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The Space Race

By Wilsonbaker02

  • Sputnik 1

    Sputnik 1
    The Soviet Union launches Sputnik 1 into orbit, the first artificial or man-made satellite.

  • First Dog in Space

    First Dog in Space
    Sputnik 2 is launched in space with female dog, Laika aboard.

  • First U.S. Satellite

    First U.S. Satellite
    The first American Satellite, Explorer 1, enters orbit around Earth.

  • First Human in Orbit

    First Human in Orbit
    Vostok 1 carries Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin into orbit; he is the first human in space. The Soviets refer to Gagarin as a "cosmonaut."

  • First American in Orbit

    First American in Orbit
    John Glenn on Mercury-Atlas 6

  • Voyage to Mars

    The US satellite, Mariner 4, performs the first successful voyage to the planet Mars, returning the first close-up images of the Martian surface.

  • Apollo 8

    US spacecraft Apollo 8 becomes the first human-crewed spacecraft to reach the Moon, orbit it, and successfully return to Earth.

  • Man on the Moon

    Neil Armstrong and later Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin become the first men to walk on the Moon while their crewmate Michael Collins continues to orbit the Moon aboard the Apollo 11. This secured a victory for America in the Space Race with a televised landing witnessed around the world by 723 million people.

  • End of the Space Race

    With tensions between the US and USSR softening, the first cooperative Apollo-Soyuz mission is launched. With two separate flights, the Apollo and Soyuz spacecraft dock in space and the two commanders Tom Stafford and Alexei Leonov exchange the first international handshake. This act can be seen to symbolically end the Space Race, paving the way for future joint missions, such as the International Space Station and the Shuttle-Mir programme.