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Sputnik Launch
Sputnik 1 is the first man-made object to orbit earth. It was launched by the U.S.S.R. (present day Russia) and remained in orbit until Jan. 4th 1958. -
Sputnik 2 launch
Sputnik 2, carrying the dog Laika for 7 days in orbit, is launched by the U.S.S.R., and remains in orbit until April 13, 1958. -
Explorer 1 Launch
The first US satellite in orbit lifts off at Cape Canaveral, it carries a scientific expirement of James A, Van Allen, and discovers the earths radiation belt. -
Explorer 2 is launched
Explorer 2 is launched by a Jupiter-C rocket, and fails to reach orbit. -
Vanguard 1 launch
Launched, and continues to orbit for 3 years. -
Sputnik 3 is launched
Sputnik 3 is launched by the U.S.S.R. -
N.A.S.A. foundation
N.A.S.A. was founded, which takes over xisting N.A.C.A., the National Advisory Commitee on Aeronautics. -
Pioneer 1 is launched
Pioneer 1, U.S. - IGY space probe, launched to a height of 70,700 miles. -
Luna 1
The first man-made satellite to orbit the moon. Launched by the U.S.S.R. -
Pioneer 4 is launched
Pioneer 4, forth U.S.- IGY space probe was launched by a Juno 2 rocket, and acheived an earth- moon trajectory, passing within 37,000 miles of the moon. It then fell into a solar orbit, becoming the first U.S. sun orbiter. -
Luna 2
impacting on the mono, Luna 2 carried a copy of the Soviet Coat of Arms, and was the first man made object to hit the moon. -
Luna 3 is launched
Luna 3 translunar satellite is launched, orbiting the moon and photographing 70 percent of the far side of the moon. -
Tiros 1
The first successful weather satellite was launched by the US -
Discoverer 14 is launched
Discoverer 14 launches the first U.S. camera-equipped Corona spy satellite. -
Vostok 1
Vostok 1 is launched by the U.S.S.R carrying the first cosmonaut. He orbits earth once. -
Mercury Freedom 7 is launched
Mercury Freedom 7 carries Allen B. Shepard, Jr., the first U.S. Astronaut into space, in a suborbital flight. -
vostok 2
Vostok 2 is launched by the U.S.S.R. THe first day long soviet space flight. -
Mercury Friendship 7 is launched
Mercury Friendship 7 lifts off with John H. Glenn, Jr., the first American in orbit, and orbits the Earth three times. -
Mercury Aurora
Mercury Aurora is launched with M. scott Carpenter making 3 orbits. -
Telstar 1 beams live telecast
Telstar 1, U.S. satellite, beams the first live transatlantic telecast. -
Mariner 2
the first successful planetary space craft flies past venus and enters a solar orbit. -
Martin Schmidt interprets behavior
Martin Schmidt interprets the behavior of 3C 273- the first known quasar. -
Vostok 6 is launched
Vostok 6 carries Soviet Cosmonaunt Valentia Tereshkova, the first woman in space and orbits the Earth 48 times. -
U.S. Ranger 7 relays photos
U.S. Ranger 7 relays the first close-range photographs of the moon. -
Luna 9
February 3, 1966 - Soviet Luna 9 is the first spacecraft to soft-land on the moon. -
Gemini 3
First manned flight of the Gemini program, Gemini 3 carrying Virgil I. Grissom and John W. Young. Made three orbits around the earth. -
Ranger 9
Ranger 9 transmits high-quality images of the moon, many of which were shown live in -
first us space walk
Edward White II makes the first U.S. space walk from Gemini 4. Duration is 22 minutes. -
Mariner 4
U.S. Mariner 4 returns the first close-range images about Mars. -
Gemini 7
Gemini 7 is launched carrying Frank Borman and James A. Lovell, Jr., making 206 orbits around Earth and proving a trip to the Moon possible -
gemini 7
American astronauts Walter Schirra, Jr. and Thomas Stafford in Gemini 6 make the first space rendezvous with Gemini 7. -
venera 3
March 1, 1966 - Soviet Venera 3 impacts on Venus, the first spacecraft to reach another planet. It fails to return data. -
Luna 10
Soviet Luna 10 is the first spacecraft to orbit the moon. -
surveyor 1
June 2, 1966 - Surveyor 1 is the first U.S. spacecraft to soft-land on the Moon. -
Lunar Orbiter 1
U.S. Lunar Orbiter 1 enters moon orbit, and takes the first picture of the Earth from the distance of the moon. -
venus 3
Soviet Venus 3 is launched, becoming the first craft to impact Venus on March 1, 1966. -
Soviet Soyuz 1 is launched,
Soviet Soyuz 1 is launched, carrying Vladimir M. Komarov. On April 24 it crashed, killing Komarov, the first spaceflight fatality. -
Venera 4 sends a descent capsule
Venera 4 sends a descent capsule into the Venusian atmosphere, returning data about its composition. -
Soyuz 4 & 5 perform the first Soviet spaceship docking
Soyuz 4 & 5 perform the first Soviet spaceship docking, transferring Cosmonauts between vehicles. -
soviet Zond 5 is launched,
Soviet Zond 5 is launched, the first spacecraft to orbit the Moon and return. -
Apollo 7 is the first manned Apollo mission
Apollo 7 is the first manned Apollo mission with Walter M. Schirra, Jr., Donn F. Eisele, and Walter Cunningham. It orbited the Earth once. -
Apollo 8 is launched
Apollo 8 is launched with Frank Borman, James A. Lovell, Jr. and William A. Anders, the first Apollo to use the Saturn V rocket, and the first manned spacecraft to orbit the Moon, making 10 orbits on its 6-day mission. -
Soyuz 4 & 5
- Soyuz 4 & 5 perform the first Soviet spaceship docking, transferring Cosmonauts between vehicles.
