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Sputnik satellite luanched by soviets
The Soviet Union has just launched the world's first satellite, Sputnik. Fearful of Soviet military control of space, the Americans quickly ready a rocket. -
Choosing Seven Astronauts
President Eisenhower and the U.S. Congress have made it NASA's job to put the first human into space and restore America's standing in the world.During tests, these pilots are shaken, blasted with noise, made to sit with their feet in ice water, and forced to blow up balloons until they are exhausted. President Eisenhower tells NASA to choose only military test pilots. -
Who got Choose?
On April 9, 1959, NASA chooses seven astronauts — who instantly become famous as the Seven. -
USA vs. USSR
President Kennedy says, "I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to Earth." Kennedy wants to show that America can defeat the Soviet Union in the space race. -
First Space Flights
On May 5, 1961, less than a month after Gagarin's flight, the U.S. sends astronaut Alan Shepard into space.
John Glenn, the backup astronaut for both Shepard and Grissom, is scheduled to fly in January 1962.
After several delays, John Glenn is awakened at 2:20 a.m. for a planned 7:30 launch on February 20, 1962. In July, astronaut Gus Grissom repeats Shepard's brief hop into space. -
Fire on the Launchpad
On January 27, 1967, the crew of Apollo 1 — Virgil "Gus" Grissom, Edward White II, and Roger Chaffee — are killed in a There was a fire on the launchpad. By the time NASA restarts its space program, the Soviets already have their next missions underway. On April 23, the Soviets experience the death of a cosmonaut when his spacecraft's re-entry parachute fails. -
The First manned mission to the moon
Neil Armstrong, Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin, and Michael Collins are named as the crew for the historic flight. This was apollo 11 -
Aldrin the Pilot
After leaving NASA, Aldrin becomes Commander of the Air Force test pilot school in California. -
Collins Turns down the Moon
Although he would have the chance to walk on the moon, he doesn't want to strain his family again.
Collins turns down the opportunity to go on another moon mission.Then he becomes the first Director of the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. It opens in 1976, and includes his Apollo 11 Command Module. -
The professor
The Flight was a succsess. Armstrong decides to stay with NASA for another year, then he becomes a professor at the University of Cincinnati. He soon leaves teaching to pursue business activities. -
1st manned american space mission since Apollo-Soyuz
This is the first manned American space mission since the Apollo-Soyuz flight in July 1975.
The space shuttle Columbia takes John Young and Robert Crippen into space. -
First American Woman in Space
Sally Ride is part of the crew for the seventh space shuttle flight, STS-7. The first African-American astronaut, Guion Bluford, follows on the next flight on August 30. -
First woman to do a Space Walk
With her partner, Vladimir Dzhanibekov, she conducts welding Experiments for over three hours outside the Soviet space station Salyut 7.Savitskaya had become the second woman to fly in space during a Soviet mission in 1982. Svetlana Savitskaya becomes the first woman to do a space walk. -
First Civilian Death
The other crew members were Francis Scobee, Michael Smith, Judy Resnik, Ron McNair, Ellison Onizuka, and Gregory Jarvis. The space shuttle Challenger explodes, killing all seven crew members including the first teacher in space, Christa McAuliffe. -
First Year in Space
This record is broken on March 22, 1995, when cosmonaut Valery Poyakov returns to Earth after spending 437 days and 18 hours (1.19 years) in orbit. -
First Space Telescope
In December 1993, the crew of space shuttle STS-61 corrects the problem during space walks watched live on television by millions of people.The Hubble Space Telescope then provides the first images of distant galaxies and planets outside our solar system.The crew of space shuttle mission STS-31 deploy the Hubble Space Telescope. -
First Spacecraft to Leave the Solar System
Pioneer 10, launched on March 2, 1972, reaches a distance 50 times farther from the sun than Earth, becoming the first spacecraft to leave the solar system. -
First International Space Station
Phase 1 of the International Space Station (ISS) program begins with the flight of Russian Sergei Krikalev on an American space shuttle during the STS-60 mission. -
First American to Spend Six Months in Space
After five shuttle flights and six months (189 days) on the Russian space station Mir, her total time in space is 223 days. Shannon Lucid sets a record time in space for both a woman and an American. -
First Surface Travel on Another Planet
The six-wheeled, remote-controlled, solar-powered rover sends images of the planet’s surface and investigates chemical properties of Martian soil.During the Sojourner’s three months in action, the Pathfinder mission yielded tons of photographs and scientific findings. Arriving aboard the space probe Pathfinder, the robot Sojourner explores the surface of Mars.
