Space Exploration Events

1957 Oct 4 Soviet Union Launches Sputnik 1 Satellite
Sputnik 1 was the world's first Earth-orbiting artificial satellite. It was launched into a low altitude elliptical orbit by the Soviet Union on 4 October 1957, and was the first in a ser...
1959 Sep 14
11:02PM
 Luna 2 Becomes First Spacecraft to Reach Moon
After an aborted launch on 9 September, the Ye-1A probe successfully lifted off and reached escape velocity three days later. Officially named the Second Soviet Cosmic Rocket, the spacecr...
1961
to 1975
NASA's Apollo Program
The Apollo Program was a human spaceflight program undertaken by NASA during the years 1961–1975 with the goal of conducting manned moon landing missions. In 1961, President John F. Kenne...
1961 Apr 12
6:17AM
 First Human in Space
Vostok 1 (Russian: Восток-1, East 1 or Orient 1) was the first spaceflight in the Vostok program and the first human spaceflight in history. The Vostok 3KA spacecraft was launched on Apri...
1961 May 25 President Kennedy First Announces Goal of Landing a Man on the Moon
President Kennedy was also eager for the United States to lead the way in exploring space. The Soviet Union was ahead of the United States in its space program and President Kennedy was d...
1962 Feb 20 First American to Orbit Earth
On February 20, 1962, John H. Glenn, Jr., became the first American to orbit Earth. An Atlas launch vehicle propelled a Mercury spacecraft into Earth orbit and enabled Glenn to circle Ear...
1962 Sep 12 John F. Kennedy Delivers "Moon" Speech at Rice University
"We choose to go to the Moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard." —John F. Kennedy
1966 Jul 5 Apollo 2 Mission
Apollo 2 is the informal name of the launch of AS-203. The main purpose of the AS-203 flight was to investigate the effects of weightlessness on the fuel in the S-IVB tank. The reason for...
1966 Aug 25 Apollo 3 Mission
AS-202 (or SA-202) was a sub-orbital test flight of the Saturn IB and Command and Service Module. It is sometimes informally called Apollo 3. AS-202 was the second test flight of the S...
1967 Jan 27 Apollo 1 Catches Fire, Three Astronauts Die
Apollo 1 is the official name that was later given to the never-flown Apollo/Saturn 204 (AS-204) mission. Its command module (CM-012) was destroyed by fire during a test and training exer...
1967 Nov 9
9:00AM-3:37PM
 Apollo 4 Mission
Apollo 4 was the first flight of the Saturn V launch vehicle, carrying no crew. It was also the first flight of the S-IC and S-II stages of the rocket. This was the first flight of the...
1968 Jan 22
4:48PM
to 1968 Jan 23
3:58AM
 Apollo 5 Mission
Apollo 5 was the first unmanned flight of the Apollo Lunar Module, which would later carry astronauts to the lunar surface. It lifted off on January 22, 1968. As with Apollo 4, this f...
1968 Apr 4
6:00AM-5:57PM
 Apollo 6 Mission
Apollo 6, launched on April 4, 1968, was the Apollo program's second and last unmanned test flight of its Saturn V launch vehicle. While the vehicle experienced a number of significant ma...
1968 Oct 11
10:02AM
to 1968 Oct 22
5:11AM
 Apollo 7 Mission
Apollo 7 (October 11-22, 1968) was the first manned mission in the Apollo program to be launched. It was an eleven-day Earth-orbital mission, the first manned launch of the Saturn IB laun...
1969 Jul 16
to 1969 Jul 24
 Apollo 11 Mission
The Apollo 11 mission was the first manned mission to land on the Moon. It was the fifth human spaceflight of Project Apollo and the third human voyage to the Moon. It was also the second...
1969 Jul 21
2:56AM
 Man Walks on Moon
The Apollo 11 Lunar Module (LM) "Eagle" was the first crewed vehicle to land on the Moon. It carried two astronauts, Commander Neil A. Armstrong and LM pilot Edwin E. "Buzz" Aldrin, Jr., ...
