-
-
The first man-made object to orbit the Earth, is launched by the U.S.S.R., and remains in orbit until January 4, 1958.
-
First man-made satellite to orbit the moon, is launched by the U.S.S.R.
-
The first spacecraft to soft-land on the moon.
-
American Mariner 10 is launched, on the first dual-planet mission. Over the next year, it returned photographs of Venus and Mercury.
-
Soviet Venera 15 returns the first high-resolution images of the Venus polar area, and compiled a thermal map of most of the northern hemisphere.
-
Space Shuttle Endeavour launches on STS-61, making the first on-orbit service of the Hubble Space Telescope (HST).
-
Space Shuttle Columbia lifts off for the shortest shuttle flight in 12 years (four days).
-
The four satellites Globalstar 1, 2, 3, and 4 are the first in Globalstar's planned 44-satellite constellation of medium-Earth-orbit (~900 miles altitude) communications satellites for providing voice and data links worldwide from both remote and home telephones. This system is planned as a direct competitor to Iridium's cluster, which began launching in May of 1997.
-
Space Shuttle Atlantis lifts off for the International Space Station for maintenance on the crane and a faulty antenna, installation of a Russian boom arm, handrails and upgrades to the ventilation system, and delivery of new batteries, supplies and equipment.
-
Space Shuttle Endeavour is launched carrying the Raffaello logistics module back to the ISS with new supplies.
