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Launching of Sputnik I (USSR)
Sputnik I was the first artificial satellite to be put into Earth's orbit. The satellite was launched into an elliptical low Earth orbit by the Soviet Union. When the announcement the success of Sputnik I's launching this caused the Sputnik crisis to begin in the U.S. This event then ignited the Space Race within the ongoing Cold War. It also marked the start of the Space Age. -
First American satellite launches
January 31,1958 marked the launching of the first American satellite, Explorer 1. After the Soviet Union sucessfully launched Sputnik I, and an failure of an American satellite in December 1957, the United States army successfully launched, Explorer 1. This date was also significant because Explorer 1 carried scientific equipment that lead to the discovery of the Van Allen belts. -
The launching of Vanguard 1 (American)
This was the first artificial satellite launched and the first solar powered. Communication with this satellite was lost in 1964 but it remains the oldest man-made satellite still in orbit. -
Sputnik 3 is launched (USSR)
Launched from from Baikonur cosmodrome by a modified R-7/SS-6 ICBM Sputnik 3 was a research satellite designed to explore the upper atmosphere and near space, It remained in orbit until April 6, 1960, when the orbit degraded from drag in the upper atmosphere to the point where the satellite to entered the atmosphere. -
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) begins operation
NASA was formed July 29, 1958 but operation didn't officially start until October 1st of that same year. NASA is apart of the executive branch of the government and is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and aeronautics and aerospace research. -
Luna 1 is launched(USSR)
Also known as, First Comic Ship and Mechta, Luna 1 was the first spacecraft to reach the moon.Luna 1 was launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome(in Russia) by a Luna 8K72 rocket. It is also the first man-made objec to reach the second comic velocity of Earth. -
The launching of Pioneer 4 (American)
This was a spin-stabilized spacecraft launched as part of the Pioneer program on a lunar flyby trajectory and into a heliocentric orbit making it the first U.S. probe to escape from the Earth's gravity. Pioneer 4 passed within 60,000 km of the Moon's surface. The space craft was last said to be still in orbit as of 1969. -
Yuri Gagarin orbits the Earth once and becomes the first man in space.
Yuri Gargarin was a Russian man who became the first human in space. He made 108 minute orbital flight in the Vostok 1 spacecraft. -
John Glenn orbits the Earth three times (American)
In only 4 hours and 56 minutes American astronaut John Glenn circled the Earth 3 times. He reached speeds of more than 17,000 miles per hour. The mission ended with a splashdown and recovery in the Atlantice Ocean. He instantly became a hero and President John Kennedy awarded him the Space Congressional Medal of Honor. -
Cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova becomes the first woman in space (USSR)
June 19 of 1963 the Soviet Union sent the first woman into space. Her name was Valentina Tereshkova. She was chosed out of 400 other applicants to go into space. The spacecraft she piloted into space was Vostok 6. -
Ranger 7 transmits the first close range images of the Moon.
Launched on July 28, 1964 Ranger 7 first impacted the Moon July 31, 1964. Ranger 7's six cameras started rolling 15 prior to smashing onto the lunar surface. In those 15 minutes it transmitted 4,316 astounding images back to Earth. -
Lunar Orbiter 1 enters orbit around the Moon
Lunar Orbiter 1 was the first of five moon mapping missions launched over a period of 12 months as part of the Lunar Orbiter Program. At 15:34 UTC on Sunday, 14 August 1966, Lunar Orbiter 1 was inserted into a highly elliptical lunar orbit that measured 117.5 miles by 1,160 miles. -
Apollo 11 & the first men to walk on the moon (American)
Launched from Florida on July 16th, it was the third lunar mission of the Apollo program conducted by NASA. The flight crew was Commander Neil Armstrong, Command Module Pilot Michael Collins, and Lunar Module Pilot Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin, Jr. On July 20th Neil Armstrong & Buzz Aldrin walked on the Sea of Tranquillity and became the first men to walk on the moon. This event is most remembered by Armstrong's famous words, "That's one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind." -
Apollo 13 is launched
Apollo 13 was the seventh manned mission in the American Apollo space program and the third intended to land on the Moon. Everything with the launching was sucessful but the landing had to be aborted after an oxygen tank exploded, and severely damaged the spacecraft's electrical system. After the oxygen tank ruptured, which crippled the service module upon which the Command Module depended. They had to conserve their batteries and oxygen in order to get back to Earth safely.
