Space Exploration

WAC Corporal

1946

It was the first (US designed) rocket that reached the edge of spaceThe first pictures of the Earth were taken from an altitude of 105 km..

R1

1951

First time dogs were sent to space.

R7

1957

First intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) developed.

Sputnik 1

1957

First artificial satellite. (USSR)

Sputnik 2

1957

First animal (dog named Laika) sent to the orbit

Explorer 6

1959

First photograph of Earth taken from the orbit (by NASA)

Vostok-1

1961

First manned flight carrying Yuri Gagarin

Vostok 6

1963

First woman in space (Valentina Tereshkova).

Luna 10

1966

First artificial satellite around the Moon.

Apollo 8

1968

First piloted orbital mission of Moon (by NASA)

Apolo 11

1969

First human on the Moon and first space launch from a celestial body (by NASA) - Commander Neil Armstrong and Pilot Buzz Aldrin.

Luna 16

1970

First automatic sample return from the Moon.

Salyut 1

1971

First Space Station.

Pioneer 10

1972

First human made object that had been sent on escape trajectory away from the Sun (by NASA)

Mariner 10

1974

First photograph of Venus from Space (by NASA)

Venera 13

1982

First Venus soil samples and sound recording of another world.

STS-41-B

1984

First untethered spacewalk, Bruce McCandless II (by NASA).

Voyager 1

1990

First photograph of the whole Solar System (by NASA).

Mir

1995

First Record longest duration spaceflight (i.e. 437.7 days) set by Valeri Polyakov.

HALCA

1997

First orbital radio observatory.

NEAR Shoemaker

2000

First orbiting of an asteroid (433 Eros) – by NASA.

Near Shoemaker

2001

First landing on an asteroid (433 Eros) – by NASA.

Genesis

2004

First sample return beyond lunar orbit (solar wind)- by NASA.

Cassini Huygens

2005

First soft landing on Titan (Moon of Saturn).

Hayabusa

2005

First interplanetary escape without undercarriage cutoff.

Stardust

2006

First sample return from comet (81P/Wild) – by NASA.

Kepler Mission

2009

First space telescope designated to search for Earth-like exoplanets – by NASA.

MESSENGER

2011

First orbit of Mercury – by NASA.

Voyager 1

2012

First manmade probe in interstellar space – by NASA.

Rosseta

2014

First man-made probe to make a planned and soft landing on a comet.

HALEKALA OBSERVATORY

2017

First known interstellar object detected passing through the Solar System.

JAXA

2018

First operational rover on asteroid (162173 Ryugu).

NASA 2

2019

First contact binary explored by spacecraft (486958 Arrokoth).

CNSA

2019

First soft landing on the far side of the Moon; also first germination of seeds on another celestial body.

NASA 3

2019

First direct photograph of a black hole and its vicinity.

Space X

2020

First orbital human spaceflight launched by a private company.

NASA 4

2021

First aerodynamically-powered flight on another celestial body (Mars).