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Russian satellite "Sputnik" launch
The Soviet Union launch their first satellite "Sputnik", the first Earth satellite, into space. Soon after, however, there was great disappointment when they learned that Sputnik had been launched using a military intercontinental ballistic missile. Although scientists could learn the results of experiments aboard Sputnik, they would not have access to its design or orbital elements. -
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The Beginning and the End of the Great Space Race I
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American's First Satellite in Space
U.S. Army launched Explorer I, the United States' first satellite. They used a rocket developed to test guided missile components. It carried on a small instrument, called a "cosmic ray package," that measure cosmic rays. IGY scientists designed the instrument. -
The Launch of Vanguard-I
Vanguard-1, a satellite that non-military scientists had planned to launch for the IGY, sits on its launch pad. It did not launch until after the Soviets launched Sputnik and the United States Army launched Explorer I. When it was lauch, it was the US second satellite ti be placed in orbit. -
US First Communication Satellite Successfully Launched into Orbit
The U.S. successfully launched the world’s first communications satellite aboard an Atlas rocket on December 18, 1958. It was called SCORE (Signal Communications Orbit Relay Equipment). -
Saturn-I Test
United States' first heavy-lift dedicated space launcher, a rocket designed specifically to launch large payloads into low Earth orbit. -
Apollo I Never Launched in Space
Never launched. On 27 January 1967, a fire erupted in the Apollo command module during a test on the launch pad, destroying the module and killing astronauts Grissom, White, and Chaffee. The Saturn 1B launch vehicle, serial number AS-204, was undamaged and later used for the Apollo 5 mission. -
Apollo 7 the Confidence-Builder.
With no lunar lander, Apollo 7 was able to use the Saturn IB booster rather than the giant Saturn V. The Apollo hardware and all mission operations worked without any significant problems, and the Service Propulsion System (SPS) made eight nearly perfect firings. Even though Apollo’s larger cabin was more comfortable than Gemini’s, eleven days in orbit took its toll on the astronauts. The food was bad, and all three developed colds. But it proved the spaceworthiness of the basic Apollo vehicles. -
Apollo VIII Venture Into a Different World
The Apollo 8 astronauts were the first human beings to venture beyond low-Earth orbit and visit another world. What was originally to have been an Earth-orbit checkout of the lunar lander became instead a race with the Soviets to become the first nation to orbit the Moon. -
Apollo XI the Moon Lander
Apollo 11 was the spaceflight that landed the first humans, Americans Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, on the Moon on July 20, 1969, at 20:18 UTC. Armstrong became the first to step onto the lunar surface 6 hours later on July 21 at 02:56 UTC. Armstrong spent about two and a half hours outside the spacecraft, Aldrin slightly less.Broadcast on live TV to a world-wide audience, Armstrong stepped onto the lunar surface and described the event as "one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." -
US Doesn't Join the Second Great Space Race
Obama has effectively cut the U.S. out of the next race to the Moon as far as NASA is concerned this year, as their next generation Ares 1 Rocket design has been cancelled in the latest budget. It appears very likely that China will be the next country to successfully launch a Moon landing mission, as they are the most well-equipped nation financially.
