Misplaced Pages

Revision as of 07:41, 30 April 2013

Timeline of Space Race firsts (1957-1975)

Date	Significance	Soviet Union Mission	US Mission
August 21, 1957	First intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM)	R-7 Semyorka
October 4, 1957	First artificial satellite First signals from space	Sputnik 1
November 3, 1957	First animal in orbit (dog Laika)	Sputnik 2
January 31, 1958	First detection of Van Allen radiation belts		Explorer 1-ABMA
March 17, 1958	First solar powered satellite		Vanguard 1-NRL
December 18, 1958	First communications satellite		Project SCORE-ABMA
January 2, 1959	First rocket engine restart in Earth orbit First lunar spacecraft First detection of solar wind	Luna 1
January 4, 1959	First human-made object in heliocentric orbit	Luna 1
February 17, 1959	First weather satellite		Vanguard 2-NRL
February 28, 1959	First satellite in a polar orbit		Discoverer 1-DARPA
August 7, 1959	First photograph of Earth from orbit		Explorer 6-NASA
September 13, 1959	First impact into another celestial body (Moon)	Luna 2
October 4, 1959	First photos of far side of the Moon	Luna 3
April 1, 1960	First Imaging weather satellite		TIROS-1-NASA
July 5, 1960	First reconnaissance satellite		GRAB-1-NRL
August 11, 1960	First satellite recovered intact from orbit		Discoverer 13-USAF
August 12, 1960	First passive communications satellite		Echo 1A-NASA
August 18, 1960	First reconnaissance satellite		KH-1 9009-USAF
August 19, 1960	First animals and plants returned alive from space	Sputnik 5
1961	First launch from orbit First mid-course corrections First spin-stabilisation	Venera 1
April 12, 1961	First human spaceflight (Yuri Gagarin)	Vostok 1
May 5, 1961	First pilot-controlled space flight (Alan Shepard)		Freedom 7
March 7, 1962	First orbital solar observatory		OSO-1-NASA
August 12, 1962	First simultaneous launch of two human-piloted spacecraft First ship-to-ship radio contact	Vostok 3 / Vostok 4
December 14, 1962	First planetary flyby (Venus)		Mariner 2-NASA
June 16, 1963	First woman in space (Valentina Tereshkova) First civilian in space	Vostok 6
June 19, 1963	Five-day human spaceflight record	Vostok 5
July 19, 1963	First reusable piloted spacecraft (X-15, suborbital)		X-15 Flight 90-NASA
July 26, 1963	First geosynchronous satellite		Syncom 2-NASA
December 5, 1963	First satellite navigation system		NAVSAT-USN
August 19, 1964	First geostationary satellite		Syncom 3-NASA
October 12, 1964	First multi-person crew (3)	Voskhod 1
March 18, 1965	First extra-vehicular activity ("space walk")	Voskhod 2
March 23, 1965	First piloted spacecraft orbit change		Gemini 3-NASA
July 14, 1965	First Mars flyby		Mariner 4-NASA
August 29, 1965	Eight-day human spaceflight record		Gemini 5-NASA
December 15, 1965	First orbital rendezvous (station-keeping, no docking)		Gemini 6A / Gemini 7-NASA
December 18, 1965	14-day human spaceflight record		Gemini 7-NASA
February 3, 1966	First soft landing on another celestial body (Moon) First photos from another celestial body	Luna 9
March 1, 1966	First impact into another planet (Venus)	Venera 3
March 16, 1966	First spacecraft docking		Gemini 8 / Agena target vehicle-NASA
April 3, 1966	First artificial satellite to orbit another celestial body: the Moon	Luna 10
September 12, 1966	First direct-ascent rendezvous on first orbit Record highest apogee, 1,374 kilometers (854 mi), for piloted Earth orbit		Gemini 11/Agena target vehicle-NASA
November 12–14, 1966	First 5.5 hr extra-vehicular activity First demonstration of practical work capability		Gemini 12-NASA
October 30, 1967	First docking of two remote-controlled spacecraft	Cosmos 186/ Cosmos 188
December 7, 1968	First orbital ultraviolet observatory		OAO-2-NASA
December 21, 1968	First human-crewed spaceflight to, and orbit of, another celestial object: the Moon		Apollo 8-NASA
January 16, 1969	First crew exchange in space	Soyuz 4 / Soyuz 5
July 21, 1969	First humans on the Moon First space launch from another celestial body		Apollo 11-NASA
November 19, 1969	First precisely targeted piloted landing on the Moon (Surveyor 3 site)		Apollo 12-NASA
September 24, 1970	First robotic automatic sample return from another celestial body: the Moon	Luna 16
November 23, 1970	First remote-controlled mobile vehicle on another celestial body: the Moon	Lunokhod 1
December 12, 1970	First X-ray orbital observatory		Uhuru (satellite)-NASA
December 15, 1970	First soft landing on another planet (Venus) First signals from another planet	Venera 7
April 23, 1971	First human-crewed space station launched	Salyut 1
June 29, 1971	First human-crewed orbital observatory (Orion 1) 23-day manned space record	Soyuz 11 / Salyut 1
July 31, 1971	First mobile vehicle lunar rover driven by humans on the Moon		Apollo 15-NASA
November 14, 1971	First spacecraft to orbit another planet: Mars,		Mariner 9-NASA
November 27, 1971	First impact into Mars	Mars 2
December 2, 1971	First soft Mars landing First signals from Mars surface	Mars 3
March 3, 1972	First human-made object sent on escape trajectory away from the Sun		Pioneer 10-NASA
July 15, 1972	First mission to enter the asteroid belt and leave inner solar system		Pioneer 10-NASA
15 November 1972	First orbital gamma ray observatory		SAS-2-NASA
May 25, 1973	28-day human-crewed space record		Skylab 1-NASA
July 28, 1973	56-day human-crewed space record		Skylab 2-NASA
November 16, 1973	84-day human-crewed space record		Skylab 3-NASA
December 3, 1973	First Jupiter flyby		Pioneer 10-NASA
February 5, 1974	First planetary gravitational assist (Venus flyby)		Mariner 10-NASA
March 29, 1974	First Mercury flyby		Mariner 10-NASA
July 15, 1975	First multinational human-crewed mission	Soyuz 19	Apollo-Soyuz Test Project

