could be done comfortably while spacewalking.

Soyuz 1 (Soviet)

Apr 23, 1967

The first mission of the Soviet Soyuz program. Sadly the craft had many technical issues and Vladamir Komarov became the first in-flight fatality in spaceflight history.

Apollo 8 (American)

Dec 21, 1968

First human spaceflight to leave orbit. It orbited the moon ten times. The astronauts read the first 10 verses of the Bible on a television broadcast from the spacecraft. This flight paved the way for Apollo 11.

Apollo 11 (American)

Jul 16, 1969

First humans on the moon. Neil Armstrong left the lunar module and became the first man to walk on the moon. They came back with about 50 pounds of lunar rocks.

Apollo 17's return from the moon (American)

Dec 19, 1972