Space Exploration Timeline

By Ag20774
  • The First Telescopic View of the Night Sky

    Galileo Gailei was the first to discover the moon's craters, Venus' phases and Jupiter.
  • First presentation of the "rocket equation"

    The first presentation made out to the public about the "rocket equation" was introduced by William Moore, based on Newton's third law.
  • First Clear Photograph of the Moon Through a Telescope

    The first clear photograph of the moon was taken by U.S astronomer John William Draper.
  • The First Patent for Multi-stage and Liqued Fueled Rockets is Awarded

    U.S astronomer Robert H. Goddard is awarded the first patent for liquid fueled and multi-stage rockets.
  • Society for Studies of Interplanetary Travel Founded

    Members Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, Friedrich Zander, Yuri Kondratyuk all participated in the founding of the Society for Studies of Interplanetary Travel.
  • The First Liquid Fueled Rocket is Launched

    Robert H. Goddard launches the first liquid fueled rocket in 1926.
  • Verein für Raumschiffahrt (Society for Space Travel) was founded

    Verein für Raumschiffahrt (Society for Space Travel) was founded in 1927. The society included many famous european rocket scientists.
  • The First German Military Liquid Fueled rocket engines

    Walter Riedel, a German engineer, was the first to develop the German liquid fueled rocket engines for the military.
  • GIRD launches their first liquid fueled rocket

    Members Sergey Korolev and Friedrich Zander of GIRD, (Group for the Study of Reactive Motion), launch their soviet liquid fueled rocket on August 17, 1933.
  • First Animals Put in Space, (Fruit Flys)

    An American rocket, (V2), takes up the first animal to be in space, (Fruit Flys), on February 20th 1947.
  • The First Space Mission Piloted by a Human

    U.S astronaut Alan Shepard, was the first human being to operate a rocket in space. This rocket was Freedom7.
  • First planet fly by

    Russia was the first country to perform a planet fly by. They came about 100,000 km away from venus. Unfortunately, no data was returned.
  • First Woman in Space

    Russian woman, Valentina Tereshkova, was the first woman in space, as of June 16th, 1963
  • First Close-Up Pictures of Mars

    USA rocket, Mariner 2 was the first spaceflight to get close-up photographs of mars.
  • First Landing on Moon

    Russian rocket, Luna 9, was the first rocket to land softly on the moon and get close up photos of the moon.
  • The First Crash Into Another Planet

    The russian spacecraft, Venera 3, was the first rocket to crash into another planet, (venus).
  • First Human on the Moon

    Neil Armstrong, an american astronaut, was the first human being to walk on the moon. Apollo 11 was also the first spacecraft to lanch off another planet.
  • The First Moon Sample Return

    The Russian spacecraft named Luna 16, was the first spacecraft to return with a sample from the moon.
  • First Space Station

    The first space station was salyut 1, built and operated by the Soviet Union on April 19th, 1971
  • First Soil Samples and Pictures From Mars

    USA space rover, Curiosity was the first space rover to get soil samples and surface pictures of mars.
  • First Spacecraft Beyond our Solar System

    The first spacecraft beyond the borders of our solar system was American, Pioneer 10.
  • First Man to Walk Untethered in Space

    On February 7th, 1984, Bruce Mcandless was the first human being to float in space untethered. Bruce Mcandless was an american astronaut.
  • First Photo of the Whole Solar System

    The U.S Voyager 1 was the first spacecraft to get a photo of the entire solar system.
  • First Polar Orbit Around the Sun

    The first polar orbit around the sun was led by the U.S and Europe.
  • The Longest Space Flight

    The record-holding duration of being up in space is 437.7 days by the Russian spacestation Mir.
  • The First Sample Return From an Asteroid

    The first sample return from the asteroid 25143 Itokawa was performed by space probe Hayabusa, by the Japanese.
  • First Probe to Make a Planned, Soft Landing on a Comet

    Philae, a European probe, was the first probe to make a planned and soft landing on the comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko on November 12th 2014.
  • First Spacecraft to Orbit Two Planets

    Dawn, an American spacecraft is the first planet to orbit around two protoplanets, (Vesta, Ceres), on March 6th, 2015.
  • The Spacecraft Who had the Last Encounter with Pluto

    The American spacecraft, New Horizons, was the spacecraft who had the last encounter with one of the nine major planets in the solar system, Pluto, before it lost it's role as a planet and became a dwarf planet.
  • The first Eaten Food that Was Grown in Space

    On August 10th, 2015, the first grown food in space was eaten. This was a huge success, because growing fresh food up in space could cut the costs down greatly and provide astronauts on a spacecraft fresh food. Both the American NASA and the Japanese JAXA was involved in this important event.