Launches By music-735 Mar 16, 1926 Goddard's rocket Period: Mar 16, 1926 to Nov 11, 2011 launches Oct 3, 1942 Wernher Von Braun's v-2 Oct 4, 1957 Sputnik 1 Feb 1, 1958 Explorer 1 Jul 29, 1958 NASA founded Apr 1, 1960 Tiros Apr 12, 1961 Yur Gagarin's first trip to space May 5, 1961 First American in space Jul 10, 1962 Telstar Aug 27, 1962 Mariner 2 Apr 8, 1964 Gemini 1 Jan 27, 1967 Apollo 1 Jul 16, 1969 Apollo 11 Aug 17, 1970 Venera 7 May 14, 1973 Skylab Nov 10, 1973 Mariner 10 Aug 20, 1977 Viking 1 Apr 10, 1981 Space Shuttle May 4, 1989 Magellan Apr 24, 1990 Hubble telescope Oct 15, 1997 Cassani Nov 20, 1998 The International Space Station Jul 7, 2003 Mars oppurtunity launch May 7, 2009 Kepler telescope Nov 26, 2011 Mars curiosity launch