Space Race

By pan50

  • Explorer 1

    The first satellite with an onboard telemetry system is launched by the U.S into orbit a board and Juno rocket and returns data data from space. It carried scientific equipment that lead to the discovery of the Van Allen radiation belt. The primary science instrument on Explorer 1 was a cosmic ray detector designed to measure the radiation environment in Earth orbit. http://www.space.com/4422-timeline-50-years-spaceflight.html

  • NASA

    NASA administrator T.Keith Glennan publicly announced NASA manned space flight program along with formation of the space Task Group , the announcement came just 6 days after NASA was founded. http://www.space.com/4422-timeline-50-years-spaceflight.html

  • Mercury Seven

    The Mercury Seven astronauts are selected by NASA. The American public first met the seven men chosen to be this country's first human space voyagers on April 9, 1959, at a press conference in Washington.In all, three members of the Mercury 7 also flew in the Gemini program and three were part of Apollo missions, with Shepard setting foot on the moon. http://www.thespacerace.com/timeline/

  • Vostok 1 (s.u)

    Riding on the Soviet Vostok 1 , Yuri Gagarin becomes the first man in space. April 12 was already a huge day in space history twenty years before the launch of the first shuttle mission. On that day in 1961, Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first human in space, making a 108-minute orbital flight in his Vostok 1 spacecraft. http://www.space.com/4422-timeline-50-years-spaceflight.html

  • Freedom 7

    Freedom seven, John Glenn freedom seven, John Glenn orbits the Earth 3 times. The main scientific objective of project Mercury was to determine man's capabilities in a space environment and in those environments to which he will be subject upon going into and returning from space. http://www.thespacerace.com/timeline/

  • Vostok 6 (s.u)

    Valentina Tereshkova , Vostok 6 , the first women to fly into space. She spends three days alone in space. Her spacecraft comes within three miles of Valeri Bykovsky in Vostok 5. This is first time two spacecraft pass this close together while in orbit. http://www.thespacerace.com/timeline/

  • Ranger 7

    Ranger 7 launches on a mission to the Moon. The Ranger Project is an early effort by the U.S. to launch probes directly toward the Moon. The spacecraft are designed to relay pictures and other data as they approach the Moon and finally crash-land into its surface. A variety of difficulties plagued the first several attempted missions, but the later Rangers are a complete success. http://www.space.com/4422-timeline-50-years-spaceflight.html

  • Luna 10

    The Soviet Luna 10 space probe enters lunar orbit , becoming the first spacecraft to orbit the moon. http://www.space.com/4422-timeline-50-years-spaceflight.html

  • Apollo 1

    All three astronauts for NASA Apollo 1 mission suffocate from smoke inhalation a cabin fire during a launch pad test. http://www.space.com/4422-timeline-50-years-spaceflight.html

  • Apollo 7

    Apollo 7 , the first manned Apollo mission , launches on a Saturn 1 for an 11 day mission in Earths orbit. The mission also featured the first live TV broadcast of humans in space. http://www.space.com/4422-timeline-50-years-spaceflight.html

  • Apollo 11

    Six years after US President John F Kennedy assassination, the Apollo 11 crew lands on the Moon , fulfilling his promise to put an American there by the end of the decade and return him safely to Earth. http://www.space.com/4422-timeline-50-years-spaceflight.html