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moonwalk
July 20, 1969 - Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin, Jr. make the first manned soft landing on the Moon, and the first moonwalk, using Apollo 11 -
Mariner 6 returns images
Mariner 6 returns high-resolution images of the Martian surface, concentrating on the equatorial region. -
Mariner 6
July 31, 1969 - Mariner 6 returns high-resolution images of the Martian surface, concentrating on the equatorial region -
Mariner 7
August 5, 1969 - Mariner 7 returns high-resolution images of the Martian surface, concentrating on the southern hemisphere. -
Apollo 13 is launched
Apollo 13 is launched, suffering an explosion in its SM oxygen tanks. Its Moon landing is aborted, and the crew, James A. Lovell, Jr., John L. Swigert, Jr. and Fred W. Haise, Jr., return safely. -
Apollo 13
Apollo 13 is launched, suffering an explosion in its SM oxygen tanks. Its Moon landing is aborted, and the crew, James A. Lovell, Jr., John L. Swigert, Jr. and Fred W. Haise, Jr., return safely. -
Soviet Luna 16 is launched
September 12, 1970 - Soviet Luna 16 is launched, conducting the first successful return of lunar soil samples by an automatic spacecraft -
Luna 17 lands on the moon
Luna 17 lands on the moon, with the first automatic robot, Lunokhod 1. Driven by a five-man team on Earth, traveled over surface for 11 days. -
Luna 17
November 17, 1970 - Luna 17 lands on the moon, with the first automatic robot, Lunokhod 1. Driven by a five-man team on earth, traveled over surface for 11 days. -
Soviet Venera 7
Soviet Venera 7 is the first probe to soft-land on Venus, transmitting for 23 minutes. -
Apollo 14
Apollo 14 moon mission is launched by the U.S. with the legendary Alan Shepard, along with Stuart Roosa and Edgar Mitchell on board. They land in the planned Apollo 13 site, the Fra Mauro highlands, which they explore with the help of a two-wheeled cart that permits the transport of a significantly greater quantity of lunar material than previous missions. Shepard becomes the first man to hit a golf ball on the moon. -
Salyut 1
Salyut 1 space station is launched by the U.S.S.R. It remains in orbit until May 28, 1973. -
Mariner 9 is launched
The U.S. launches Mariner 9, which becomes the first spacecraft to survey Mars from orbit. -
Soyuz 11
Soyuz 11 carried Cosmonauts G.T. Dobrovolsky, V.N. Volkov, and V.I. Patsayev to Salyut 1, the first manned occupancy of an orbital station. However, on June 29, the Cosmonauts died upon Soyuz 11's reentry. -
Apollo 15 drives the first moon rover
Apollo 15 astronauts David Scott and James Irwin drive the first moon rover. The next year, Apollo 17 astronaut Harrison Schmitt drives a similar rover. -
American Mariner 9
- American Mariner 9 (launched May 30, 1971) is the first spacecraft to orbit another planet, Mars. Over the next year, it maps 100 percent of the Martian surface.
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Pioneer 10 is launched
Pioneer 10 is launched on an Atlas/Centaur/TE364-4 towards Jupiter by the U.S., designed to familiarize alien life with humans. It returns the first close-uo images of Jupiter in 1973. -
Pioneer 10
July 15, 1972 - Pioneer 10 becomes the first man-made object to travel through the asteroid belt. -
Cignus 10-1 is designated
Scientists designate Cignus 10-1 as the first probable black hole. -
Pioneer 11
Pioneer 11 is launched on an Atlas/Centaur/TE364-4, flying past Jupiter in 1974, and Saturn in 1979, where it discovers new rings. -
Skylab Workshop is launched
Skylab Workshop is launched by the U.S., and maintained by three crews. -
Skylab 2
May 25, 1973 - First crew to Skylab, Skylab 2, are launched, repairing damage incurred to Skylab during its launch. -
American Mariner 10 is launched
AmericanMariner 10 is launched, on the first dual-planet mission. Over the next year, it returned photographs of Venus and Mercury. -
SMS-1.
