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The Telescope
Space Exploration Timeline
Welcome to the Space Exploration Timeline! In this section of Beyond Earth, you will view the dates and details of mankind's greatest achievements in space exploration. These space milestones are organized by date and grouped by decade.
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- April 1, 1960 - First Weather Satellite
Tiros 1, the first successful weather satellite, is launched by the United States. Two television cameras in the satellite returned views of clouds above the Earth. Tiros 1 was only operational for 78 days, but proved that satellites could be a useful tools for surveying weather conditions from space.
- April 12, 1961 - First Man in Space
Russian Cosmonaut Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin became the first human to venture into space. The Vostok 1 spacecraft made one complete orbit around Earth in 108 minutes, and reached altitudes of 112 to 203 miles. The flight lasted only one hour and 48 minutes.
- May 5, 1961 - First American in Space
On May 5, 1961, Astronaut Alan Shepard became the first American to be launched into space. Shepard's suborbital flight lasted only15-minutes, during which time he experienced about 5 minutes of "weightlessness" and tested the maneuvering capability of his Mercury capsule.
- May 25, 1961 - President Kennedy's Historic Speech
Just 20 days after Shepard's flight, President John F. Kennedy made his historic speech to Congress. He challenged the nation to land "a man on the Moon and return him safely to Earth" before the end of the decade.
- February 20, 1962 - First American in Orbit
Astronaut John H. Glenn was launched into orbit aboard a Atlas D rocket, where he became the first American to orbit the Earth. Glenn made a total of 3 complete orbits, and the flight time was 4 hours and 56 minutes.
- March 18, 1965 - First Space Walk
Commander Pavel I. Belyayeu and Pilot Alexei A. Leonov into Earth’s orbit were launched into orbit aboard Voskhod 2. Alexei Leonov performed the first, tethered space walk outside of his spacecraft while in Earth’s orbit. This historic venture into space lasted a mere 12 minutes.
- July 14, 1965 - First Images of Mars
Mariner 4 arrived at Mars and gave scientists their first views of the planet at close range. The resulting photos showed no sign of the famous "canals" and no evidence of life.
- February 3, 1966 - First Spacecraft to Land on the Moon
The Russian spacecraft Luna 9 completed a 250,000 mile trip and successfully became the first spacecraft to soft-land on the moon. Luna 9 transmitted pictures of the Moon's surface back to Earth. The mission demonstrated that the Moon's surface was strong enough to support the weight of a large spacecraft.
- June 2, 1966 - First American Spacecraft on the Moon
Surveyor 1 became the first American spacecraft to soft-land on the moon. After a journey of 63 hours and 36 minutes, Surveyor 1 successfully landed only 9 miles off its target in the Oceanus Procellarum. The spacecraft transmitted more than 11,000 high-resolution photographs before its energy sources were depleted.
- January 27, 1967 - First U.S. Space Tragedy
During a routine test on the launch pad, a spark caused a fire to start in the crew compartment of the command module. Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee, were killed in this tragic incident. It was later determined that faulty wiring caused the spark, and the pure oxygen environment in the capsule was to blame for the rapid spreading of the blaze.
- April 23, 1967 - First Spaceflight Casualty
Soviet Soyuz 1 is launched, carrying Vladimir M. Komarov. On April 24 it crashed, killing Komarov, the first spaceflight fatality.
- October 18, 1967 - First Venus Probe
The Soviet probe Venera 4 sends a descent capsule into the Venusian atmosphere, returning data about its composition.
- September 15, 1968 - First Moon Orbit
The Soviet Zond 5 is launched. It becomes the first spacecraft to orbit the moon and return.
- October 11, 1968 - First Manned Apollo Mission
Apollo 7 is the first manned Apollo mission with Walter M. Schirra, Jr., Donn F. Eisele, and Walter Cunningham. It orbited the earth once.
- December 21, 1968 - First Manned Moon Orbit
Apollo 8 is launched with Frank Borman, James A. Lovell, Jr. and William A. Anders, the first Apollo to use the Saturn V rocket, and the first manned spacecraft to orbit the Moon, making 10 orbits on its 6-day mission.
- July 20, 1969 - First Manned Moon Landing
Apollo 11 makes the first successful soft landing on the moon. Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin, Jr. become the first human beings to set foot on another world.
- April 11, 1970 - Apollo 13 Launch
Apollo 13 is launched, suffering an explosion in its SM oxygen tanks. Its Moon landing is aborted, and the crew, James A. Lovell, Jr., John L. Swigert, Jr. and Fred W. Haise, Jr., return safely after several harrowing days in space.
- September 12, 1970 - First Return of Lunar Soil
The Soviet Luna 16 is launched, conducting the first successful return of lunar soil samples by an automatic spacecraft.
- November 17, 1970 - First Robotic Lunar Mission
Luna 17 lands on the moon, with the first automatic robot, Lunokhod 1. Driven by a five-man team on earth, travelled over surface for 11 days.
- December 15, 1970 - First Landing on Venus
The Soviet Venera 7 is the first probe to soft-land on Venus, transmitting for 23 minutes.
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