space exploration By beth_hood235 Oct 1, 1957 Russians launch the first official satellite - Sputnik 1 Nov 1, 1957 Laika the dog becomes the first living creature in Space - onboard the Sputnik 2 Jan 1, 1958 Launch of first U.S satellite - Explorer 1 Oct 1, 1959 Russian probe Luna 3 sends first pictures of the far side of the moon Jan 1, 1961 NASA launches a chimpanzee (Ham) into space Apr 1, 1961 Yuri Gagarin becomes the first person in space on a 108 minute flight. May 1, 1961 Alan Shepard is the 1st Ameerican in space Feb 1, 1962 John Glenn is the first person to orbit the earth onboard Friendship Dec 1, 1962 Mariner 2 (NASA) scans the surface of Venus Jun 1, 1963 Valentina Tereshkova is the 1st woman in space Mar 1, 1965 Alexei Leonev makes the first space walk Jul 1, 1965 Mariner 4 flys past Mars Feb 1, 1966 First Moon landing by the Luna 9 (Soviet Union) Jan 1, 1967 Fire on the launch pad of Apollo 1 kills 3 US astronauts Apr 1, 1967 First death in Space - Vladimir Komorov Oct 1, 1967 Venera 4 lands on Venus Dec 1, 1968 First crewed ship orbits hte moon - Apollo 8 Jul 1, 1969 NEIL ARMSTRONG AND HIS CREW WALKS ON THE MOON Nov 1, 1970 Russian rover the first to drive on the moon Apr 1, 1971 Launch of the first space station - Salyut 1 Dec 1, 1973 First space probe to fly past Jupiter Mar 1, 1974 First space probe to fly past Mercury Jul 1, 1975 First US and Soviet spacecraft docking - Apollo/Soyuz Jul 1, 1976 First successful landing on Mars Sep 1, 1979 First fly past Saturn Apr 1, 1981 First space shuttle launch - Columbia Jan 1, 1986 First fly past Uranus Jan 1, 1986 Space shuttle Challenger explodes killing all 7 crew :( Feb 1, 1986 Launch of Russian space station - Mir Mar 1, 1986 First space probe to fly past Halleys comet (European ship Giotto) Aug 1, 1989 First Neptune fly by - Voyager 2 Apr 1, 1990 Space shuttle Discovery launches the Hubble Space Telescope Nov 1, 1998 First part of the International Space Space station launched. Sep 1, 1999 Mars Climate Orbiter disappears after orbiting Mars Dec 1, 1999 Mars Polar Lander disappears - more embarrassment for NASA Mar 1, 2001 Mir station abandoned and crashes off the coast of Australia Apr 1, 2001 First tourist in Space - Dennis Tito Feb 1, 2003 Space shuttle Columbia explodes on re-entry killing the 7 astronauts Jan 1, 2004 Twin Mars Exploration Rover missions Spirit and Opportunity land on Mars Jul 3, 2005 A ship collided with a comet 1/2 the size of Manhatten for scientific research Jan 10, 2008 NASA space probe Messenger skimmed 199.55 km above Mercury Mar 6, 2009 NASA spacecraft Kepler was launched Jul 16, 2011 NASA's Dawn spacecraft became the first man made craft to orbit an asteroid Dec 24, 2013 NASA astronauts wrapped up successful repairs at the International Space Station http://www.archives.gov/research/alic/reference/space-timeline.html