May 17, 1974 - NASA launches the first Synchronous Meteorological Satellite, SMS-1. -
Soviet Salyut 3 is launched
Soviet Salyut 3, their first military space station, is launched. It remains in orbit until January 1975. -
Soviet Salyut 4,
December 26, 1974 - Soviet Salyut 4, civilian space station, is launched. It remains in orbit until February 2, 1977 -
American Apollo 18 and Soviet Soyuz 19 dock
American Apollo 18 and Soviet Soyuz 19 dock, their first international spacecraft rendezvous. -
Soviet Venera 9 and 10
October, 1975 - Soviet Venera 9 and 10 send the first pictures of the Venusian surface to Earth -
Viking 1,
July 20, 1976 - Pictures of the Martian surface are taken by Viking 1, the first U.S. attempt to soft land a spacecraft on another planet -
August-September, 1977 - Voyagers 1 and 2 leave Earth to meet with Jupiter in 1979 and Saturn in 1980.
August-September, 1977 - August-September, 1977 - Voyagers 1 and 2 leave Earth to meet with Jupiter in 1979 and Saturn in 1980. leave Earth to meet with Jupiter in 1979 and Saturn in 1980. -
Soviet Salyut 6
September 29, 1977 - Soviet Salyut 6 space station is launched. Its crews include members from Czechoslovakia, Poland, GDR, Bulgaria, Hungary, Vietnam, Cuba, Mongolia, and Romania. -
Einstein Observatory
November, 1978 - The Einstein Observatory begins its 30-day mission. -
Two Pioneer
December, 1978 - Two Pioneer spacecraft reach Venus. One drops four probes into the atmosphere, while the other maps the surface. -
pioneer 11
September 1, 1979 - Pioneer 11 reaches Saturn, flying to within 13,000 miles and taking the first close-up photographs. -
First manned mission is launched
The first manned mission of the Space Transportation System (STS-1). Columbia, is launched. -
European Space Agency
June 19, 1981 - The European Space Agency launches its third Ariane rocket -
4th Ariane rocket is launched
The ESA launches a forth Ariane rocket. -
Soviet Salyut 7
April 19, 1982 - Soviet Salyut 7 space station is launched -
Voyager 2
August, 1982 - Voyager 2 completes its flyby of Saturn. -
Infrared Astronomical Satellite
January-November, 1983 - The Infrared Astronomical Satellite finds new comets, asteroids, galaxies, and a dust ring around the star Vega that may be new planets. -
space shuttle Challenger
April 4, 1983 - The space shuttle Challenger lifts off for its first mission (STS-6) and has the first American space walk in nine years. Crew: Paul Weitz, Karol Bobko, Donald Peterson, and Story Musgrave. -
Soviet Venera 15
October 10, 1983 - Soviet Venera 15 returns the first high-resolution images of the Venus polar area, and compiled a thermal map of most of the northern hemisphere. -
Soyuz-T 12
July 17, 1984 - launch of Soyuz-T 12 carrying Svetlana Savitskaya, who becomes the first woman to walk in space -
Salyut 7's cosmonauts
October, 1984 - Salyut 7's cosmonauts L. D. Kizim, V. A. Solovyov, and O. Y. Atkov set a (then) 237-day record in space. They arrive at Salyut 7 in Soyuz-T 10 and depart in Soyuz-T 11 -
Soviet/International Vega 1 & 2
December, 1984 - Soviet/International Vega 1 & 2 are launched, dropping probes into Venus' atmosphere before continuing to Halley's Comet. -
Sakige Probe
Launched by Japans Institute of Space and Aeronautical Science, becoming the first interplanetary probe as it rendezvous with Halley's Comet -
The Challenger
April 29, 1985 - The Challenger carries the ESA Spacelab-3 into orbit (STS-51B). -
Giotto Spacecraft
The European Space Agency launches the Giotto Spacecraft from an Ariane rocket. It encounters Halley's comet in 1986 and Comet P?grigg-Skjellerup in 1992 -
Spacelab D1
The first joint German/ESA mission is flown. It's crew consists of two German DARA astronauts and Danish Wubbo Ockels of the ESA. -
fourth space shuttle Atlantis
October 3, 1985 - The fourth space shuttle Atlantis takes off on its first mission (STS-51J). Crew: Karol J. Bobko, Ronald J. Grabe, Robert A. Stewart, David C. Hilmers, and William A. Pailes. -
Voyager 2
January, 1986 - Voyager 2 flies past Uranus -
Challenger
The space shuttle Challenger explodes shortly after liftoff of mission STS-51L. -
Mir
February 20, 1986 - The core unit of Soviet space station Mir is launched. -
invisible gravity source
March, 1986 - Astronomers discover an invisible gravity source that splits a quasar's light. -
Fly by
Spacecraft from the USSR, Japan and Western Europe fly by Halley's Comet on its 30th recorded appearance -
our galaxy is smaller
April, 1986 - Astronomers find that our galaxy is smaller than they thought and the Sun is 23,000 light-years from it's center. -
Supernova 1987
February 25, 1987 - Supernova 1987A blazes into view. -
Endurance Record
Cosmonaut yuri V. Romanenko returns from space station Mir, having arrived there from Soyuz- TM2, and then sets a record of endurance for 326 days. -
Cosmonaut Yuri V. Romanenko
December 1987 - Cosmonaut Yuri V. Romanenko returns from space station Mir, having arrived there from Soyuz-TM 2, and sets a (then) space endurance record of 326 days. -
space Shuttle Atlantis
