NASA Timeline By NASAtimeline Period: Jan 1, 1940 to Jan 1, 2016 History of NASA Oct 1, 1958 NASA began operation Oct 11, 1958 Pioneer I: First NASA launch Jun 1, 1959 X-15 hypersonic research aircraft flew for a decade Jan 31, 1961 First Primate In Space Apr 23, 1962 Ranger 4 acheived lunar impact Aug 27, 1962 Venus Flyby by the Mariner 2 Jun 3, 1965 Astronaut Ed White, first American to walk in space May 30, 1966 Lunar Lander, the Surveyor 1, launched Dec 21, 1968 Apollo 8 was launched Jul 20, 1969 Neil Armstrong and "Buzz" Aldrin, first men on moon Jan 17, 1976 Launch of Hermes Jun 19, 1983 Sally Ride the first American woman in space Jul 4, 1997 Mars Pathfinder mission lands May 28, 1998 Discovery of TMR-1C, the first planet detected outside our solar system Oct 24, 1998 NASA's Deep Space 1 mission launched
