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Sputnik 1, the first man-made object to orbit the Earth, is launched by the U.S.S.R., and remains in orbit until January 4, 1958.
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Sputnik 2, carrying the dog Laika for 7 days in orbit, is launched by the U.S.S.R., and remains in orbit until April 13, 1958.
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The U.S.S.R. launches Luna 1, which misses the Moon but becomes the first artificial object to leave Earth orbit.
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Yuri Gagarin becomes the first man in space with a 108-minute flight on Vostok 1 in which he completed one orbit.
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Mercury Freedom 7 launches on a Redstone rocket for a 15-minute suborbital flight, making Alan Shepard the first American in space.
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Alexei Leonov spends 12 minutes outside of his Voskhod spacecraft performing the first spacewalk.
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Ed White, during the Gemini 4 mission, becomes the first American to walk in space.
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The Soviet Luna 10 space probe enters lunar orbit, becoming the first spacecraft to orbit the Moon.
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Soyuz 1 launches but myriad problems surface. The solar panels do not unfold, there are stability problems and the parachute fails to open causing the death of Soviet cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov.
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Apollo 7, the first manned Apollo mission, launches on a Saturn 1 for an 11-day mission in Earth orbit. The mission also featured the first live TV broadcast of humans in space.
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Soyuz 4 and Soyuz 5 rendezvous and dock and perform the first in-orbit crew transfer.
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An explosion ruptures the command module of Apollo 13, days after launch and within reach of the Moon. Abandoning the mission to save their lives, the astronauts climb into the Lunar Module and slingshot around the Moon to speed their return back to Earth.
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The Soviet Union launches Luna 16, the first successful automated lunar sample retrieval mission.
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Soyuz 11 launches successfully, docking with Salyut 1. The three cosmonauts are killed during re-entry from a pressure leak in the cabin.
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Apollo 17, the last mission to the Moon, returns to Earth with the greatest amount of rock and soil samples. Eugene Cernan, commander of Apollo 17, still holds the distinction of being the last man to walk on the Moon, as no humans have visited the Moon since December 14, 1972.