May 4, 1989 - Space Shuttle Atlantis is launched (STS-30), deploying the spacecraft Magellan. -
Soviet/International Phobos 2
July 12, 1989 - Soviet/International Phobos 2 launched, which orbits Mars to study its surface, atmosphere and magnetic field. -
Galileo spacecraft
October 18, 1989 - U.S. launches the Galileo spacecraft from Shuttle Atlantis flight STS-34, which took infrared images of Venus, and images of the asteroid Ida, before continuing to Jupiter. -
U.S. Pegasus rocket
April 5, 1990 - U.S. Pegasus rocket is deployed from a B-52 bomber, and launched the Pegsat satellite in the first demonstration of the Pegasus launch vehicle. -
Space Shuttle Discovery
April 24, 1990 - Space Shuttle Discovery launches on STS-31, deploying the Edwin P. Hubble Space Telescope (HST) astronomical observatory -
spacecraft Magellan
August, 1990 - U.S. spacecraft Magellan arrives at Venus, where for the next year it took radar images of the surface. -
Space Shuttle Discovery
October 6, 1990 - Space Shuttle Discovery launches the Ulysses spacecraft with two upper stages, on mission STS-41. Ulysses flies toward Jupiter, to be slingshot towards the sun, to obtain data from high solar latitudes. -
Salyut 7
February 7, 1991 - Salyut 7 falls from orbit and burns up over Argentina. -
Space Shuttle Atlantis
April 5, 1991 - Space Shuttle Atlantis carries the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory into orbit. This new space telescope, built by NASA, was the first to provide an all-sky continuous survey in the gamma-ray and X-ray spectra. -
Spacecraft Ulysses
February 8, 1992 - Spacecraft Ulysses flies around Jupiter, on its way to the sun. -
Space Shuttle Endeavour
May 2, 1992 - Space Shuttle Endeavour lifts off on its first mission (STS-49), repairing the Intelsat VI satellite. Crew: Daniel C. Brandenstein, Kevin P. Chilton, Richard J. Hieb, Bruce E. Melnick, Pierre J. Thout, Kathryn C. Thornton, and Thomas D. Akers. -
Mars Observer
September 25, 1992 - Mars Observer lifts off, the first American probe to Mars in 17 years, since Viking 2. This probe is intended as an orbital mapper to study the red planet's atmosphere, surface, and geological make-up. The spacecraft functions well during its cruise to Mars, then all contact was lost on August 21, 1993, three days before orbital insertion. -
Space Shuttle Endeavour
December 2, 1993 - Space Shuttle Endeavour launches on STS-61, making the first on-orbit service of the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). -
U.S. launches Clementine,
January 25, 1994 - U.S. launches Clementine, a new DOD satellite that performs a lunar mapping mission using advanced ballistic missile defense technologies. It suffers a malfunction on May 10, 1994, ending its mission. -
Sergei Krikalev
February, 1994 - A Russian Cosmonaut, Sergei Krikalev, flies on board the U.S. space shuttle Discovery for the first time (STS-60). -
Spacecraft Ulysses
September 13, 1994 - Spacecraft Ulysses reaches a maximum Southern latitude of 80.2 degrees at the sun, proceeding towards the Northern latitudes, maintaining an orbital period of six years. -
Spacecraft Magellan
October 12, 1994 - Spacecraft Magellan enters the atmosphere of Venus, burning up following the completion of its mapping mission. -
Asteroid XM1
December 9, 1994 - Asteroid XM1 passes within 65,000 miles of Earth -
Space shuttle Discovery
February 6, 1995 - Space shuttle Discovery maneuvers to within 37 feet of Russian space station Mir, in preparation for a shuttle-Mir docking (STS-63). This is the first shuttle mission to be flown by a female pilot. -
Cosmonaut Valeriy Polyakov
March 22, 1995 - Cosmonaut Valeriy Polyakov returns to Earth after a 438-day mission aboard Russian space station Mir, setting a new space endurance record -
Space Shuttle Atlantis
June 26, 1995 - Space Shuttle Atlantis rendezvous with Russian space station Mir during a ten-day mission on STS-71. Cosmonauts are transferred to and from Atlantis, and Astronaut Norman Taggard is returned from Mir, having arrived on Soyuz-TM 21, and making a new American space endurance record of 115 days. -
Pioneer 11
September 1995 - Pioneer 11 ceases making scientific observations, its power source nearly depleted. -
Space Shuttle Atlantis
November 12, 1995 - Space Shuttle Atlantis lifts off on mission STS-74, making the second docking with Russian space station Mir. It delivers two solar arrays, and a docking module for future Shuttle dockings. -
The Galileo spacecraft
December 7, 1995 - The Galileo spacecraft arrives at Jupiter, performing an orbit while dropping a probe into the atmosphere, and putting a satellite into orbit, which will spend the next two years orbiting the planet. -
Thomas Reiter
February 8, 1996 - Thomas Reiter becomes the first European Space Agency astronaut to make two spacewalks (both from the Russian Mir space station). His previous spacewalk was on October 21, 1995, and lasted 5 hours 11 minutes. -
(NEAR) launched
February 17, 1996 - NASA launches the first in the Discovery series of spacecraft, the Near-Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR) spacecraft, aboard a Delta II-7925-8 rocket. -
