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On 4th October 1957 Russia launched the first satellite into space
Sputnik was the first satellite in orbit around the earth. Today there are over 500 working satellites in space. Sputnik means "Satellite" in Russian. -
In November 1957 the Russian space dog, Laika became the first animal to orbit the earth
Laika travelled in a spacecraft known as Sputnik 2. Laika means "Barker" in Russian, and her mission helped scientists understand whether people could survive in space. -
On 12th April 1961, Russian Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first man in space.
Gagarin's spacecraft, Vostok 1, completed one orbit of the earth, and landed about two hours after launch. Gagarin had to bail out and land using his parachute, because the Vostok 1 was designed to crash land! -
The first woman in space was Russian cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova.
After her 1963 mission, Valentina became an important member of the Russian Government, and has been awarded many honours and prizes for her achievements. A crater on the far side of the Moon is named after her! -
John F. Kennedy
In 1963 US President John F. Kennedy promised the world that the US would land men on the moon before 1970. Before risking people's lives, NASA sent a robot spaceship, to make sure they could land safely. -
On 20th July 1969, Neil Armstrong
Buzz Aldrin took "one small step" and became the first men on the moon. The first words said on the moon were "the Eagle has landed". -
Two days into its journey to the moon
on 13th April 1970, Apollo 13 suffered an explosion caused by a wiring fault. Using only whatever was on board, NASA scientists and the astronauts on board improvised repairs to bring the crippled spaceship home. -
American Astronauts
From 1971 American astronauts on the fourth, fifth and sixth Apollo missions enjoyed use of a moon car to explore the moon. Known as the Lunar Rover, it was electric powered, and had a top speed of 8mph. -
Russian space probe Mars 2 explored Mars
In 1973, Russian space probe Mars 2 explored Mars, the fourth planet of the solar system. -
The Space Shutttle
Until 12th April 1981 all spacecraft were designed to be used only once. The Space Shuttle, was designed to be reused for up to 100 visits to space, in an attempt to make space travel less expensive. -
Challenger
On January 28th 1986, tragedy struck. Space Shuttle Challenger exploded shortly after launch, because of a fuel system failure. All seven astronauts on board were killed, and all shuttles were grounded for nearly three years. -
The MIR SPACE STATION
The MIR space station was built in sections, each piece launched by a rocket and then joined together in orbit. Construction started in 1986, with the last piece being fitted ten years later! -
Helen Sharman
In 1989, Helen Sharman entered a competition to become the first British astronaut in space. After 18 months of intensive training, Helen was part of a Russian mission to the MIR space station. -
International Space Station
In 2000 the first permanent crew moved into the International Space Station (ISS), where crews of astronauts have been living ever since. -
Dennis Tito
On the 28th April 2001 American millionaire Dennis Tito became the first space tourist when he paid around 20 million dollars for a ride in a Russian Soyuz spacecraft. -
SpaceShipOne
SpaceShipOne made the first ever privately funded manned space flight. This space plane was built by a private aviation firm to win the 10 million dollar Ansari X Prize. -
NASA
In January 2004, US President George Bush announced that NASA would resume missions to the moon by 2020, and work on a permanent moon-base would begin. Next will be a manned mission to visit Mars, that could last for 2 years.
