Space Exploration Timeline By reedchristensen Jul 22, 1951 Dogs were the first creatures in space Oct 4, 1957 Sputnik, First Man-Made Satellite First Man-Made Satellite Jul 29, 1958 NASA Founded Apr 12, 1961 Yuri Gagarin was the first person in space May 5, 1961 Alan B. Shepard, First American in space Feb 20, 1962 John Glenn, First American to Orbit Jun 16, 1963 Valentina Tereshkova, First Woman in Space Mar 18, 1965 Alexey Leonov did the first spacewalk Jul 20, 1969 Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin were the first on the moon May 14, 1973 Skylab Launched Jul 11, 1979 Skylab Falls Apr 12, 1981 STS-1 was the first space shuttle launch Jun 18, 1983 Sally Ride, First American Woman in Space Jan 28, 1986 Challenger Disaster Apr 24, 1990 Hubble Telescope Nov 20, 1998 International Space Station Feb 12, 2001 NEAR Shoemaker was the first to land on an asteroid Feb 1, 2003 Columbia Disaster Jan 4, 2004 Mars rover Spirit Jan 25, 2004 Mars Rover Opportunity Jun 30, 2004 Cassini-Huygens arrives at Saturn Jul 8, 2011 STS-135 was the last space shuttle launch Aug 6, 2012 Mars Rover Curiosity