1969 Nov 14
4:22PM
to 1969 Nov 24
8:58PM
 Apollo 12 Mission
"Whoopie! Man, that may have been a small one for Neil, but that's a long one for me." —Pete Conrad
1970 Apr 11
to 1970 Apr 17
 Apollo 13 Mission
Apollo 13 was the third manned mission by NASA intended to land on the moon, but a mid-mission technical malfunction forced the lunar landing to be aborted. The crew members were commande...
1971 Jan 31
to 1971 Feb 9
 Apollo 14 Mission
Apollo 14 was the eighth manned mission in the Apollo program and the third mission to land on the Moon. The nine-day mission was launched on January 31, 1971, with lunar touch down on Fe...
1971 Jul 26
9:34AM
to 1971 Aug 7
11:12AM
 Apollo 15
Apollo 15 was the ninth manned mission in the Apollo program and the fourth mission to land on the Moon. It was the first of what were termed "J missions", long duration stays on the Moon...
1975 Aug 20
9:22PM
 NASA Launches Mars Probe Viking 1
Viking 1 was the first of two spacecraft sent to Mars as part of NASA's Viking program. It was the first spacecraft to successfully land on Mars and perform its mission, and held the reco...
1977 Aug 20
2:29PM
 NASA Launches Voyager 2
The Voyager 2 spacecraft is an unmanned interplanetary space probe launched on August 20, 1977. Both the Voyager 2 and the Voyager 1 space probes were designed, developed, and built at th...
1978 Aug 26 Sigmund Jähn Becomes the First German Cosmonaut
Several hundred suitably experienced Air Force pilots were personally interviewed by Lt-General Wolfgang Reinhold, the serving Vice Minister of Defense and the Commander-in-Chief of the G...
1981 Apr 12 First Orbital Space Shuttle Flight
The first launch of the Space Shuttle occurred on 12 April 1981, exactly 20 years after the first manned space flight, when the orbiter Columbia, with two crew members, astronauts John W....
1984 Nov 20 SETI Institute is Founded
Founded in November 1984, the SETI Institute began operations on February 1, 1985. Today it employs over 150 scientists, educators and support staff. Research at the Institute is anchored...
1990 Aug 10 Magellen Spacecraft Arrives at Venus
The Magellan spacecraft, also referred to as the Venus Radar Mapper, was a 1,035-kilogram robotic space probe launched by NASA on May 4, 1989, to map the surface of Venus using Synthetic ...
2003 Feb 1 Space Shuttle Columbia Disaster
The Space Shuttle Columbia disaster occurred on February 1, 2003, when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated over Texas and Louisiana during re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere, resul...
2009 Jul 16 NASA Releases Restored Video Footage From the Apollo 11 Moon Mission to Commemorate the 40th Anniversary of the Landing
WASHINGTON – With the help of Hollywood, those historic, grainy images of the first men on the moon never looked better. NASA unveiled refurbished video Thursday of the July 20, 1969, moo...
2011 Sep 15 Astronomers Announce Discovery of Potentially Inhabitable Planet
Astronomers say they have discovered 50 new planets, including 16 “super Earths and Neptune-type planets” orbiting near their stars. This is by far the largest number of such planets ever...
2011 Nov 4 520 Mock Mars Mission Ends
Six men who lived in cramped, windowless compartments for more than 17 months to simulate a mission to Mars emerged Friday from their capsules, looking haggard but all smiles, and dreamin...
2011 Nov 26 NASA Launches Mars Rover Curiosity
The world's biggest extraterrestrial explorer, NASA's Curiosity rover, rocketed toward Mars on Saturday on a search for evidence that the red planet might once have been home to itsy-bits...
2012 Aug 6
5:32AM
 Curiosity Rover Lands Safely on Mars
PASADENA, Calif. -- NASA's most advanced Mars rover Curiosity has landed on the Red Planet. The one-ton rover, hanging by ropes from a rocket backpack, touched down onto Mars Sunday to en...
2012 Aug 25 Neil Armstrong, First Man on Moon, Dies
Armstrong, who had just turned 82, underwent surgery on August 7, 2012, to relieve blocked coronary arteries. He died on August 25, 2012, at a hospital in Columbus, Ohio, from complicatio...
2012 Sep 27 Curiosity Rover Finds Ancient Streambed on Martian Surface
NASA's Curiosity rover mission has found evidence a stream once ran vigorously across the area on Mars where the rover is driving. There is earlier evidence for the presence of water on M...