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Launching of Sputnik 1
was the first artificial satellite to be put into Earth's orbit. -
USSR launches Sputnick 2
USSR launches Sputnik 2 which carried a small dog named Laika into orbit. -
Explorer 1
Explorer 1, the first American satellite to reach orbit, is launched. It carried scientific equipment that lead to the discovery of the Van Allen radiation belt. -
NASA is Formed
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is formed, it replaces the National Advisory Committee on Aeronautics (NACA). -
Pioneer 4
Pioneer 4 is launched on a Earth-Moon trajectory. It passed within 37,000 miles of the Moon before falling into a solar orbit. -
Luna 2
Luna 2 is launched. It impacts the Moon on September 13, becoming the first man-made object to do so. -
Gus Grissom Splashdown
Gus Grissom is launched on a sub-orbital flight. His Liberty-Bell capsule is lost when it fills with water and sinks after splashdown. -
President Kennedy speech
President Kennedy gives a speech at Rice University reaffirming the importance of the Moon program. -
Assassination
President Kennedy is assassinated -
Alexi Leonov Spacewalk
Alexei Leonov spends 12 minutes outside of his Voskhod spacecraft performing the first spacewalk. -
Mariner 4
Mariner 4 returns close ranger images of Mars. -
Venus 3 is launched
Venus 3 is launched. It becomes the first man made object to impact Venus on March 1, 1966. -
Death of 3 astronauts
Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee are killed when a fire ignites in their Apollo 1 capsule while performing a test on the launch pad. -
Vladimir Komarov
Cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov is killed when the parachutes of his Soyuz 1 capsule fail to open properly following re-entry. -
Apollo 17's Return from The Moon
Apollo 17 was the eleventh and final manned mission in the American Apollo space program.
