-
USSR launches Sputnik 1.
-
Period: to
Space Race Timespan
-
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.
-
The "Mercury Seven" astronauts are selected by NASA.
-
The US launches Discoverer XIV, its first camera equipped spy satellite.
-
President Kennedy gives a speech at Rice University reaffirming the importance of the Moon program.
-
Ranger 7 transmits the first close range images of the Moon.
-
Luna 10 becomes the first satellite to orbit the Moon
-
Neil Armstrong and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin become the first men to walk on the Moon while crewmate Michael Collins orbits around the Moon alone.