Space Shuttle Atlantis
March 22, 1996 - Space Shuttle Atlantis lifts off on STS-76, performing the third docking with Space Station Mir. Astronaut Shannon Lucid was left on Mir, becoming the first female Astronaut to crew a Space Station. -
Space Shuttle Atlantis
September 26, 1996 - Space Shuttle Atlantis touches down after mission STS-79. It brings back Shannon Lucid, who becomes the longest US astronaut in space, and the longest female astronaut in space. -
Space Shuttle Columbia
November 19, 1996 - Space Shuttle Columbia lifts off on its 21st space flight, setting a new shuttle in-space endurance record of almost 18 days. This flight carries Story Musgrave, at that time the oldest man to fly in space at 61 years of age. -
Space Shuttle Atlantis lifts
January 12, 1997 - Space Shuttle Atlantis lifts off for the fifth docking with the Mir space station, and Jerry Linenger replaces John Blaha as the American crew member. -
Soyuz TM25
February 10, 1997 - Soyuz TM25 lifts off to dock with the Mir space station. New Russian crew members Vasily Tsibliyev and Alexander Lazutkin relieve Russians Korzun and Kaleri for the beginning of an eventful and difficult tour of duty. Before the resident crew leaves, a fierce fire breaks out on board which is contained and put out before serious damage is done. After the old crew leaves, an attempt to re-dock with the Progress supply freighter fails, with the freighter just missing collision -
Space Shuttle Discovery
February 11, 1997 - February 11, 1997 - Space Shuttle Discovery lifts off on the second maintenance mission for the Hubble Space Telescope, installing a new spectrograph, infrared camera, new guidance sensors, a new computer and data recorder, and repairing the telescope's insulation. -
Pioneer 10
March 31, 1997 - After 25 years of operation, routine telemetry and ground control with Pioneer 10 is terminated. The probe at that moment is 6.7 billion miles from Earth, traveling at 28,000 miles per hour. In two million years, it will reach the red giant Aldeberan in the constellation of Taurus. -
Space Shuttle Columbia
April 4, 1997 - Space Shuttle Columbia lifts off for the shortest shuttle flight in 12 years (four days). The flight is cut short due to a failure of one of the spacecraft's three fuel cells. -
Space Shuttle Atlantis
May 17, 1997 - Space Shuttle Atlantis performs its sixth docking with Mir. Jerry Linenger is relieved by Michael Foale as the American crewmember on Mir. Atlantis returned to Earth on May 24th and Mir continued with its troubles. On June 24th, the crew attempts a test with a new docking system to dock with a Progress freighter. The failure of the new system results in the collision of the freighter into Mir, causing a serious air leak and damage to the electrical power of the station. -
NEAR
June 27, 1997 - NEAR (Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous) probe passes the asteroid Mathilde on its way to meeting up with 433 Eros. -
Space Shuttle Columbia
July 1, 1997 - Space Shuttle Columbia lifts off again to complete the flight aborted in April. The shuttle is outfitted with Spacelab, set up as a microgravity science laboratory, with 33 different experiments, that fills the cargo bay. -
Mars Pathfinder
July 4, 1997 - Mars Pathfinder becomes the first probe to successfully land on Mars since Viking 2 in 1976. It is also the first planetary probe to include a separate roving robot probe (Sojourner) since the Soviet Union's Luna 21 in 1973. -
Soyuz TM26
August 7, 1997 - Soyuz TM26 arrives at Mir with a relief crew. The fresh Russian crew, along with Michael Foale, undertake seven internal and external spacewalk missions over a six month period in order to repair the crippled station. During the repairs, the station has a near collision with an abandoned satellite (MSTI 2), which speeds past to within 500 meters of Mir. -
Space Shuttle Discovery
August 7, 1997 - Space Shuttle Discovery lifts off for a 12-day mission to deploy and retrieve the Crista-Spas 2 satellite, which studied the Earth's middle atmosphere. This flight also tested various infra-red and ultraviolet instrumentation, and tested the Japanese robot-arm to be used for the International Space Station. -
Mars Global Surveyor
September 12, 1997 - Mars Global Surveyor arrives at Mars and begins the process of adjusting its highly elliptical orbit into a circular one using aerobraking - friction with the top of the Martian atmosphere to slow the craft down. Taking about 2,000 images of the planet, this probe shows the entire life of a dust storm, evidence of Martian streams, ponds, oceans, and underground water drainage systems -
Space Shuttle Atlantis
September 27, 1997 - Space Shuttle Atlantis performs its seventh docking with Mir to support the repair & upgrade process, and bringing additional experiments for the space station. -
launch of the double probe Cassini/Huygens,
