Space Exploration

By SarahLindholm

  • NASA is formed

    NASA is formed after Congress passes the National Aeronautics and Space Act

  • First Human Entered Space

    Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin becomes the first human to enter space and return safely

  • First American into Orbit

    Launch of Friendship 7 (also part of the Mercury Project) makes astronaut John Glenn the first American to go into orbit. Total flight time was just shy of five hours

  • Eight-Day Mission

    Launch of Gemini 5, carrying astronauts Gordon Cooper and Charles Conrad on an eight-day mission to test rendezvous guidance and navigation systems, as well as study how humans could handle long-term exposure to a space environment. Gemini would be the critical link between the early Mercury Project and the Apollo missions

  • Apollo 11

    Launch of Apollo 11

  • First Men to walk on Moon

    Astronauts Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin and Neil Armstrong become the first men to walk on the moon