SPACE RACE

Space race

Period: 1955 to 1988

The space race was a struggle between the United States and the Soviet Union for the conquest of space that lasted from approximately 1955 to 1975. It involved the parallel effort of both countries to explore outer space with artificial satellites and to send humans to space and to the surface. mole.

FIRST ARTIFICIAL SATELLITE

1957

Sputnik 1 was the first artificial Earth satellite. It was launched into an elliptical low Earth orbit by the Soviet Union on 4 October 1957 as part of the Soviet space program.

First mammal in orbit around Earth.

1957

putnik 2 was the second spacecraft launched into Earth orbit, on 3 November 1957, and the first to carry a living animal, a Soviet space dog named Laika

First intercontinental ballistic missile

Aug 21, 1957

The R-7 Semiorka was the first intercontinental ballistic missil, it was thrown off by the Soviets

Discovery of the Van Allen radiation belt.

1958

Explorer 1 was the first satellite launched by the United States in 1958 and was part of the U.S. participation in the International Geophysical Year,

First solar-powered satellite

1958

Vanguard 1 is an American satellite that was the fourth artificial Earth-orbiting satellite

First satellite in a polar orbit

1959

The CORONA program was a series of American strategic reconnaissance satellites produced and operated by the Central Intelligence Agency Directorate of Science & Technology

First satellite recovered intact from orbit

Aug 11, 1960

First animals and plants returned alive from space

Aug 19, 1960

Korabl-Sputnik 2, also known as Sputnik 5 in the West, was a Soviet artificial satellite, and the third test flight of the Vostok spacecraft.

First planetary flyby (Venus), although contact was lost

May 19, 1961

Venera 1

First piloted spacecraft orbit change

Mar 23, 1965

Gemini 3 was the first crewed mission in NASA's Project Gemini and was the first time two American astronauts flew together into space

First artificial satellite to orbit another celestial body (the Moon)

Apr 3, 1966

Luna 10 (or Lunik 10) was a 1966 Soviet lunar robotic spacecraft mission in the Luna program. It was the first artificial satellite of the Moon.

First precisely targeted piloted landing on the Moon (Surveyor 3 site)

Nov 19, 1969

First lunar rover

Nov 23, 1970

Lunokhod 1 was the first of two robotic lunar rovers landed on the Moon by the Soviet Union as part of its Lunokhod program

First human-driven lunar rover

Jul 31, 1971

Apollo 15 was the ninth crewed mission in the United States' Apollo program and the fourth to land on the Moon

First mission to enter the asteroid belt and leave inner Solar System

Jul 15, 1972

Pioneer 10

First spacecraft to orbit another planet (Venus) (the orbiter)

Oct 20, 1975

Venera, manufacturer's designation: 4V-1 No. 660,[3] was a Soviet uncrewed space mission to Venus

First Saturn flyby

Sep 1, 1979

Pioneer 11 (also known as Pioneer G) is a 260-kilogram robotic space probe launched by NASA on April 5, 1973, to study the asteroid belt, the environment around Jupiter and Saturn, solar winds, and cosmic rays.

First aerostat balloon in the atmosphere of Venus

Jun 11, 1985

Vega 1 (along with its twin Vega 2) was a Soviet space probe, part of the Vega program.

First Uranus flyby

Jan 24, 1986

Voyager 2 is a space probe launched by NASA on August 20, 1977, to study the outer planets and interstellar space beyond the Sun's heliosphere.

First Neptune flyby

Aug 25, 1989

First consistently inhabited long-term research space station

Feb 11, 1990

Mir was a space station that operated in low Earth orbit from 1986 to 2001, operated by the Soviet Union and later by Russia.

END SPACE RACE

Dec 31, 1991

On 1991 December 31, the United Nations accepted the dissolution of the USSR, which meant the end of the space race.