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American Space Exploration
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America's First Flight
On this day, America sent her first astronaut- Alan Shepard- into space. He flew above Earth for a little over 14 minutes in the Freedom 7 space shuttle. -
America's First Circling
John Glenn, aboard the Friendship 7 space shuttle, becomes a national hero after becoming the first American to circle the Earth. Although many things went wrong with the shuttle, forcing Glenn to manually pilot it, he continued to circle the Earth three full times. -
First Spacewalk
Throughout the span of a four day space mission, Edwardhite perfored the first spacewalk by an American. Through the Gemini mission aboard the Gemini-Titan 4 space shuttle, White explored the zero gravity of space. -
Apollo 8 Circles the Moon
For one week, the space shuttle Apollo 8, orbits the moon with astronauts William Anders, Frank Borman and James Lovell. This is the first time that people see their home- the Earth- from afar. -
Giant Leap For Mankind
Neil Armonstron and Buzz Aldrin became the first of mankind to step foot on the moon's surface on this nine day space-trip. This is the event that coined the line: "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." -
First Moon Expedition
On a thirteen day space exploration, the space shuttle Apollo 15, carrying David Scott, Alfred Warden and James Irwin, became the first team to complete a lunar expedition. This crew explored the lunar surface using the first every lunar rover. Because of this exploration, rare lunar rock was found and brought back to earth. -
A New Flight Era
The flight of the first reusable craft launches, carrying John Young and Robert Crippen into a mission that will orbit Earth for 54 hours. This marks the beginning of airplane0like crafs in space exploration. -
America's First Woman
Sally Ride becomes the first American woman to fly to space aboard the Challenger space shuttle. -
America's First African American
The first African-American travels into space when the Challenger space shuttle carries Guion Bluford away from Earth. -
Challenger Tragedy
The whole world watches as the space shuttle Challenger explodes shortly after its launch. This explosion kills each of its crew of seven. This happening begins a review and change of how NASA manages structure safety. -
Hubble Space Telescope
The first attempt of the Hubble Space Telescope is flown into space by a space shuttle and placed in orbit. Because it is the first space telescope to be able to be altered, fixed and serviced by astronauts, many discoveries of our Earth and astrophysics have been made. -
First Woman Pilot
The first American Woman space shuttle pilot goes down in history as Eileen Collins pilots a space expedition. -
Space Station Launched
The first space station module, Zarya, is launched into space, but remains uninhabited until 2000. In coming years, two other modules are added to the completion of the space station. -
The Columbia Tragedy
Just minutes before its landing, the Columbia shuttle's 28th flight is ended when pieces from the shuttle's external body fall and damage the underside of its wing, making it impossible for the shuttle to be protected from the intense heat that must be passed through when entering the Earth's atmosphere. Killing its crew of seven, the shuttle was immediately burned up and pieces were scattered. -
Mars Exploration Rovers
Two rovers are launched to Mars to explore for signs of water and to take photographs. Spirit and Opportunity rovers continue to function, long after they were intended to. -
Saturn Orbital
The Cassini Spacecraft is sent to Saturn to study the planet and its many different moons. Many aspects of the planet, such as its temperature, make up and characteristics of its rings. -
Mars Exploration
For further study of Mars, the Phoenix Probe landed on Mars to study the history of water and the geology of the planet. This will start preparation for potential human exploration in years to come. -
New Rocket Test
The space shuttle explorations are retiring, and NASA uses outisde companies to begin building rockets that will carry astronauts and supplies into space. The first to be launched is the Falcon 9 rocket.
