Space History
Historical Timeline
1952: Russia: First artificial satellite Sputnik 1 (10/4/1957)
1957: USSR: Sputnik 2: Laika
1958: USA: Explorer 1: Discovered the Van Allen Belts
1958: Flight data recorder: David Warren
1959: USSR: Luna 2: First spacecraft to reach the Moon
1959: USSR: Luna 3: First circumnavigation of Moon
1962: USA: Mariner 2: First interplanetary mission – Venus flyby
1962: USSR: Ranger 7: Impact with the Moon
1964: USA: Mariner 4: First close up pictures of Mars
1964: USA: Mariner 5: Venus flyby
1966: USSR: Luna 9: First successful lunar soft landing
1966: USSR: Luna 10: First spacecraft in lunar orbit
1966: USA: Surveyor 1: First US soft landing on the Moon
1966: USA: Lunar Orbiter 1: First lunar orbiting survey vehicle
1967: USSR: Venera 4: Frist data back from inside atmosphere of Venus
1969 - Moon - Space Age and UN
1970: USSR: Venera 7: First data back from surface of Venus
1970: USSR: Luna 16: Soft landing on Moon with return of samples to Earth
1971: USSR: Mars 2: Mars orbiter and landers, only orbiter successful
1971: USA: Mariner 9: Mars orbiter, first global mapping of planet
1972: Pioneer 10: First Jupiter flyby
1972: Venera 8: First chemical analysis of Venus
1973: USA: Pioneer 11: Second Jupiter flyby and first Saturn flyby
1973: USA: Mariner 10: First flyby of Mercury, obtained Venus data en route
1975: USSR: Venera 9: Data from surface of Venus and from orbiter
1975: USSR: Venera 10: Data from surface of Venus and from orbiter
1975: USA: Viking 1: First soft landing on Mars, also Mars orbiter
1975: USA: Viking 2: Second soft landing on Mars, also Mars orbiter
1977: USA: Voyager 1: Flybys of Jupiter, Saturn , Titan
1977: USA: Voyager 2: Grand your flybys of Jupiter, Saturn , Uranus, Neptune
1978: USA: Pioneer Venus Orbiter: First radar mapping of Venus from orbit
1978: USA: Pioneer Venus Probe Carrier: Atmospheric composition, radiation balance, cloud particle characteristics from four entry probes
1978: USSR: Venera 11: Atmospheric and cloud composition of Venus, surface studies
1978: USSR: Venera 12: Atmospheric and cloud composition of Venus, surface studies
1981: USSR: Venera 13: Venus atmosphere and surface studies: detection of lightning discharges
1981: USSR : Venera 14: Venus atmosphere and surface studies: detection of lightning discharges
1983: USSR: Venera 15: Orbiting radar mapping of Venus surface topography
1983: USSR: Venera 16: Orbiting radar mapping of Venus surface topography
1984: USSR: VEGA 1: Venus flyby, descent probe landing, balloon deployment
1984: USSR: VEGA 2: Closest to Halley nucleus, imaging
1989: USA: Magellan: Orbital radar mapping of Venus
1989: USA: Galileo: Flybys of Moon, Venus, and asteroids Gaspra and Ida, jovian orbital tour
1990: Hubble Telescope
1997 - Mars Global Surveyor - Maps Mars
1997 - Mars rover Pathfinder and Sojourner
1998 - The International Space Station is an international effort bringing people from different countries together. Its main construction was completed between 1998 and 2011
February 12, 2001- First Landing on an Asteroid
February 14, 2001 - 100th U.S. Spacewalk
March 11, 2001 - New Space Walk Record
April 28, 2001 - First Tourist in Space
February 1, 2003 - Space Shuttle - Columbia Disaster
February 1, 2003 - President Bush's - Columbia Speech
October 15, 2003 - First Chinese Manned Spaceflight
January 3, 2004 - Spirit Rover Lands on Mars
January 25, 2004 - Opportunity Rover Lands on Mars
June 21, 2004 - First Manned Private Space Flight
2004 - Venture Star - Next generation reusable spacecraft - Fixed the tanks for spacecraft.
July 1, 2004 - Cassini Probe Arrives at Saturn
October 5, 2004 - X PRIZE Awarded
January 14, 2005 - First Landing on an Alien Moon
July 4, 2005 - First Impact With a Comet
July 26, 2005 - Space Shuttle Returns to Flight
January 15, 2006 - First Comet Samples Returned to Earth
2006 - Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter
March 6, 2009 - The Hunt for Extrasolar Planets
December 8, 2010 - First Commercial Orbit and Return
March 18, 2011 - First Spacecraft to Orbit Mercury
July 8, 2011 - Final Flight of the Space Shuttle Program
July 18, 2011 - Largest Space Telescope Launched
July 16, 2011 - First Spacecraft to Orbit an Asteroid
May 22, 2012 - First ISS Commercial Supply Mission
August 6, 2012 - Curiosity Rover Lands on Mars
August 25, 2012 - First Man-made Spacecraft in Interstellar Space
October 14, 2012 - First Skydive Jump to Break the Sound Barrier
August 6, 2014 - First Spacecraft to Orbit a Comet
November 12, 2014 - First Spacecraft to Land on a Comet
March 6, 2015 - First Spacecraft to Orbit a Dwarf Planet
July 14, 2015 - First Spacecraft to Reach Pluto
August 10, 2015 - First Food Grown in Space and Eaten
December 21, 2015 - First Propulsive Landing of an Orbital Rocket
2015 - Detected gravitational waves
September 21, 2018 - First Operational Rover on an Asteroid
January 3, 2018 - First Soft Landing on the Far Side of the Moon
2018 - Mars Insight Lander
April 10, 2019 - First Image of a Black Hole
January 3, 2018 - First Seeds Germinated on Another Celestial Body
2019 - SpaceX Starlink
January 7, 2020 - First Food Baked in Space
May 30, 2020 - First Commercial Manned Space Mission
2021 - Mars rover and Ingenuity Helicopter
2021 - Virgin Galactic, Blue Origin, Space X space launches
2021 - James Web Telescope
2022 - SLS Artemis moon mission launch
2023 - Psyche mission to asteroid Pysche 16
2023 - Starship Launch
2023 - Siena Galaxy Atlas