-
Period: to
Space Race
-
USSR launches Sputnik 1.
-
USSR launches Sputnik 2 which carried a small dog named Laika into orbit.
-
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.
-
Explorer 2 is launced but it fails to reach orbit.
-
The Vanguard 1 satellite is launched. It continues to function for 3 years.
-
Sputnik 3 is launched.
-
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is formed, it replaces the National Advisory Committee on Aeronautics (NACA).
-
Pioneer 1 is launched to a height of 70,700 miles.
-
Luna 1 is launched by the USSR. It is the first man made object to orbit the Sun.
-
Pioneer 4 is launched on a Earth-Moon trajectory. It passed within 37,000 miles of the Moon before falling into a solar orbit.
-
The "Mercury Seven" astronauts are selected by NASA.
-
Luna 2 is launched. It impacts the Moon on September 13, becoming the first man-made object to do so.
-
Luna 3 orbits the Moon and photographs 70% of its surface.
-
Tiros 1, the first successful weather satellite, is launched.
-
The US launches Discoverer XIV, its first camera equipped spy satellite.
-
John F. Kennedy is elected the 35th President of the United States.
-
Yuri Gagarin orbits the Earth once and becomes the first man in space.
-
Alan B. Shepard becomes the first American in space.
-
President John F. Kennedy addresses Congress and challenges the nation to go to the Moon before the end of the decade.
-
Gus Grissom is launched on a sub-orbital flight. His Liberty-Bell capsule is lost when it fills with water and sinks after splashdown.
