Space Race

Launching of Sputnik

Oct 4, 1957

Sputnik 1 was the first thing, man-made, to ever go into space. Though Russia was the first to do so it still shocked the world.

First U.S animal in space

Nov 3, 1957

Sputnik sent an animal into outerspace though she died shortly after entering space from symptoms of stress and overheating. Though the Space Association did not devise a plan to bring her back they felt that she would not have survived anyhow.

Explorer 1

Jan 31, 1958

This Launch followed the first two previous Earth satellites Soviet's Sputnik 1 and 2

NASA Formed

Jul 29, 1958

After seeing the Sputnik lauch out of space, a litlle while later NASA was formed

First Man to enter outerspace

Apr 12, 1961

Yuri Gagarin, a Russian Soviet pilot, who beacame famous for being the first man in space. He orbited around the Earth for 108 minutes.

The first spaceflight in history

Apr 12, 1961

Vostok 1 was the first space flight to enter outer space in history. This flight took Yuri Gagarin into space.

First American in Space

May 5, 1961

Alan Shepard, An American, who became known for being the second person in space but the first american to enter space.

Mariner 2

Dec 4, 1962

Mariner 2 was the first successful spacecraft in the entire NASA Mariner program. It is an American space probe that was sent to Venus to gather information

First Russian Woman in Space

Jun 16, 1963

Out of four hundred aplicants and five finalists, a Russian woman by the name of Valentina Tereshkova, was the first woman to leave the Earth's orbit.

Luna 9

Feb 3, 1966

Luna 9, was an unmanned space mission of the Soviet Union's Lunar program, It was the first space probe to achieve a soft landing on a planetary object other than Earth and successfully transmit photographic data to Earth.

Ranger 7

Jul 28, 1968

Ranger 7 was the first U.S space probe to successfully transmit close images of the lunar surface back to Earth.

Apollo 8

Dec 21, 1968

Apollo 8 was the first mission ever to successfully obit the moon ten times and successfully return home.

Apollo 11

Jul 20, 1969

The first mission ever to successfully land on the moon and return home safely.

First Americans to land on the moon

Jul 20, 1969

Buzz Aldron and Neil Armstrong are the first people in history to land on the moon

Apollo 17's return from the moon

Dec 19, 1972

Was the end of the Space Race it was the eleventh and final manned mission. There were no more mission into space after Apollo 17 ruturn safely from the moon.