See also

• List of space exploration milestones, 1957–1969

References

• Bilstein, Roger E. (1996). Stages to Saturn: A Technological History of the Apollo/Saturn Launch Vehicles. Washington: Scientific and Technical Information Branch, National Aeronautics and Space Administration,. ISBN 0-16-048909-1.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link)
• Brugess, Colin (2003). Fallen Astronauts: Heroes Who Died Reaching for the Moon. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press. ISBN 0-8032-6212-4. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
• Dallek, Robert (2003). An Finished Life: John F. Kennedy, 1917-1963. Boston: Little, Brown and Company. ISBN 0-316-17238-3.
• Freni, Pamela (2002). Space for Women: A History of Women With the Right Stuff. Santa Ana, California: Seven Locks Press. ISBN 1-931643-12-1. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
• Gainor, Chris (2001). Arrows to the Moon: Avro's Engineers and the Space Race. Burlington, Ontario: Apogee Books. ISBN 1-896522-83-1.
• Gatland, Kenneth (1976). Manned Spacecraft, Second Revision. New York, NY, USA: MacMillan Publishing Co., Inc. pp. 100–101. ISBN 0-02-542820-9.
• Hall, Rex (2003). Soyuz: A Universal Spacecraft. New York: Springer–Praxis Books. ISBN 1-85233-657-9. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
• Harford, James J. (1997). Korolev: How One Man Masterminded the Soviet Drive to Beat America to the Moon (1 ed.). New York: John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 0-471-14853-9. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
• Harvey, Brian (2001). Russia in Space: The Failed Frontier?. New York: Springer–Praxis Books. ISBN 1-85233-203-4.
• Seamans, Robert C., Jr. (1967-04-05). "Findings, Determinations And Recommendations". Report of Apollo 204 Review Board. NASA History Office. Retrieved 2007-10-07.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
• Siddiqi, Asif A. (2003a). Sputnik and the Soviet Space Challenge. Gainsville: University Press of Florida. ISBN 0-8130-2627-X.
• Siddiqi, Asif A. (2003b). The Soviet Space Race with Apollo. Gainsville: University Press of Florida. ISBN 0-8130-2628-8.
• Thompson, Neal (2004). Light This Candle : The Life & Times of Alan Shepard—America's First Spaceman. New York: Crown Publishers. ISBN 0-609-61001-5. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
• Wolfe, Tom (1979/2001). The Right Stuff. New York: Bantam Books. ISBN 0-613-91667-0. {{cite book}}: Check date values in: |year= (help)CS1 maint: year (link)
• Yeager, Chuck (1985). Yeager: An Autobiography. New York: Bantam Books. ISBN 0-553-05093-1. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)

• Lists of firsts
• Space policy
• Technology timelines