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First high altitude flight
May 10, 1946 First U.S. High Altitude FlightThe U.S. military achieves its first high-altitude space flight using a rebuilt German V-2 rocket. Launched from the White Sands Proving Ground in New Mexico, the flight reaches an altitude of 70 miles. -
First designed rocket
May 22, 1946 The United States launches its first American-designed rocket. -
Launched artaficial satellites
On August 2, 1955, when the Soviet Union responded to the US announcement four days earlier of intent to launch artificial satellites for the International Geophysical Year, by declaring they would also launch a satellite "in the near future". -
Flight test
February 9, 1956 - Unmanned Manhigh test flight; thermal insulation test with mockup capsule; reached 85,000 feet. -
First animals
June 7, 1956 - Launch of two dogs, Albina and Kozyavka, from Kapustin Yar aboard R-1A rocket. Reached 62 miles. (USSR) -
First satellite
October 4 - The Soviet Union launched the first satellite, Sputnik, into space. -
First explorer
xplorer I was launched on January 31, 1958 and Vanguard 1 on March 17, 1958. -
Luna-2
September 12, 1959 -- Launch of Luna-2; first man-made object to strike the Moon. (USSR) -
First human in space in orbit
On April 12, 1961, a Soviet cosmonaut became the first human in space and in orbit. -
First us astronaut in space
Less than one month later — May 5, 1961 — the U.S. sent its first astronaut into space -
Second space shuttle
April 4 - The second Space Shuttle, Challenger, was launched. -
First space shuttle
April 12 - Columbia became the first Space Shuttle to be launched. -
Phoenix Mars Lander.
August 4 - NASA launched its Phoenix Mars Lander. -
Kepler was launched
March 6 - The NASA spacecraft Kepler was launched. Its mission is to search for planets outside our solar system, in a distant area of the Milky Way. -
unmanned LADEE
September 7 - NASA launched the unmanned LADEE spacecraft from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. It was the U.S. space agency's third lunar probe in five years.
