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Timeline of space exploration. This is a timeline of space exploration which includes notable achievements, first accomplishments and milestones in humanity's exploration of outer space . This timeline generally does not distinguish achievements by a specific country or private company, as it considers humanity as a whole.
In the decades since Yury Gagarin became the first man in space in 1961, many milestones in space travel have been achieved by a variety of men and women from around the world. The table provides a chronology of notable astronauts. This article was most recently revised and updated by Amy Tikkanen.
NameMissionDateAccomplishmentApril 12, 1961first man in spaceMercury-Redstone 3 (Freedom 7)May 5, 1961first American in spaceVostok 2Aug. 6–7, 1961first to spend more than one day in ...Mercury-Atlas 6 (Friendship 7)Feb. 20, 1962first American in orbit- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
On March 16, 1966, the first docking in space took place. Neil Armstrong and David Scott on Gemini 8 docked with an Agena target. On January 27, 1967, astronauts Virgil Grissom , Ed White, and Roger Chaffee were killed in a fire during a launchpad test.
Oct 17, 2023 · The NASA Astronaut Fact Book provides information on the 360 explorers who have been selected as astronauts since NASA's first class in 1959. Encyclopedia. Updated Oct 17, 2023. NASA spacewalker Frank Rubio is pictured during a spacewalk tethered to the International Space Station during an orbital sunset. Preface.
- Project Mercury
- The Gemini Program
- The Apollo Program
- Skylab
- Apollo Soyuz Test Project
- Space Shuttle Era
- Space Station Era
Project Mercury, the first U.S. program to put humans in space, made 25 flights, six of which carried astronauts between 1961 and 1963. The objectives of the program were: to orbit a human spacecraft around Earth, to investigate a person’s ability to function in space, and to recover both the astronaut and spacecraft safely. More than 2 million peo...
The Gemini program primarily tested equipment and mission procedures and trained astronauts and ground crews for future Apollo missions to the Moon. The program’s main goals were: to test an astronaut’s ability to fly long duration flights (14 days); to understand how a spacecraft could rendezvous and dock with another vehicle in Earth orbit; to pe...
Exactly eight years, one month and 26 days after President Kennedy challenged Americans to reach for the Moon, Project Apollo landed the first humans on the lunar surface and returned them safely to Earth. The Apollo program also developed technology to meet other national interests in space, conducted scientific exploration of the Moon, and develo...
In 1973, Skylab expeditions paved the way for the International Space Station. The four, windmill-like solar arrays were attached to the Apollo Telescope Mount. Observations of the Sun were one of this space lab program’s primary achievements.
In the 1970s, U.S.-Soviet political tensions that had accelerated the space race began to thaw. Competition gave way to cooperation between the two nations with the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project. International collaboration among many nations would become the norm during the space shuttle era and current cooperation in human spaceflight with the Intern...
Over 30 years, NASA's space shuttle fleet—Columbia, Challenger, Discovery, Atlantis and Endeavour—flew 135 missions and carried 355 different people to space. Humanity's first reusable spacecraft, the space shuttle carried people into orbit repeatedly; launched, recovered and repaired satellites; conducted cutting-edge research; and built the large...
The International Space Station is a model for global cooperation and scientific advancements that is enabling growth of private industry in low-Earth orbit and development of new technologies to advance human space exploration. Built between 1998 and 2011, the space station has housed humans continuously since Nov. 2, 2000. Because molecules and c...
Countries represented only by suborbital space flyers are shaded. Note: citizens from the now-defunct East Germany, Czechoslovakia, and Soviet Union have also flown in space. Since the first human spaceflight by the Soviet Union, citizens of 47 countries have flown in space. For each nationality, the launch date of the first mission is listed.
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Jun 24, 2019 · On July 20, 1969, just eight years after President John F. Kennedy threw down the Cold War gauntlet and announced the ambitious goal of “landing a man on the...
