-
Launching of Sputnik 1
the first artificial satellite to be put into Earth's orbit. Soviet Union -
Period: to
space race
-
Sputnik 2
USSR launches Sputnik 2 which carried a small dog named Laika into orbit. the soviets knew the dog would not be able to return, but sent him up anyways. -
Explorer 1
Explorer 1 is launched (first american item to reach orbit) -
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is formed -
Orbits the Earth
Yuri Gagarin orbits the Earth once and becomes the first man in space. soviet. -
JFK
President John F. Kennedy addresses Congress and challenges the nation to go to the Moon before the end of the decade -
Cosmonaut
Cosmonaut Valentia Tereshkova becomes the first woman in space. Soviet. -
spacewalk
Alexei Leonov spends 12 minutes outside of his Voskhod spacecraft performing the first spacewalk for the Soviets. -
USA spacewalk
Ed White does America's first spacewalk. -
Apollo 1 capsule
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. -
Apollo 7
The crew of Apollo 7 begin a 10 day mission to study the new spacecraft -
Christmas eve
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 which pissed off some athiest lady. -
docking
Soyuz 4 & 5 perform the first Soviet spacecraft docking perfromed in space. -
moon walk
Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin become the first men to walk on the Moon. "one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind" -
Apollo 17
apollo 17 returns from the moon. last space mission
