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Period: to
Timeline Timespan
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Sputnik I
The Soviet Union launches Sputnik I -
November 3, 1957--Sputnik II launches,
November 3, 1957--Sputnik II launches, with ill-fated Laika the dog on board. -
United States launches Explorer I
January 31, 1958--United States launches Explorer I from Cape Canaveral in Florida. -
Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin first in space
April 12, 1961--Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin becomes the first human to enter space and return safely. -
February 20, 1962--Launch of Friendship 7
February 20, 1962--Launch of Friendship 7
makes astronaut John Glenn the first American to go into orbit. Total flight time was just shy of five hours. -
January 27, 1967--Mission AS-204 is struck by tragedy
January 27, 1967--Mission AS-204 is struck by tragedy when a flash fire breaks out during a launch pad test, killing three astronauts: Virgil Grissom, who had participated in Mercury and Gemini flights; Edward White, who conducted NASA's first extravehicular activity; and new astronaut Roger Chaffee. The mission, one of NASA's first major setbacks, was later renamed Apollo 1. -
July 20, 1969--first man on the moon
July 20, 1969--Astronauts Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin and Neil Armstrong become the first men to walk on the moon. -
launches first experiment space station
May 14, 1973--United States launches its first experimental space station, the Skylab. -
Launch of Pioneer
May 20, 1978--Launch of the first of two spacecraft called Pioneer Venus, which would study the Venusian atmosphere. -
June 18, 1983--Sally Ride first American woman in space
June 18, 1983--Sally Ride becomes first American woman in space with launch of shuttle mission STS-7 aboard the space shuttle Challenger. -
First major catastrophe for NASA
January 28, 1986--First major catastrophe for NASA, when space shuttle Challenger (mission STS-51L) explodes 73 seconds after takeoff with seven crewmembers aboard -
February 3 1994--first Russian to fly aboard U.S space shuttle.
February 3-11, 1994--Cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev becomes the first Russian to fly aboard a U.S. space shuttle. -
Pathfinder lands on Mars
July 4, 1997--Pathfinder lands on Mars. The rover Sojourner would go on to explore the Martian surface for more than 80 days. -
First piece of ISS is launched
November 20, 1998--First piece of the International Space Station is launched. -
Samples of atoms from solar wind
August 8, 2001--Launch of Genesis, which would collect samples of atoms from solar wind. Genesis would be the first attempt to return samples to Earth since the Apollo moon mission in 1972. -
Columbia space shuttle explodes on re-entry
February 1, 2003--Crew of seven astronauts, including the first Israeli astronaut, is lost after a 16-day mission when the Columbia space shuttle explodes on re-entry. The accident was later attributed to damage sustained to foam insulation and has led NASA to understand how to safely repair similar damage on later missions. -
Genesis - Dramatic crash landing
September 8, 2004--After capturing particles from the sun, Genesis makes a dramatic crash landing in Utah when its parachute fails to deploy. Despite the landing, scientists still managed to recover and study the samples. -
Phoenix launcher
August 4, 2007--Phoenix lander launches on its way to explore the northern pole of Mars.
