Event | Date (Country) |
USSR launches Sputnik 1 | October 4th 1957 (Russian) |
USSR launches Sputnik 2 carried a small dog named Laika into orbit | November 3rd 1957 (Russian) |
Explorer 1, first américain satellite to reach orbit, is launched. Carried scientific equipment that lead to discovery of the Van Allen radiation belt | January 31st 1958 (USA) |
Explorer 2 is launched but fails to reach orbit | March 5th 1958 (USA) |
The Vanguard 1 satellite is launched continues function for 3 years | March 17th 1958 (USA) |
Sputnik 3 is launched | May 15th 1958 (Russian) |
NASA is formed it replaces the NACA | October 1st 1958 (USA) |
Pioneer 1 launched | October 11th 1958 (USA) |
Luna 1 launched by the USSR , first man made object to orbit the sun | January 2nd 1959 (Russia) |
Pioneer 4 is launched on a Earth-moon trajectory | March 3rd 1959 (USA) |
The "Mercury Seven" astronauts are selected by NASA | April 2nd 1959 (USA) |
Luna 2 is launched, impacts the moon first man made object to do so | September 12th 1959 (Russia) |
Luna 3 orbits moon and photographs 70% of its surface | October 4th 1959 (Russia) |
Trios 1 1st successful weather satellite launched | April 1st 1960 (USA) |
launches Discoverer XIV first camera equipped spy satellite | August 18th 1960 (USA) |
John F. Kennedy is elected | November 8th 1960 (USA) |
Yuri Gagarin orbits the Earth once and becomes first man in space | April 12th 1961 (Russia) |
Alan B. Shepard becomes the first ___ man in space | May 5th 1961 (USA) |
John F. Kennedy addresses congress and challenges the nation to go to the moon before the end of the decade | May 25th 1961 (USA) |
Gus Grissom is launched on a sub orbital flight | July 21st 1961 (USA) |
Gherman Titov spends a day in space abroad Vostok 2 | August 6th 1961 (Russia) |
NASA announces the Gemini program | December 7th 1961 (USA) |
John Glenn orbits the earth three times | February 20th 1962 (USA) |
Scott Carpenter repeats John Glenn's flight aboard "Aurora 7" | May 24th 1962 (USA) |
Kennedy gives a speech at Rice University reaffirming the importance of the Moon Program | September 12th 1962 (USA) |
NASA selects its second group of astronauts | September 17th 1962 (USA) |
Walter Schirra orbits the earth 6 times | October 3rd 1962 (USA) |
Mariner 2 flies past Venus and enters a solar orbit | December 14th 1962 (USA) |
L. Gordon Cooper spends 34 hours in space | May 15th 1963 (USA) |
Cosmonaut Valentia Tereshkova becomes the first woman in space | June 16th 1963 (Russia) |
A third group of NASA astronauts is selected | October 17th 1963 (USA) |
Kennedy is assassinated | November 22nd 1963 (USA) |
Ranger 7 transmits the first close range images of the moon | July 31st 1964 (USA) |
Astronaut Theodore Freeman dies in a plane crash | October 31st 1964 (USA) |
Alexi Leonov spends 12 minutes outside of his Voskhod spacecraft performing the first space walk | March 18th 1965 (Russia) |
Gus Grissom and John Young fly the first manned Gemini spacecraft | March 23rd 1965 (USA) |
Ed white preforms ____ first space walk | June 3rd 1965 (USA) |
Mariner 4 returns close ranger images of Mars | July 14th 1965 (USA) |
Venus 3 is launched becomes first man made object to impact Venus | November 16th 1965 (Russia) |
Frank Borman and James Lovell begin a 2 week stay in earth orbit aboard Gemini 7 | December 4th 1965 (USA) |
Walter Schirra and Thomas Stafford in their Gemini spacecraft make the first space rendezvous with Gemini 7 | December 15th 1965 (USA) |
Luna 9 becomes the first spacecraft to soft-land on the Moon | February 3rd 1966 (Russia) |
Astronauts Charles Bassett and Elliot See die when their plane crashes in bad weather | February 28th 1966 (USA) |
Luna 10 become first satellite to orbit the moon | April 3rd 1966 (Russia) |
Surveyor 1 soft-lands on the moon | June 2nd 1966 (USA) |
Lunar Orbiter 1 enters orbit around the moon and takes first picture of earth from that distance | August 14th 1966 (USA) |
Gemini 12 last flight of the Gemini program launches with James Lovell and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin aboard | November 11th 1966 (USA) |
Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee are killed when fire ignites in their Apollo 1 capsule while performing a test on the launch pad | January 27th 1967 (USA) |
Cosmonaut Vladimir Komarvo is killed when the parachutes of his Soyuz 1 capsule fail to open properly following re-entry | April 24th 1967 (Russia) |
Astronaut Edward Givens is killed in an automobile accident | June 6th 1967 (USA) |
Astronaut Clifton Williams is killed in a plane crash | October 5th 1967 (USA) |
Venera 4 transmits data about the atmosphere of Venus | October 18th 1967 (Russia) |
Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin fist man in space dies in a plane crash | March 27th 1968 (Russia) |
Zond 5 is launched it carried a biological payload (including 2 turtles) around the moon and returned to earth 6 days later | September 15th 1968 (Russia) |
the crew of Apollo 7 begin a 10 day mission to study the new spacecraft | October 11th 1968 (USA) |
Frank Borman, James Lovell, and William Anders begin the first manned journey from the earth to the moon | December 21st 1968 (USA) |
Soyuz 4 & 5 perform the first spacecraft docking | January 16th 1969 (Russia) |
Neil Armstrong and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin become the first men to walk on the moon while cremate Michael Collins orbits around the moon alone | July 20th 1969 (USA) |
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 | November 19th 1969 (USA) |