Space Exploration Timeline

By Nerdicus
  • Period: to

    1609 - 1957

  • Philosophae Naturalis Principia Mathematica

    Isaac Newton publishes the Philosophae Naturalis Principia Mathematica, which contains his laws of motion and gravity.

  • The Exploration of Cosmic Space by Means of Reaction Devices

    Russian scientist Konstantin Tsiolkovsky publishesThe Exploration of Cosmic Space by Means of Reaction Devices, which states that it is hteoretically possible to explore space.
    (Note: The date is unknown)
  • First Liquid Fueled Rocket Launched

    First Liquid Fueled Rocket Launched

    U.S. scientist Robert Goddard launches the first ever liquid fuel rocket on is aunt's farm.
  • First Suborbital Flight

    First Suborbital Flight

    The German V2 rocket is the first man made object t achieve suborbital flight.

  • First U.S. High Altitude Flight

    Using a rebuilt German V2 Rocket, the American Military achieves an altitude of 70 miles.

  • First American-Designed Rocket Reaches Space

    The first ever U.S. made rocketreaches the edge of space, at an altitude 50 miles.

  • First Animals in Space

    The first animals are fruit flies. Launched in a V2 Rocket, they reach an altitude of 60 miles before they were successfuly retrieved alive.
  • First Intercontinental Ballistic Missile

    First Intercontinental Ballistic Missile

    The Soviet R-7 Semyorka is the wolrds first ICBM (Intercontinental Ballistic Missile). A modified version of this ICBM would be used to put the first stallite into space.

  • First Artificial Satellite

    The 184 lb. Sputnik 1 is the first artificial satellite in space. It was launched by the USSR (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics).

  • First Live Animal in Space

    The Soviets launch Sputnik 2, it contains a dog named Laika. Althouhg she nly lived for 8 days. She proved that animals could live in space.
  • Period: to

    1958-1980

  • First American Satellite

    The 30 lb. Explorer 1 is the first American satellite in space.

  • The Creation of NASA

    The National Advisory Committee on Aeronautics is disbanded and replaced by the Nation Aereonautics and Space Admininstration.

  • First Spacecraft to Achieve Solar Orbit

    The Soviet satellite Luna 1 is launched at the moon, but misses and become the first man made object to orbit the sun.

  • First Man in Space

    Soviet Cosmonaut Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin is the first man in space.

  • First American in Space

    Astronaut Alan Shepard is the first American in space.

  • First American in Orbit

    John Glenn is the first the first ever American to orbit the Earth.

  • First Space Walk

    Alexei Leonov was the first man to float in space. He was tethered to a spacecraft, and his spacewalk lasted 12 minutes.
  • First Close-up Images of Mars

    First Close-up Images of Mars

    Mariner 4 showed scientist their first close up images of Mars.

  • First Moon Orbit

    Soviet Zond 5 is the first spacecraft to orbit the moon and return.
  • First Manned Moon Landing

    First Manned Moon Landing

    Apollo 11 successfuly make a soft landing n the moon. Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin are the first humans on the moon.
  • Period: to

    1981 - 2013

  • First Space Shuttle Launch

    The first manned space shuttle launch.

  • First Venus Soil Samples

    Soviet Venera 13 softly lands on Venus and collects the first soil samples.

  • First Operational Space Shuttle Mission

    The space shuttle Columbia completes its fifth mission. It launched 4 people into space and deployed 2 stellites.

  • First American Woman in Space

    Astronaut Sally K. Ride is the first woman in space.
  • Space Shuttle Challenger Tragedy

    Space Shuttle Challenger Tragedy

    The space shuttle Challenger explodes soon after liftoff killing 7 people.

  • Mir Station Launched

    The first module (Part) of the Mir space station is successfully launched and placed into Earth orbit. Mir becomes the first modular space station in orbit.

  • Voyager 2 Arrives at Neptune

    The Voyager 2 probe reaches Neptune, giving scientists their first close up look at Neptune.
  • Launch of Hubble Space Telescope

    Launch of Hubble Space Telescope

    The Hubble Sapce Telescope is launched in to orbit around Earth.

  • Magellan Arrives at Venus

    U.S. spacecraft Magellan arrives at Venus, where it maps the surface.

  • First Shuttle Docks with Mir

    Atlantis docks with the Russian space station Mir.

  • First Tourist in Space

    Dennis Tito is the first tourist in space, for a fee of 20 million dollars.

  • Galileo Arrives at Jupiter

    The Galileo probe reaches Jupiter where it begins to research the planet and its moons.