October 15, 1997 - launch of the double probe Cassini/Huygens, aimed at Saturn. This is probably the most ambitious and complex unmanned planetary project ever attempted, costing more than $2.5 billion and involving 17 nations and hundreds of scientists from the U.S. and Europe. It carries a sophisticated camera package and 11 other instruments aimed at performing 19 experiments on the ringed planet. It will arrive at Saturn in 2004, will orbit Saturn up to 60 times sending back close-up photogr -
Space Shuttle Columbia
November 19, 1997 - Space Shuttle Columbia lifts off with three American astronauts, one Japanese, and the first Ukrainian astronaut, Leonid Kadenyuk. This mission, mostly dedicated to science and the testing of new space technologies, releases one free-flying satellite. -
Lunar Prospector
January 7, 1998 - Lunar Prospector is the first NASA mission to the Moon in 25 years, and the first dedicated to lunar research since Apollo 17 in 1972. The spacecraft is placed in lunar orbit to make a careful spectroscopic analysis of the entire lunar surface, including its North and South poles, and soon confirms what the Department of Defense Clementine mission had found in 1994 - that trapped within some of the craters at the Moon's two poles is about 6.6 trillion tons of permanently frozen -
Space Shuttle Endeavour
January 22, 1998 - Space Shuttle Endeavour lifts off to rendezvous with Mir, the eight U.S. docking with the Russian space station and the first by a shuttle other than Atlantis -
Globalstar 1, 2, 3, and 4
February 14, 1998 - The four satellites Globalstar 1, 2, 3, and 4 are the first in Globalstar's planned 44-satellite constellation of medium-Earth-orbit (~900 miles altitude) communications satellites for providing voice and data links worldwide from both remote and home telephones. This system is planned as a direct competitor to Iridium's cluster, which began launching in May of 1997. -
Space Shuttle Columbia
April 17, 1998 - Space Shuttle Columbia lifts off on a 16-day mission, its 25th. The mission is dedicated to the study of the effects of weightlessness on the human neurological system, with the astronauts serving as both researchers and experimental subjects. -
Space Shuttle Discovery
June 2, 1998 - Space Shuttle Discovery lifts off on a 10-day mission, its 24th and the last shuttle docking with Mir -
Nozomi probe
July 3, 1998 - Japan launches the Nozomi probe to Mars, the first planetary mission by a country other than the U.S. or the Soviet Union/Russia. Using a combination of lunar gravity, Earth gravity, and rocket burns, Nozomi is scheduled to arrive at Mars in December 2003. -
Deep Space 1,
October 24, 1998 - NASA launches Deep Space 1, a technology test spacecraft which evaluates a dozen advanced spacecraft engineering designs, from mirror-enhanced solar panels to the first use of an ion engine to leave Earth orbit and rendezvous with the asteroid Braille. -
John Glenn
October 29, 1998 - Space Shuttle Discovery lifts off with John Glenn aboard, first American to orbit Earth and at 77, the oldest man to fly in space. The flight is the last purely scientific shuttle flight, focusing on astronomy, life sciences, and materials. One satellite is deployed, one is released and retrieved. Most subsequent shuttle flights are ferry and construction flights for the International Space Station -
Zarya
November 20, 1998 - the first component of the International Space Station, Zarya, is launched on a Russian rocket. This Russian built, U.S. financed module provides communications, electrical power, and attitude control for the station until the arrival of the third module (Zvezda, in July 2000). -
Mars Climate Orbiter
December 11, 1998 - Mars Climate Orbiter is launched by NASA, with the objective of studying Martian weather. The probe is lost as it approaches Mars on September 23, 1999, due to an error in propulsion software, using English instead of metric units. The probe passes too close to Mars and burns up in the atmosphere. -
NEAR space probe
December 23, 1998 - NEAR space probe flies to within 2400 miles of the asteroid 433 Eros, taking 222 photographs of nearly two-thirds of its surface. A software problem prevents the spacecraft from going into orbit around the asteroid, but a second engine burn on January 3, 1999 brings the spacecraft back to Eros in February of 2000. -
Stardust
February 7, 1999 - The NASA satellite Stardust lifts off for a rendezvous with the Comet Wild-2 in January of 2004. -
Russian Soyuz TM29
February 20, 1999 - the Russian Soyuz TM29 lifts off for the Mir space station. This is scheduled to be the final mission to Mir, and when the crew of TM29 departs Mir in August of 1999, they leave the space station empty for the first time in almost exactly 10 years. -
Space Shuttle Discovery
May 27, 1999 - Space Shuttle Discovery lifts off for the International Space Station. They bring supplies and perform a spacewalk of nearly eight hours to install two exterior cranes, along with a variety of tools and equipment for future astronaut use. They deploy the satellite Starshine for studying atmospheric density changes -
Space Shuttle Columbia lifts off,
July 23, 1999 - Space Shuttle Columbia lifts off, carrying the Chandra X-Ray Observatory into orbit. -
