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First Spuntnik lanched
USSR launches Sputnik 1 -
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Space Race Timeline
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2nd Sputnik launches
USSR launches Sputnik 2 which carried a small dog named Laika into orbit. -
American first satellite
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. -
2nd Explorer launced
Explorer 2 is launced but it fails to reach orbit. -
Sputnik 3 is launced
Sputnik 3 is launched. -
Luna 1 launced
Luna 1 is launched by the USSR. It is the first man made object to orbit the Sun. -
Luna 2 launced
Luna 2 is launched. It impacts the Moon on September 13, becoming the first man-made object to do so. -
Luna 3 launced
Luna 3 orbits the Moon and photographs 70% of its surface -
Tiros 1 launced
Tiros 1, the first successful weather satellite, is launched -
First man in space Yuri Gagarin
Yuri Gagarin orbits the Earth once and becomes the first man in space -
First American in space Alan B. Shepard
Alan B. Shepard becomes the first American in space -
Moon Program
President Kennedy gives a speech at Rice University reaffirming the importance of the Moon program. -
Mariner 2 past venus and enter a solar obit
Mariner 2 flies past Venus and enters a solar orbit. -
Cosmonaut Valentia Tereshkova becomes the first woman in space.
Cosmonaut Valentia Tereshkova becomes the first woman in space. -
L. Gordon Cooper 34 hours in space
L. Gordon Cooper spends 34 hours in space. He is the last American to fly in space alone -
Ranger 7 transmits the first close range images of the Moon.
Ranger 7 transmits the first close range images of the Moon. -
Venus 3 is launced
Venus 3 is launched. It becomes the first man made object to impact Venus on March 1, 1966 -
Gemini 6 and 7
Walter Schirra and Thomas Stafford, in their Gemini 6 spacecraft, make the first space rendezvous with Gemini 7 -
Luna 9
Luna 9 becomes the first spacecraft to soft-land on the Moon -
Luna 10 becomes the satellite to orbit the moon
Luna 10 becomes the first satellite to orbit the Moon. -
Gemini 12 the last flight of the Gemini Program
Gemini 12, the last flight of the Gemini Program, launches with James Lovell and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin aboard. -
Venera 4 transmits data about the atmosphere of Venus
Venera 4 transmits data about the atmosphere of Venus. -
Zond 5 is launched.
Zond 5 is launched. It carried a biological payload (including two turtles) around the Moon and returned to Earth six days later. -
Apollo 7 begins a 10 day mission to study the new spacecraft
The crew of Apollo 7 begin a 10 day mission to study the new spacecraft. -
Soyuz 4 & 5 perform the first Soviet spacecraft docking
Soyuz 4 & 5 perform the first Soviet spacecraft docking -
Neil Armstrong and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin become the first men to walk on the Moon while crewmate Michael Collins orbits around the Moon alone.
Neil Armstrong and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin become the first men to walk on the Moon while crewmate Michael Collins orbits around the Moon alone. -
Pete Conrad and Alan Bean perform the first precision lunar landing, touching down just 600 feet from the Surveyor 3 probe that arrived two years earlier.
Pete Conrad and Alan Bean perform the first precision lunar landing, touching down just 600 feet from the Surveyor 3 probe that arrived two years earlier.
