SPACE EXPLORATIONS

Date Event leading to space exploration Country Researcher(s)

First telescopic observation of the night sky:

Republic of
1610 discovery of Jupiter's moons, lunar craters and Galileo Galilei
Venice
the phases of Venus.

Publication of the Philosophiæ Naturalis

1687 England Sir Isaac Newton
Principia Mathematica

First exposition of the rocket equation based

1813 on Newton's third law of motion: Treatise on UK William Moore
the Motion of Rockets

First clear telescopic photograph of another United John William

1840
world: the Moon. States Drap

24 October United
First pictures of Earth from 105 km (65 mi) [1][2] V-2
1946 States

20
United
February First animals in space (fruit flies) [1][3] V-2
States
1947

22 July
First dogs in space (Dezik and Tsygan) [4] USSR R-1
1951

Country/
Date Mission achievements organiza Mission name
tion

4 USSR Sputnik 1
First artificial satellite
October
First signals from space
1957

3
Novemb First animal in orbit, the dog Laika USSR Sputnik 2
er 1957

7 August USA
First photograph of Earth from orbit Explorer 6
1959 (NASA)
SPACE EXPLORATIONS

Mission
Date Mission achievements Country/organization
name

4 October 1957 First artificial satellite USSR Sputnik 1

First signals from space

3 November First animal in orbit, the

USSR Sputnik 2
1957 dog Laika

First photograph of Earth from

7 August 1959 USA (NASA) Explorer 6
orbit

Mission
Date Mission success Country/organization
name

March
First solar probe. USA (NASA) Pioneer 5
1960

19 August First plants and animals to return alive USSR Sputnik 5

1960 from Earth orbit

10 October First probe launched to Mars (failed to

USSR Mars 1M
1960 reach target)

12 April First human spaceflight (Yuri Gagarin) USSR Vostok 1

1961 First human-crewed orbital flight

7 March
First orbital solar observatory USA (NASA) OSO-1
1962

16 June First woman in space (Valentina

USSR Vostok 6
1963 Tereshkova)

March
First crewed spacecraft to change orbit USA (NASA) Gemini 3
1965

14 July First close-up photographs of another

USA (NASA) Mariner 4
1965 planet: Mars

August Lunar
First probe to map the Moon USA
1966 Orbiter 1
SPACE EXPLORATIONS

Mission
Date Mission success Country/organization
name

January First to parachute in Venus's atmosphere,

USSR Venera 5
1969 lost contact before landing.

First human on the Moon, and first space

20 July launch from a celestial body other than the
USA (NASA) Apollo 11
1969 Earth
First sample return from the Moon

Mission
Date Mission success Country/organization
name

24 September First automatic sample return from

USSR Luna 16
1970 the Moon

15 December First soft landing on another planet USSR Venera 7

1970 (Venus)
First signals from another planet

19 April 1971 First space station USSR Salyut 1

June 1971 First Manned orbital observatory USSR Orion 1

27 November 1971 First impact into Mars USSR Mars 2

First mission to enter the asteroid belt and

15 July 1972 USA (NASA) Pioneer 10
leave inner Solar System

Date Mission success Country/organization Mission name

24 January First Uranus flyby (closest approach 81,500 kilometers

USA (NASA) Voyager 2
1986 (44,000 nmi)

14 February
First photograph of the whole Solar System [7] USA (NASA) Voyager 1
1990

USA Hubble Space

24 April 1990 Optical orbital observatory
(NASA) ESA Telescope
SPACE EXPLORATIONS