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The first U.S. satellite in orbit, lifts off at Cape Canaveral. It carries a scientific experiment of James A. Van Allen, and discovers the Earth's radiation belt.
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Explorer 2 is launched by a Jupiter-C rocket, and fails to reach orbit.
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N.A.S.A. is founded, taking over existing National Advisory Committee on Aeronautics.
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April 1, 1960 - Tiros 1, the first successful weather satellite, is launched by the U.S.
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U.S. Ranger 7 relays the first close-range photographs of the Moon.
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July 31, 1964 - U.S. Ranger 7 relays the first close-range photographs of the Moon.
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The first space walk is made from Soviet Voskhod 2 by Cosmonaut Alexei A. Leonov. Duration is 12 minutes.
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July 20, 1969 - Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin, Jr. make the first manned soft landing on the Moon, and the first moonwalk, using Apollo 11.
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February 7, 2001 - Space Shuttle Atlantis lifts off for the ISS, carrying the U.S.'s Destiny laboratory module. In three space walks the astronauts install Destiny, a grappler for the station's robotic arm, and radio antennae.
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March 23, 2001 - fifteen years after its first launch, and after nearly 10 years of continuous occupation by astronauts, the Mir space station is de-orbited, breaking up in the atmosphere and impacting in the Pacific Ocean.
