“Fly Me to the Moon” A Timeline of Space Exploration

Artificial Satellite The first artificial satellite was launched. The Soviet Union ushers in the new space age with the launch of Sputnik 1.

First Successful American Satellite Explorer 1 orbits about 1,560 miles above earth. The instruments installed aid in the first great scientific discovery of the space age, the radiation belts, named for James Van Allen, who designed the instruments. The satellite remained in space for 12 years and continued to transmit data until its batteries died. It weighed thirty one pounds.

The Creation of NASA President Johnson signed into law the National Aeronautics Space Act, which helped to create the space agency, NASA.

First Human In Space The Soviet Cosmonaut, Yuri A. Gagarin, becomes the first person to orbit the earth, in a 108 minute flight. Years later it was learned that he jumped out of the spaceship with a parachute, because the spaceship was not able to land safely.

First American In Space The US launches the Mercury Capsule, which was piloted by Alan Shephard. This was a 15 minute sub-orbital flight in which he was able to ride the capsule all the way back down to earth as the landing was made in the Atlantic Ocean and not on land, as the Russians had done.

First American In Orbit Astronaut John Glenn, orbited the earth three times in a five hour flight on the Mercury Capsule. The capsule almost burned upon re-entry, but landed safely in the Atlantic Ocean.

First Spacewalk Russian cosmonaut Alexei Leonov exits his Voskhod capsule for a 12 minute spacewalk. His suit begins to balloon and he must vent air to correct the issue.

First Manned Mission Apollo 7 was the first Apollo mission to get astronauts off the ground and into space.In eleven days and one hundred sixty - three circuits, astronauts practice docking maneuvers to verify the spacecraft was ready for a mission to the moon. A tv camera transmits the first live images from space.

First Manned Moon Landing Apollo 11 touches down on the moon. Astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin descend on the moon’s surface where they collect 46 pounds of lunar rock and deploy scientific instruments. Four days later, they return and are quarantined for three weeks to ensure no dangerous microbes were travelling back with them.

First Occupation Of A Space Station Three cosmonauts aboard the Salyut 1 Space Station for a 24 day mission to conduct science experiments. This sets a new endurance record for space travel.

First Rover On The Moon Apollo 15 carries an electric cart to the moon. This rover is able to carry two astronauts and supplies, which greatly extends the exploration areas. Astronauts David Scott and James Irwin put 17 miles on the rover, but can only drive the walk-back distance because of the risk of being stranded without air.

First American Space Station Launched Skylab is launched on what ends up being a six year mission. Between 1973 and 1974, three crews of nine astronauts in total, conduct experiments and make spacewalks to repair a solar panel and construct a shade to keep the lab from overheating. Skylab plunges back to Earth on July 11, 1979.

First US Mars Landing Viking 1 lands on Mars and remains operational until 1982 when transmissions and communications end. Photos show terrain similar to earth’s deserts and chemical tests show anomalies in the soil that have yet to be explained.

Touring The Solar System NASA launches Voyagers 1 and 2 on a space journey that continues today. Voyager 1 launched September 5, 1977 and Voyager 2 launched August 22, Voyager 1 visits Jupiter, Saturn and Saturn’s moon, Titan. Voyager 2 visits Uranus and Neptune. In August of 2012, Voyager 1 made historic entry into interstellar space having travelled farther than any other man made object.

First Space Shuttle Launch The Columbia space shuttle, was the first manned cosmic commuter launched by NASA. Commander John Young and pilot Robert Crippen spent two days orbiting the earth before touch down at Edwards Air Force Base in California.

Hubble Telescope Deployed The 12-ton Hubble Space Telescope was deployed a day after the Discovery space shuttle was launched. It is an orbiting collection of instruments designed to view the universe. Many of the images are blurred due to flaws in the mirrors, but the Endeavor space shuttle flew out for a repair mission. There were three other missions to upgrade the Hubble.

Probe Landing on Mars The Pathfinder probe breaks through the thin Martian atmosphere to land on the Mars surface. The first Mars rover, Sojourner, descends down the ramp to begin its exploration of the surface. It was designed to test the feasibility of rovers and to perform chemical tests.

Mars Exploration Rovers (MER) The Spirit is one of two rovers designed and launched by NASA in June of 2003, to search for answers about water on Mars. The rover is equipped with instrumentation such that studies on the rocks and soil of the planet will be analyzed for clues about water on the planet.

Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) The Curiosity began its journey to Mars in November of 2011 and landed at Gale Crater in August Curiosity was much larger than Spirit or Opportunity and had more advanced tools. Curiosity is known for finding elements in the Martian soil that could be rearranged to create water and basalt-like compounds which require the presence of water to form.

International Lunar Rovers

Soviet Union The first remote controlled roving craft Lunokhod 1, was launched by the Soviets in November For 10 months, the rover was driven by Soviet operators for distances totaling over 10 kilometers, in comparison to Opportunity, which in 6 years, travelled 12 kilometers. Valuable data about soil composition, topography and measurements were relayed to scientists.

China China’s first lunar surface exploration mission using a lander and a rover, Chang’e 3, launched December Chang’e becomes the first craft in 37 years to make a soft landing on the moon. It’s payload consists of scientific instruments used to study the moon, environment, other galaxies and stars.