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Sputnik's launching
The Soviet Union launches the first artificial satellite, named Sputnik. -
Period: to
Years of Space Activity
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First Successful American Space Shuttle
The first successful American shuttle to rival the Soviet Union is launched and reaches an incredible height of 1,560 miles above the earth. -
NASA Established
Congressional leaders of the U.S. write the National Aeronautics and Space Act, creating NASA ( National Aeronautics and Space Administraiton). -
First Human in Space
The Soviet Union launches Yuri A. Gargarin into space for a 108 minute orbit at about 200 miles above Earth, making him an international hero. -
First American in Orbit
Astronaut John H. Glenn is launched into a five hour flight, orbiting the earth three times. He almost died in landing, but made a safe splash-down in the Atlantic. -
First Spacewalk
Russian cosmonaut Alexei Leonov exits his capsule for a 12-minute spacewalk. -
First Man on the Moon
In Apollo 11, nicknamed the Eagle, Neil Armstrong and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrien, Jr., touch down on the moon, and Armstrong states, "One small stepfor man, one giant leap for mankind." -
First Moon Rover Launched
A rover, capable of carrying two astronauts plus supplies, is launched to the moon on the Apollo 15. -
First U.S Mars Landing
The U.S.'s Viking 1 lands on Mars, taking photos of the surface. -
First Space Shuttle Launch
NASA launches the Columbia, the first space shuttle. -
First Operational Space Shuttle Mission
The first space shuttle, Columbia, carries a crew of four people into space. The crew deploys two commercial sattelites and returns after five days. -
First American Woman in Space
Sally K. Ride is launched into space on the Challenger, the first American woman in space. -
Explosion of the Challenger
Live on television, the Challenger explodes in front of the eyes of many later traumatized American citizens. Unfourtunetly, the schoolteacher Christa McAuliffe, along with the six other astronauts, are killed along with the explosion. -
Launching of the Hubble Space Telescope
The Hubble Space Telescope is emptied from the cargo hold of Discovery, designed for examing spce without interfierences from Earth's atmosphere, later to be repaired and upgraded. -
First Rover on Mars
The first pathfinder probe, also known as a Mars rover, is launched to study the surface of Mars. it is controlled by a command center on Earth, and was named Sojourner. -
Explosion of the Columbia
The space shuttle Columbia collapses on reentry to earth, killing its seven-man crew and canceling further space shuttle missions.
