Timeline |
1918 CE | Goddard demonstrates tube-launched solid propellant rockets. | |
1942 CE | Launch of the first A-4/V-2 rocket to an altitude of 53 miles (85 km). | |
1946 CE | The US Army establishes the first radar contact with Moon, Belmar, New Jersey. | |
1946 CE | US V-2 rocket reaches 183 km, White Sands Proving Grounds, NM. | |
1950 CE | The first congress of Internat'l Astronautical Federation opens in Paris. | |
1952 CE | Wernher von Braun discusses the technical details of a manned exploration of Mars in The Mars Project. | |
1955 CE | Construction begins on Soviet cosmodrome launch facilities at Baikonur in Kazachstan. | |
4 Oct 1957 CE | The USSR launches Sputnik 1 the first artificial earth satellite and in response the US forms the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA). | |
3 Nov 1957 CE | USSR launches Sputnik 2, the second artificial Earth satellite with the first animal in space, the dog Laika. | |
1957 CE | The first test firing of the Vanguard satellite launch vehicle, TV-3, fails when the Vanguard rocket blows up. | |
1957 CE | The Vanguard TV-1 booster test reaches 195 km. | |
4 Jan 1958 CE | Sputnik 1 reenters atmosphere & burns up | |
31 Jan 1958 CE | The first US satellite (Explorer I) launched with a payload of approximately 1 kg | |
1 Oct 1958 CE | National Advisory Council on Aeronautics renamed NASA | |
1958 CE | The second US Moon probe, Pioneer 1, reaches 113,810 km, and falls back to Earth. | |
1958 CE | Explorer 2 fails to reach Earth orbit. | |
1958 CE | The US Navy launches Vanguard 1, the first US artificial satelite, into orbit. It was designed to measure the Earth's shape. | |
1958 CE | The first voice from space; a recorded Christmas message by Eisenhower. | |
1958 CE | The US Army launches Explorer 3, America's third successful satellite. It discovered the Earth's radiation belt. | |
1958 CE | US lunar probe Pioneer 3 reaches 107,269 km, falls back | |
1958 CE | US manned space-flight project renamed Project Mercury | |
1958 CE | USSR launches Sputnik III | |
1958 CE | Vanguard Project transferred from military to NASA | |
1958 CE | Vanguard SLV-1 launched for Earth orbit (failed) | |
1958 CE | Vanguard SLV-2 launched for Earth orbit (failed) | |
1958 CE | Vanguard TV-3 back-up launches into Earth orbit; reaches 6 km | |
1958 CE | Vanguard TV-5 launched for Earth orbit (failed) | |
1958 CE | World's 1st Moon probe, US's Thor-Able, explodes at T +77 sec | |
3 Mar 1959 CE | US Pioneer 4, which performed a distant luner flyby and became the first US probe to enter solar orbit, is launched. | |
13 Sep 1959 CE | USSR Luna 2, the hard lander, is the first human-made device to impact the Moon east of Mare Serenitatis. | |
4 Oct 1959 CE | USSR Luna 3 performs luner flyby and sends back the first photos of Moon's far side. | |
1959 CE | Congressional Committee of Astronautics meets Project 7 astronauts. | |
1959 CE | Explorer 6 transmits 1st TV photo of Earth from space | |
1959 CE | Explorer VI reveals an intense radiation belt around the Earth | |
1959 CE | Far side of Moon seen for 1st time by USSR's Luna 3 | |
1959 CE | Farthest man made radio signal heard from Pioneer IV at 400,000 miles. | |
1959 CE | Launch of Discoverer 1 (WTR)-1st polar orbit | |
1959 CE | Luna 1 (Mechta) becomes 1st craft to leave Earth's gravity | |
1959 CE | Monkeys Able & Baker zoom 300 miles (500 km) into space on Jupiter missile, became 1st animals retrieved from a space mission | |
1959 CE | NASA names 1st 7 astronauts for Project Mercury | |
1959 CE | Soviet Luna 3, 1st successful photographic spacecraft, impacts Moon | |
1959 CE | The first weather satellite launched, Vanguard 2, 9.8 kg | |
1959 CE | Transit 1A, 1st navigational satellite launched; failed to orbit | |
1959 CE | USAF launches Discover II into polar orbit | |
1959 CE | USSR launches Mechta (Luna 1) for 1st lunar fly-by, 1st solar orbit | |
1959 CE | Vanguard 3 launched into Earth orbit | |
1959 CE | Vanguard SLV-5 launched for Earth orbit (failed) | |
1959 CE | Vanguard SLV-6 launched for Earth orbit (failed) | |
11 Mar 1960 CE | US Pioneer 5 is launched into solar orbit between Earth and Venus. | |
1960 CE | Courier 1B Launched; 1st active repeater satellite in orbit. | |
1960 CE | Disaster on USSR launch pad, kills missile expert Nedelin & team (unconfirmed). The USSR claimed he was killed in plane crash. | |
1960 CE | Discoverer 13 launched into orbit. It returned the first object from space. | |
1960 CE | Echo 1, the first communications satellite, was launched. | |
1960 CE | Explorer 8 fails to reach Earth orbit. | |
1960 CE | Mercury-Redstone 1 test launch fails at 10 cm altitude | |
1960 CE | Mercury-Redstone 1A reaches 210 km in test flight | |
1960 CE | RCA (TV & Infra-Red Observation 'weather' Satellite) I launched | |
1960 CE | Soviet Sputnik 4 launched into Earth orbit; later recovery failed | |
1960 CE | Soviet Sputnik 5 carries 2 dogs, 3 mice into orbit (later recovered alive) | |
1960 CE | The first launch of Delta satellite launching vehicle; it failed | |
1960 CE | The first weather satellite was launched (Tiros 1) | |
1960 CE | Tiros 2, a weather satellite is launched | |
1960 CE | Transit 1B, 1st navigational satellite, placed in Earth orbit | |
1960 CE | USSR launch 1st (unmanned) space capsule | |
1960 CE | USSR recovers 2 dogs, the first living organisms to return from space. | |
12 Feb 1961 CE | Soviet Venera 1 launches toward Venus for a Venus flyby. | |
12 Apr 1961 CE | Soviet Yuri Gagarin is the first man in space in Vostok 1. | |
25 May 1961 CE | John F Kennedy sets goal of putting a man on Moon before the end of decade. | |
1961 CE | Alan Shepard becomes the first American in space (aboard Freedom 7). | |
1961 CE | Alan Shepard receives NASA Distinguished Service Medal, Washington. | |
1961 CE | Cosmonaut Gherman Titov circles Earth for a full day in Vostok 2. | |
1961 CE | Explorer (10) fails to reach Earth orbit. | |
1961 CE | Explorer (12) fails to reach Earth orbit. | |
1961 CE | Gherman S Titov, 2nd Russian in space aboard Vostok 2 (17 orbits), first case of motion sickness in space reported. | |
1961 CE | Ham is first primate in space (158 miles) aboard Mercury/Redstone 2. | |
1961 CE | Ham radio satellite Oscar 1 launched with military Discoverer 36. | |
1961 CE | Launch of Transit 4a, with first nuclear power supply (SNAP-3). | |
1961 CE | Mercury/Atlas rocket lifted off with an electronic mannequin. | |
1961 CE | Mercury-Atlas 2 reentry test reaches 172 km. | |
1961 CE | Mercury-Atlas 5 carries a chimp (Enos) to orbit. | |