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Sputnik 1
Russian made Satellite. First thing mankind has ever sent into space.The launch ushered in new political, military, technological, and scientific developments. Marked the start of the Space Age. -
Explorer 1
The first American satellite to reach orbit. Lead to the discovery of the Van Allen radiation belt. It remained in orbit until 1970, and has been followed by more than 90 scientific spacecraft in the Explorer series. -
Luna 1
Launched by Russia. It is the first man made object to orbit the Sun. Became the first man-made object to reach heliocentric orbit. -
Luna 3
Russian probe. Took pictures for 70% of the surface of the moon. First pictures of the dark side of the moon. -
First Man in Space.
Russian, Yuri Gagarin, becomes the first man to go into space. Completed an obrit around the Earth. Rode on the Vostok 1. Became an international celebrity. -
First Woman in Space.
Russian Cosmonaut Valentia Tereshkova becomes the first woman in space. She was selected to pilot Vostok 6 out of more then 400 applicants. Conducted tests on herself while in space. -
Walking in Space.
Ed White performs America's first spacewalk on a Gemini trip. -
Picture of Earth
American unmaned space craft Lunar Orbiter 1 enters moon orbit, and takes the first picture of the Earth from the distance of the moon. -
Soyuz 1
Russian spacecraft is launched, carrying Vladimir M. Komarov. On April 24 it crashed, killing Komarov, the first spaceflight fatality. -
Zond 5
Unmanned Russian Spacecraft. First spacecraft the orbit the moon and return to Earth. -
Apollo 7
First manned Apollo mission with Walter M. Schirra, Jr., Donn F. Eisele, and Walter Cunningham. It orbited the earth once. It flew in Earth orbit so the crew could check life-support, propulsion, and control systems. -
Apollo 8
launched with Frank Borman, James A. Lovell, Jr. and William A. Anders, the first Apollo to use the Saturn V rocket, and the first manned spacecraft to orbit the Moon, making 10 orbits on its 6-day mission. -
Walking on the Moon.
Americans, Neil Armstrong and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin, become the first men to walk on the Moon on Apollo 11. They fulfilled U.S. President John F. Kennedy's goal of reaching the Moon before the Soviet Union by the end of the 1960s, and "won" the Space Race. -
Apollo 13
US spacecraft is launched, suffering an explosion in its SM oxygen tanks. Its Moon landing is aborted, and the crew, James A. Lovell, Jr., John L. Swigert, Jr. and Fred W. Haise, Jr., return safely. -
Return of Apollo 17
The eleventh and final manned mission in the American Apollo space program. Apollo 17 remains the most recent manned Moon landing and the most recent manned flight beyond low Earth orbit.
