''space race'' time lines

First manned space station; Mars 3 drops capsule on Mars

1971 BCE

Mariner 4 space probe flies past mars

1965 BCE

U.S. launches an artificial satellite(Explorer 1)

Jan 31, 1858

Explorer 1 was the first satellite launched by the United States when it was sent into space on January 31, 1958.

Soviet Union launches Sputnik 1

Oct 4, 1957

History changed on October 4, 1957, when the Soviet Union successfully launched Sputnik I.

Luna 2 probe reaches the moon

Sep 14, 1959

On September 14, 1959, it successfully impacted east of Mare Imbrium near the craters Aristides, Archimedes, and Autolycus.

First human orbits Earth (Yuri Gagarin)

Apr 12, 1961

Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin was a Russian Soviet pilot and cosmonaut. He was the first human to journey into outer space, when his Vostok spacecraft completed an orbit of the Earth on 12 April 1961.

First American in space (Alan Shepard)

May 5, 1961

Alan Shepard became the first American in space. He flew on a Mercury spacecraft. There was just enough room for one person. He named his capsule Freedom 7.

First American orbits Earth (John Glenn, Jr) Mariner 2 flies past venus

Feb 20, 1962

Mercury Friendship 7 lifts off with John H. Glenn, Jr., the first American in orbit, and orbits the Earth three times.

First woman in space (Valentina Tereshkova)

Jun 16, 1963

On June 16, 1963, aboard Vostok 6, Soviet Cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova becomes the first woman to travel into space.

Apollo 11 first manned moon landing (Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, Michael Collins)

Jul 20, 1969

Apollo 11 was the first spaceflight that landed humans on the Moon. Americans Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed on July 20, 1969

Venera 7 lands on venus

Dec 15, 1970

The Venera 7 was a Soviet spacecraft, part of the Venera series of probes to Venus. When it landed on the Venusian surface, it became the first spacecraft to land on another planet and first to transmit data from there back to Earth.

U.S. and Soviet Union launch first joint space mission

Jul 12, 1975

The Apollo–Soyuz Test Project, conducted in July 1975, was the first joint U.S.–Soviet space flight, as a symbol of the policy of detente that the two superpowers were pursuing at the time.

Pioneer 7 sent toward Jupiter

Mar 31, 1995

Pioneer 7 was launched on 17 August 1966. It was last tracked successfully on 31 March 1995. The spacecraft and one of the science instruments were still functioning.