Space

By CoachMonceaux
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    Space

  • Sputnik 1

    Sputnik 1

    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.

  • Sputnik 2

    carrying the dog Laika for 7 days in orbit, is launched by the U.S.S.R., and remains in orbit until April 13, 1958

  • Luna 3

    translunar satellite is launched, orbiting the moon and photographing 70 percent of the far side of the moon.

  • Discoverer XIV

    launches the first U.S. camera-equipped Corona spy satellite

  • Soviet Venus 3

    launched, becoming the first craft to impact Venus on March 1, 1966.

  • Gemini 7

    launched carrying Frank Borman and James A. Lovell, Jr., making 206 orbits around Earth and proving a trip to the Moon possible.

  • Soviet Luna 9

    first spacecraft to soft-land on the moon

  • Mariner 7

    returns high-resolution images of the Martian surface, concentrating on the southern hemisphere

  • American Apollo

    the first international spacecraft rendezvous

  • Salyut 5

    launched, remaining in orbit until August 8, 1977

  • Soviet Salyut 6

    space station is launched. Its crews include members from Czechoslovakia, Poland, GDR, Bulgaria, Hungary, Vietnam, Cuba, Mongolia, and Romania.

  • ESA

    launches a fourth Ariane rocket.

  • Columbia

    fifth mission

  • Supernova 1987A

    blazes into view

  • Galileo

    spacecraft from Shuttle Atlantis flight STS-34, which took infrared images of Venus, and images of the asteroid Ida, before continuing to Jupiter.

  • U.S. Pegasus rocket

    deployed from a B-52 bomber, and launched the Pegsat satellite in the first demonstration of the Pegasus launch vehicle

  • Spacecraft Ulysses

    flies around Jupiter, on its way to the sun

  • Columbia

    Lifts off on its 21st space flight, setting a new shuttle in-space endurance record of almost 18 days. This flight carries Story Musgrave, at that time the oldest man to fly in space at 61 years of age.

  • Discovery

    Lifts off for a 12-day mission to deploy and retrieve the Crista-Spas 2 satellite, which studied the Earth's middle atmosphere. This flight also tested various infra-red and ultraviolet instrumentation, and tested the Japanese robot-arm to be used for the International Space Station.

  • Lunar Prospector

    the first NASA mission to the Moon in 25 years, and the first dedicated to lunar research since Apollo 17 in 1972.

  • Shenzhou

    the first unmanned test of their manned capsule from China