Space race Timeline

  • USSR launches Sputnik 1.

    USSR launches Sputnik 1.

    "The first ever space satellite is launched into space".
  • Period: to

    Duration of the space race

  • Explorer 1 is launched

    Explorer 1 is launched

    First US satellite is sent into orbit, and "It carried scientific equipment that leads to the discovery of the Van Allen radiation belt."
  • NASA is formed

    NASA is formed

    "The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is formed, it replaces the National Advisory Committee on Aeronautics (NACA)."
  • USSR launches Luna 1

    USSR launches Luna 1

    "It is the first man-made object to orbit the Sun"
  • USSR puts first man in space

    USSR puts first man in space

    "Yuri Gagarin orbits the Earth once and becomes the first man in space."
  • Vostok 2

    Vostok 2

    Gherman Titov spends a whole entire day in space aboard Vostok 2.
  • USSR's first woman in space

    USSR's first woman in space

    "Cosmonaut Valentia Tereshkova becomes the first woman in space".
  • USSR Luna 9

    USSR Luna 9

    Becomes the first spacecraft to soft-land on the Moon
  • Apollo 1

    Apollo 1

    Two astronauts tragically died in a flash fire on the spaceship while doing the pre-flight tests, leading NASA to being more cautious and strict.
  • Apollo 7

    Apollo 7

    First manned mission to space, by the US and it entered an Earth orbit for a few rotations before landing back.
  • Apollo 8

    Apollo 8

    The first manned spacecraft to enter lunar orbit is launched.
  • Apollo 9

    Apollo 9

    The lunar module itself was tested in space for the very first time.
  • Apollo 10

    Apollo 10

    Tested all the systems and the procedures necessary for a lunar landing, but it didn’t actually, land on the moon
  • Apollo 11

    Apollo 11

    This was the first time that man had ever set foot on the moon and marked the American victory over the Soviets in the Space Race.

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