Deep Space 1
July 28, 1999 - Deep Space 1 flies to within 16 miles of the asteroid Braille and continues on its course to rendezvous with Comet Wilson-Harrington in January 2001. -
China launches Shenzhou,
November 19, 1999 - China launches Shenzhou, the first unmanned test of their manned capsule -
Space Shuttle Discovery
December 19, 1999 - Space Shuttle Discovery lifts off for the third maintenance mission to the Hubble Space Telescope. They perform three space walks, installing six new gyroscopes, a new guidance sensor, a new computer, a voltage/temperature kit for the spacecraft's batteries, a new transmitter, a new solid state recorder, and thermal insulation blankets -
Galileo space probe
January 3, 2000 - the Galileo space probe safely completes its encounter with Jupiter's ice moon, Europa, at an altitude of 343 km. Later in the year, on May 30, Galileo flies by Jupiter's largest moon Ganymede at an altitude of 808 km -
"true" millenium
January 9, 2001 - the first launch of the "true" millenium is Chinese, with the second test flight of the manned Shenshou spaceship, reported to be carrying a monkey, a dog, and a rabbit. -
space Shuttle Endeavour
February 11, 2000 - Space Shuttle Endeavour lifts off to carry out the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission, cosponsored by NASA and the National Imagery and Mapping Agency. A large radar antenna in the payload bay and a smaller element deployed on a 60-meter boom work together in the synthetic-aperture mode to produce the effect of a much larger antenna. The mission produces a three-dimensional map of about 80% of the world's landmass. -
NEAR
February 14, 2000 - NEAR (Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous) probe settles into orbit around the asteroid 433 Eros, producing a series of stunning close-up images. Ground controllers start tightening its orbit for an eventual soft impact with the tumbling, potato-shaped asteroid. -
Soyuz TM30
April 4, 2000 - Soyuz TM30 lifts off on a return mission to Mir, reversing Russia's actions of the previous year to shut the space station down. The idea is to re-open the space station for commercial operations, including a Mir version of the Survivor TV show. The cosmonauts remain until mid-June, and two Progress freighters are flown up (one in April, one in October) before financial support disappears and the venture falls through. -
Space Shuttle Atlantis
May 19, 2000 - Space Shuttle Atlantis lifts off for the International Space Station for maintenance on the crane and a faulty antenna, installation of a Russian boom arm, handrails and upgrades to the ventilation system, and delivery of new batteries, supplies and equipment. -
International Space Station
July 12, 2000 - the Zvezda service module for the International Space Station (ISS) is launched from Russia on a Proton rocket. The automated docking of this unit with the first linked pair of modules already in orbit - Zarya and Unity - allows the U.S. to start a series of space shuttle launches to add American-built components, which will be followed by laboratory modules from Europe and Japan. Zvezda will act as the control center and living quarters for the initial space station crews. -
Space Shuttle Atlantis
September 8, 2000 - Space Shuttle Atlantis lifts off on a 12-day mission to outfit the ISS, completing the installation of the Zvezda module. -
Space Shuttle Discovery
October 11, 2000 - Space Shuttle Discovery lifts off on a 14-day mission to install the Z1 segment, the first piece of the space station truss, and a third docking port (PMA-3) for the Unity adapter. They also test the new 'SAFER' spacesuit backpack propulsion units. -
Expedition One
October 31, 2000 - the Expedition One crew is launched on a Soyuz transport to become the first crew of the ISS. -
Space Shuttle Endeavour
December 1, 2000 - Space Shuttle Endeavour lifts off on a 12 day mission to the ISS. They install the first set of ISS's solar panels and radiators for removing heat -
Space Shuttle Atlantis
February 7, 2001 - Space Shuttle Atlantis lifts off for the ISS, carrying the U.S.'s Destiny laboratory module. In three space walks the astronauts install Destiny, a grappler for the station's robotic arm, and radio antennae. -
NEAR
February 14, 2001 - NEAR soft impacts on the asteroid 433 Eros, at 2 m/s. Signals continue to be received from the probe hours after the landing, confirming its survival -
Space Shuttle Discovery
March 8, 2001 - Space Shuttle Discovery is launched on a 14-day ISS construction mission. In two spacewalks the astronauts install new equipment including the Leonardo logistics module, built by the Italian Space Agency to move racks of experimental equipment to the ISS, docking to the station as the equipment is used & transferred, then carrying equipment back in the shuttle after use. -
Mir
March 23, 2001 - fifteen years after its first launch, and after nearly 10 years of continuous occupation by astronauts, the Mir space station is de-orbited, breaking up in the atmosphere and impacting in the Pacific Ocean. -
