Space Race Timeline

  • Sputnik 2 carried a small dog named Laika into orbit

  • Explorer 2 is launced but it fails to reach orbit.

  • The "Mercury Seven" astronauts are selected by NASA.

  • The US launches Discoverer XIV, its first camera equipped spy satellite.

  • Yuri Gagarin orbits the Earth once and becomes the first man in space.

  • John Glenn orbits the Earth three times.

  • A third group of NASA astronauts is selected.

  • Astronaut Theodore Freeman dies in a plane crash.

  • Mariner 4 returns close ranger images of Mars.

  • Luna 10 becomes the first satellite to orbit the Moon

  • The crew of Apollo 7 begin a 10 day mission to study the new spacecraft.

  • Neil Armstrong and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin become the first men to walk on the Moon while crewmate Michael Collins orbits around the Moon alone.