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Space Race Begings
The Soviet Union fires first satellite into spac that is named Sputnik. America quickly makes a rocket because they are afraid that the Soviet Unions Military will be in control of space. The rocket blew up infront of the whole world. -
Choosing 7 Pioneers
NASA needs austronauts because president Eisenhower made it NASA's job to put the first Human into space. The austronauts must be Military test pilots and no taller than 5 feet 11 inches and have to been in between the ages of 25 and 40. They ended up with 7 austronauts. -
First Space Flights
On April 12, 1961 the Soviets sent a human into orbit and he circled around the world in 108 minutes and landed back on earth safely. On May 5, 1961 Americans send a human into orbit, but it does not impress the Soviets. The Soviets went into orbit again and circled around the world 16 times and landed safely. -
Blast Off
John Glenn is attempting to go into orbit and travel around the world in Friendship 7. Milions of people watch on television whats about to happen. He shoots of and is in Orbit. The capsules heat shield falls off. There are rockets that are designed to slow down the capsule during re-entry. The Capsules landed in the Atlantic ocean and Joh had done it, he orbited the earth. -
First Space Flights
In 1969 Neil Armstrong, Edwin Aldrin, and Michael Collins are scheduled to fly to the moon in Apollo 11. All the men spend a last weekend with the family because it is possible they might not see them again. Around 9:30 P.M July 20 Armrstrong and Aldrin step on the moon. -
Space Shuttle Program
In 1973 NASA sends its first space station into orbit. Its named Skylab. Skylab was abondoned in 1974 because it cost too much money to supply it. -
Female Astronaut
In 1978 NASA chose 35 astronauts including 6 females. One of them is Sally K. Ride. She was always into sports. When she found out that NASA chose her to be an astronaut she was very excited -
Right Person For The Job
NASA announces crew for STS-7. The flight will be the first to test the robotic arms ability to retrieve a satellite. Sally K. Ride is one of 2 that are chosen to be the specialists for this mission. Sally has the same PH.D and the same training as the men, but some people think that she was only chosen to be one of the specialists only because she is a women. -
Takeoff
June 18, 1983 is the day of launch for STS-7. AFter about 8 minutes the engines cut off. An orange fuel tank falls off and burns in the atmosphere and Sally is 185 miles above the earth. Sally and her partner catch and release a satellite 5 times. They landing back safely in California. -
Sally's Second Flight
Sally flies in the Challenger for the second time with the same commander, Crippen. On thisflight there are seven people and two of which are women. -
First Civillian Death in Space
The space shuttle Challenger explodes, killing all seven crew members — including the first teacher in space, Christa McAuliffe. The other crew members were Francis Scobee, Michael Smith, Judy Resnik, Ron McNair, Ellison Onizuka, and Gregory Jarvis. -
First Year in Space
Musa Manarov and Vladimir Titov completed 366 days on the Russian space station, Mir. This record was broken on March 22, 1995, when Valery Poyakov returns to Earth after spending 437 days and 18 hours (1.19 years) in orbit. -
First Space Telescope
The crew of space shuttle mission STS-31 deploy the Hubble Space Telescope. Later, the Hubble's primary mirror is found to be damaged. And in December 1993, the crew of space shuttle STS-61 corrects the problem during space walks in space, while live on television, wtached by millions of people. The Hubble Space Telescope then provides the first images of distant galaxies and planets outside our solar system. -
First Spacecraft to Leave the Solar System
Pioneer 10, "launched on March 2, 1972," reaches a distance 50 times farther from the sun than Earth, becoming the first spacecraft to leave the solar system. Also interestingly earlier in its mission, it had also become the first spacecraft to cross the asteroid belt and reach Jupiter. Currently, and is currently 6.5 billion miles away, heading toward the constellation Taurus. -
First Internationational Space Station
Phase 1 of the International Space Station (ISS) program begins with the flight of Russian Sergei Krikalev on an American space shuttle during the STS-60 mission. In March of 1995, Dr. Norm Thagard becomes the first American to stay on Russian space station Mir. -
First American to Spend Six Months in Space
Shannon Lucid sets a record time in space — for both a woman and an American. After five shuttle flights and six months (189 days) on the Russian space station Mir, her total time in space was 223 days. -
First Surface Travel on Another Planet
Arriving aboard the space probe Pathfinder, the robot Sojourner explores the surface of Mars. The six-wheeled, remote-controlled, solar-powered rover sends images of the planet’s surface and investigates chemical properties of Martian soil. -
Oldest Person to Go Into Space
At age 77, John Glenn flew aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery and became the oldest person to go into space. As an original member of NASA’s Mercury program, he entered the public-eye in 1921 when he became the first American to orbit the Earth. -
First Non-Astronaut to Enter Space
Dennis Tito, a billionaire from California became the first paying passenger to enter outer space. Mr. Tito, age 60, has dreamt of going into space for over 40 years, and has paid $20 million to finally fulfill his dream. He now promotes the idea of ordinary people entering space. -
First Chineese Citezen to Go Into Space
China had successfully sent its first astronaut, Yang Liwei, into space. This makes China the third country to send a human into space; currently only the United States and Soviet Union had successfully done so before. Yang Liwei remained in space for 21 hours, and was given a hero’s welcome when he landed safely.