Mars Odyssey probe
April 7, 2001 - the 2001 Mars Odyssey probe is launched on a trajectory for Mars orbit to be achieved in October, with a mission similar to that of the Mars Climate Orbiter launched December 1998. Mars Odyssey successfully enters Mars orbit on October 24th -
Space Shuttle Endeavour
April 19, 2001 - Space Shuttle Endeavour lifts off for the ISS on a construction mission. The crew will install the mobile robotic arm on the station (Canadarm 2) and supply the Destiny laboratory module with new experiments, using the Rafaello logistics module. -
Soyuz spacecraft TM-32
April 28, 2001 - Soyuz spacecraft TM-32 lifts off for the ISS with the first space tourist, business executive Dennis Tito, who pays the Russians $20 million for the ride. -
MAP launched
June 30, 2001 - NASA's Microwave Anisotropy Probe (MAP) is launched on a trajectory for a gravity boost past the moon to a position 1.5 million km outside Earth's orbit. From that position it is to measure cosmic background radiation from the dark extragalactic sky. -
Space Shuttle Atlantis
July 12, 2001 - Space Shuttle Atlantis lifts off in the pre-dawn darkness for the ISS with the Joint Airlock which will enable space walks to be performed directly from the space station itself (I am there to watch the launch!). -
Space Shuttle Discovery
August 10, 2001 - Space Shuttle Discovery lifts off for the ISS with the Leonardo laboratory module and SimpleSat, an experimental low-cost astronomical telescope. -
Deep Space 1
September 22, 2001 - Deep Space 1 successfully completes its flyby of comet 19P/Borrelly. -
Galileo
October 16, 2001 - Galileo completes another flyby of Jupiter's moon Io, passing only 181 km from Io's south polar region -
Space Shuttle Endeavour
December 5, 2001 - Space Shuttle Endeavour is launched carrying the Raffaello logistics module back to the ISS with new supplies. -
Muses-C
Muses-C - Jan 2002 - Asteroid Lander and Sample Return -
CONTOUR
CONTOUR - Jul 2002 - Fly-by of three comets failed after launch -
SMART 1
SMART 1 - Late 2002 - Lunar Orbiter -
Lunar-A
Lunar-A - 2003 - Lunar Orbiter and Penetrators -
Columbia space shuttle
Crew of seven astronauts, including the first Israeli astronaut, is lost after a 16-day mission when the Columbia space shuttle explodes on re-entry. The accident was later attributed to damage sustained to foam insulation and has led NASA to understand how to safely repair similar damage on later missions -
Mars Surveyor 2003
Mars Surveyor 2003 - May 2003 - Mars Orbiter and Lander -
Mars Express
Mars Express - 1 June 2003 - Mars Orbiter and Lander -
Mars Exploration Rovers
June 10 and July 7, 2003--Mars Exploration Rovers Spirit and Opportunity launch -
Spirit and Opportunity
January 2004--Spirit and Opportunity arrive on the Martian surface. They continue to explore the Red Planet today. -
Deep Impact
Deep Impact - Jan 2004 - Comet Rendezvous and Impact -
Rosetta
Rosetta - 2004 - Comet Orbiter and Lander -
MESSENGER
MESSENGER - Mar 2004 - Mercury Orbiter -
Genesis
September 8, 2004--After capturing particles from the sun, Genesis makes a dramatic crash landing in Utah when its parachute fails to deploy. Despite the landing, scientists still managed to recover and study the samples. -
-SpaceShipOne
September 30, 2004--SpaceShipOne becomes the first privately built craft to reach outer space. -
Pluto-Kuiper Express
Pluto-Kuiper Express - Dec 2004 - Proposed Flyby of Pluto and Kuiper Belt -
Mars Surveyor 2005 Orbiter
Mars Surveyor 2005 Orbiter - July 2005 - Mars Orbiter and Sample Return -
Mars Surveyor 2005 Lander
Mars Surveyor 2005 Lander - July 2005 - Mars Lander, Rover and Sample Acquisition -
Phoenix lander
August 4, 2007--Phoenix lander launches on its way to explore the northern pole of Mars. -
2009 BepiColombo
2009 BepiColombo - 2009 - ESA Mercury Orbiter -
Mars Polar Lander
January 3, 1999 - Mars Polar Lander lifts off on its ill-fated mission to Mars. This NASA probe is to land within about 600 miles of the Martian South Pole, along with dropping two surface-penetrating darts. Contact with the probe is lost on December 3, 1999 as it is descending through the Martian atmosphere and it is never heard from again, the first failure of a U.S. planetary soft landing in 30 years. -
Small Galaxy?
Astronomers find that our galaxie is smaller than they thought, and that the sun is 23,000 lightyears from it's center. -
STEX satellite
October 3, 1998 - Launched by the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office, the Space Technology EXperiment (STEX) satellite tests 29 new spacecraft designs, including an almost four-mile-long tether, advanced solar panels, and an ion engine test. -
Space Shuttle Endeavour
December 4, 1998 - Space Shuttle Endeavour lifts off on its thirteenth space flight, with the International Space Station's second module, Unity. This module provides the docking ports and connections for every other docked module. -
Shuttle Columbia
June 5, 1991 - Shuttle Columbia carries the Spacelab SLS-1 into orbit, to conduct investigations into the effects of weightlessness on humans. (STS-40)