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Period: to
1960-Present
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Apollo 11
Apollo 11 launched from Cape Kennedy on July 16, 1969, carrying Commander Neil Armstrong, Command Module Pilot Michael Collins and Lunar Module Pilot Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin into an initial Earth-orbit of 114 by 116 miles. An estimated 530 million people watched Armstrong's televised image and heard his voice describe the event as he took "...one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind" on July 20, 1969. -
Pioneer 10 & 11
Pioneer 10 and Pioneer 11, launched in 1972 and 1973, respectively, were the first spacecraft to visit the solar system's most photogenic gas giants, Jupiter and Saturn. Pioneer 10 was the first probe to travel through the solar system's asteroid belt, a field of orbiting rocks between Mars and Jupiter. Then about a year-and-a-half after its launch, the spacecraft made the first flyby of the planet Jupiter. The space crafts are still orbiting Jupiter. -
Viking 1 & 2
When NASA's Viking 1 probe touched-down on Mars in July 1976, it was the first time a man-made object had soft-landed on the red planet. (Though the Soviet Mars 2 and 3 probes did land on the surface, they failed upon landing). The Viking 1 lander also holds the title of longest-running Mars surface mission, with a total duration of 6 years and 116 days. The spacecraft also sent the first color pictures back from the Martian surface, showing us what that mysterious red dot looks like from afar. -
Voyager 1 & 2
Shortly after the Pioneers made their flybys, the Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 probes followed. They made many important discoveries about Jupiter and Saturn, including rings around Jupiter and the presence of volcanism on Jupiter's moon, Io. Voyager went on to make the first flybys of Uranus, where it discovered 10 new moons, and Neptune, where it found that Neptune actually weighs less than astronomers thought. -
Challenger STS-41B
The STS-41B flight of Challenger lifted off on Feb. 3, 1984 and marked the first time an astronaut spacewalked outside the shuttle without being tethered. Astronauts Bruce McCandless and Robert L. Stewart tested out the Manned Maneuvering Unit (MMU), a robotic backpack with its own thrusters that allowed the spaceflyers to move around, becoming the first human satellites to orbit the Earth. This mission also marked the first time a space shuttle landed back where it launched. -
Challenger STS-51L
On January, 28, 1986, the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded 73 seconds after lifting off from launch pad 39B at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
The shocking accident - broadcast live on television - claimed the lives of all seven crew members, including Christa McAuliffe, a Concord, N.H. school teacher who had been selected to inaugurate NASA's highly publicized Teacher In Space Project. Later that day, President Reagan returned to the airwaves to console a grieving nation. -
Hubble Space Telescope
The Hubble Space Telescope, orbiting 353 miles (569 km) above the surface of the Earth, was the first telescope designed to be visited in space by astronauts to perform repairs, replace parts, and update its technology with new instruments. With each servicing mission, Hubble's power increases, making it one of the most enduring and successful space missions ever undertaken. -
Endevour STS-61
Three years after Hubble launched into space with faulty optics, NASA launched the shuttle Endeavour on the STS-61 mission on Dec. 2, 1993. The mission came about after engineers completed a set of corrective optics to fix the problem, allowing NASA to launch seven astronauts on the first Hubble servicing mission. -
Atlantis STS-71
While the United States and Russia began the space race as competitors, they evolved into collaborators. One of the brightest moments of the partnership came on June 27, 1995 when a U.S. space shuttle docked to the Russian space station Mir. Atlantis' STS-71 mission delivered two Russian cosmonauts to the station to begin their months-long stay on Mir. The mission also picked up a NASA astronaut and two other cosmonauts – who had been serving on the Mir crew – to give them a ride home. -
Atlantis STS-135
In 2011, the space shuttle program flew its last flights. The final mission, was flown by the shuttle Atlantis on June 28, 2011, it carryied four astronauts and a cargo bay packed to the brim with spare supplies to the International Space Station.
The shuttle Discovery launched on its last mission Feb. 24, 2011. The orbiter delivered the final major U.S. contribution to the space station – the Permanent Multipurpose Module Leonardo – effectively completing the American portion.
