Timeline of the Space Race

Sputnik 1

Oct 4, 1957

USSR launches Sputnik 1

Sputnik 2

Nov 3, 1957

USSR launches Sputnik 2 which carried a small dog named Laika into orbit.

Explorer 1 Launch

Jan 31, 1958

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 Launch

Mar 5, 1958

Explorer 2 is launced but it fails to reach orbit.

Vanguard 1 Launch

Mar 17, 1958

The Vanguard 1 satellite is launched. It continues to function for 3 years.

Sputnik 3 Launch

May 15, 1958

Sputnik 3 is launched.

NASA formed

Oct 1, 1958

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is formed, it replaces the National Advisory Committee on Aeronautics (NACA).

Pioneer 1 Launch

Oct 11, 1958

Pioneer 1 is launched to a height of 70,700 miles.

Luna 1 Launch

Jan 2, 1959

Luna 1 is launched by the USSR. It is the first man made object to orbit the Sun.

Pioneer 4 Launch

Mar 3, 1959

Pioneer 4 is launched on a Earth-Moon trajectory. It passed within 37,000 miles of the Moon before falling into a solar orbit.

"Mercury Seven" Astronauts selected

Apr 2, 1959

The "Mercury Seven" astronauts are selected by NASA.

Luna 2 Launch

Sep 12, 1959

Luna 2 is launched. It impacts the Moon on September 13, becoming the first man-made object to do so.

Luna 3 - Moon Orbit

Oct 4, 1959

Luna 3 orbits the Moon and photographs 70% of its surface.

Tiros 1 Launch

Apr 1, 1960

Tiros 1, the first successful weather satellite, is launched.

1st Spy Satellite launch

Aug 18, 1960

The US launches Discoverer XIV, its first camera equipped spy satellite.

35th US President elected

Nov 8, 1960

John F. Kennedy is elected the 35th President of the United States.

First Man in Space

Apr 12, 1961

Yuri Gagarin orbits the Earth once and becomes the first man in space.

1st American in Space

May 5, 1961

Alan B. Shepard becomes the first American in space.

"Moon or Bust" challenge

May 25, 1961

President John F. Kennedy addresses Congress and challenges the nation to go to the Moon before the end of the decade.

Sub-Orbital flight death

Jul 21, 1961

Gus Grissom is launched on a sub-orbital flight. His Liberty-Bell capsule is lost when it fills with water and sinks after splashdown.

A day in Space...

Aug 6, 1961

Gherman Titov spends a day in space aboard Vostok 2.

Gemini Program announced

Dec 7, 1961

NASA announces the Gemini Program.

Orbiting the Earth

Feb 20, 1962

John Glenn orbits the Earth three times.

Orbiting the Earth 2

May 24, 1962

Scott Carpenter repeats John Glenn's flight aboard "Aurora 7".

Important of the Moon...

Sep 12, 1962

President Kennedy gives a speech at Rice University reaffirming the importance of the Moon program.

Astronaut Selections...

Sep 17, 1962

NASA selects its second group of astronauts.

Round and round we go...

Oct 3, 1962

Walter Schirra orbits the Earth six times.

Hello, Venus, Hello Sun

Dec 14, 1962

Mariner 2 flies past Venus and enters a solar orbit.

I'm all alone up here...

May 15, 1963

L. Gordon Cooper spends 34 hours in space. He is the last American to fly in space alone.

What happend to the girls?

Jun 16, 1963

Cosmonaut Valentia Tereshkova becomes the first woman in space.

Astronaut Selections once more...

Oct 17, 1963

A third group of NASA astronauts is selected.

uhh...did that just happen?

Nov 22, 1963

President Kennedy is assassinated.

So that's what it looked like...

Jul 31, 1964

Ranger 7 transmits the first close range images of the Moon.

I always thought I'd die in space...

Oct 31, 1964

Astronaut Theodore Freeman dies in a plane crash.

Ever heard of the Moonwalk? This is the Spacewalk!

Mar 18, 1965

Alexei Leonov spends 12 minutes outside of his Voskhod spacecraft performing the first spacewalk.

Dual-piloting

Mar 23, 1965

Gus Grissom and John Young fly the first manned Gemini spacecraft.

America's first Spacewalk

Jun 3, 1965

Ed White performs America's first spacewalk. Jim McDivitt remains in the Gemini capsule.

Wonder if we'll find aliens?

Jul 14, 1965

Mariner 4 returns close ranger images of Mars.

I think we hit Venus, but...

Nov 16, 1965

Venus 3 is launched. It becomes the first man made object to impact Venus on March 1, 1966.

Just hanging in Orbit...

Dec 4, 1965

Frank Borman and James Lovell begin a two week stay in Earth orbit aboard Gemini 7.

Hi, old guy! Meet the next-gen!

Dec 16, 1965

Walter Schirra and Thomas Stafford, in their Gemini 6 spacecraft, make the first space rendezvous with Gemini 7.

Yay! We didn't crash this time...

Feb 3, 1966

Luna 9 becomes the first spacecraft to soft-land on the Moon.

I can't see!

Feb 28, 1966

Astronauts Charles Bassett and Elliott See die when their plane crashes in bad weather.

Luna, meet Luna 10.

Apr 3, 1966

Luna 10 becomes the first satellite to orbit the Moon.

Wonder if the rocks are different...

Jun 2, 1966

Surveyor 1 soft-lands on the Moon

Huh. So we look like that from here?

Aug 14, 1966

Lunar Orbiter 1 enters orbit around the Moon and takes the first picture of the Earth from that distance.

Last of the line...

Nov 11, 1966

Gemini 12, the last flight of the Gemini Program, launches with James Lovell and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin aboard.

Ok...so we aren't going to go with this model...

Jan 27, 1967

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.

Darn you, open already!

Apr 24, 1967

Cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov is killed when the parachutes of his Soyuz 1 capsule fail to open properly following re-entry

Swerve, dodge, watch out!

Jun 6, 1967

Astronaut Edward Givens is killed in an automobile accident.

Up, Up! Go Up!

Oct 5, 1967

Astronaut Clifton Williams is killed in a plane crash.

OK, so Venus isn't livable...

Oct 18, 1967

Venera 4 transmits data about the atmosphere of Venus.

Least I died off the ground...

Mar 27, 1968

Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, the first man in space, dies in a plane crash.

Space Zoo!

Sep 15, 1968

Zond 5 is launched. It carried a biological payload (including two turtles) around the Moon and returned to Earth six days later.

Let's learn how to pilot this...

Oct 11, 1968

The crew of Apollo 7 begin a 10 day mission to study the new spacecraft

Christmas in space, huh?

Dec 21, 1968

Frank Borman, James Lovell, and William Anders begin the first manned journey from the Earth to the Moon. On Christmas Eve they take turns reading Genesis in a broadcast heard around the world.

Can we dock here?

Jan 16, 1969

Soyuz 4 & 5 perform the first Soviet spacecraft docking

Man on the Moon

Jul 20, 1969

Neil Armstrong and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin become the first men to walk on the Moon while crewmate Michael Collins orbits around the Moon alone.

Yay! We can land accurately now!

Nov 19, 1969

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.