Space Exploration Timeline

Important Info:

1 CE

Country Balls represent the countries that achieved the event (except for the ISS as it was made by many countries).

First Rocket Launch

1380

During the Ming dynasty in China the first ever rocket is launched.

First telescope observations of the night sky.

1610

In the Republic of Venice Gallileo Gallilei was the first person to use a telescope to look at the night sky. He discovered Jupiter's moons, lunar craters and phases of Venus.

First work that said that space exploration would be possible.

1903

Inspired by Jules Verne's novels that said space exploration could be possible Konstantin Tsiolkovsky published a work (Исследование мировых пространств реактивными приборами) that space travel was theoretically possible.

First Spaceflight in History

Jun 20, 1944

Launched by the Nazi Germans, a V-2 rocket was the first man-made object to cross the 'Karman Line' (the boundary between our atmosphere and outer space). This was the first spaceflight in history.

First Animals in Space

Feb 20, 1947

Fruit flies became the first ever animal to enter space using a V-2 rocket. Fun Fact! The USA captured V-2 manufacturing from the Germans after the war.

Russians Launch Sputnik 1

Aug 4, 1957

The Russians launched Sputnik 1, the first ever man-made satellite to orbit the earth. Nowadays there are hundreds of satellites, especially ones for GPS.

First Person in Space

Apr 12, 1961

Yuri Garagin was the first person who ever to enter outer space. He got there on Vostok 1 launched by the USSR.

First Spacewalk

Mar 18, 1965

Alexey Leonov was the first ever person to conduct extra-vehicular activity (having a space walk) while on the mission Voskhod 2.

First Person on the Moon

Jul 20, 1969

Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin were the first people to ever walk on the moon. Their landing is regarded as a major historical occasion and is still remembered today. They got there using Apollo 11.

First Lunar Rover

Nov 17, 1970

Lunokhod was the first ever robot vehicle (lunar rover) to land and explore on the moon.

First Space Station

Apr 19, 1971

Salyut 1 was the first ever space station orbiting the earth. It was the first of many of space stations launched by the Soviets.

First Photos of Mars

Jun 10, 1976

Voyager 1 was the first ever mission to get photos of mars (which could get settled soon). It also got the first ever soil samples from Mars.

First Permanently Inhabited Space Station

Feb 19, 1986

Mir was the first ever space station that is permanently inhabited for research and used to hold the record for the longest continued presence for an object in space.

Longest Space Flight Ever Made

Mar 22, 1995

Valeri Polyakov was on the space station Mir when he went in space for 437.7 days. He became the person who has spent the largest continuous amount of time in space.

ISS Built

Nov 20, 1998

In 1998 the first of many modules of the ISS was launched. The ISS was the first ever multinational space station and is still in the sky today. It also by far the most well known space station.

First Telescope to look for Earth Like Planets

Mar 6, 2009

The Kelper Mission is launched, which was the first ever mission to look for planets similar to earth. It is helping to find a planet that we could move to if conditions on Earth continue to degrade.

First Man-Made Probe in Interstellar Space

Aug 25, 2012

Voyager 1 became the first ever probe (robotic spacecraft that doesn't orbit the earth) to arrive at interstellar space (outside our solar system).

First Food Grown in Space

Aug 10, 2015

On the ISS lettuce was grown which got eaten in space. It became the first food grown and eaten in space. This could prove useful as a way of making food on long space trips.