CosmosFrontier.com > Space Exploration

The Space Age began with the development of several technologies that culminated on October 4, 1957, with the launch of Sputnik 1 by the Soviet Union. This was the world's first artificial satellite, orbiting the Earth in 98.1 minutes and weighting in at 83kg. The launch of Sputnik 1 ushered a new era of political, scientific and technological achievements that became known as the Space Age.

The Space Age was characterized by rapid development of new technology in a close race mainly between USA and the Soviet Union. Rapid advances were made in rocketry, materials science, computers and many other areas. Much of the technology originally developed for space applications has been spun off and found other uses.

The Space Age reached its peak with the Apollo program which captured the imagination of much of the world's population. The landing of Apollo 11 is an event watched by over 500 million people around the world and is widely recognized as one of the defining moments of the 20th century. Since then and with the end of the space race due to the collapse of the Soviet Union, public attention has largely moved to other areas.

During the 1990s funding for space related programs fell sharply as the Soviet Union disintegrated and NASA no longer had any direct competition. Also, public perception of the dangers and cost of space exploration in the USA was greatly affected by the Challenger disaster in 1986.

Since then participation in space launches have increasingly widened to more governments and commercial interests. Since the 1990s, the current period has more often been referred to as the Information Age rather than the Space Age, since space exploration and space-related technologies are no longer felt to be commonplace by significant portions of the public.

Date

Mission Achievements

Country or International Organization

Mission Name

1942

First rocket to reach 100km from the Earth's surface (boundary of space)

Germany

V2 rocket, military program

May 10, 1946

First space research flight (cosmic radiation experiments)

United States

captured and improved V2 rocket

May 22, 1946

First U.S.-designed rocket to reach edge of space (80 km)

United States

Wac Corporal

October 10, 1946

First pictures of earth from 100 km [1]

[2]

United States

1947

First animals in space (fruit flies)[3]

[4]

USA-ABMA

August 21, 1957

First intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM)

USSR

R-7 Semyorka/SS-6 Sapwood

Date

Mission Achievements

Country or International Organization

Mission Name

October 4, 1957

First artificial satellite
First signals from space

USSR

Sputnik 1

November 3, 1957

First animal in orbit, the dog Laika

USSR

Sputnik 2

January 31, 1958

Confirmed the existence of the Van Allen belts

USA-ABMA

Explorer 1

March 17, 1958

First solar powered satellite

NRL

Vanguard 1

December 18, 1958

First communications satellite

USA-ABMA

Project SCORE

January 2, 1959

First firing of a rocket in Earth orbit
First reaching Earth escape velocity
First detection of solar wind

USSR

Luna 1

January 4, 1959

First man-made object in heliocentric orbit

USSR

Luna 1

February 17, 1959

First weather satellite

USA-NASA (NRL)

Vanguard 2

February 28, 1959

First satellite in a Polar orbit

USA-DARPA

Discoverer 1

August 7, 1959

First photograph of Earth from orbit

USA-NASA

Explorer 6

September 13, 1959

First impact into another world (the Moon)

USSR

Luna 2

October 4, 1959

First photos of far side of the Moon

USSR

Luna 3

April 1, 1960

First Imaging weather satellite

USA-NASA

TIROS-1

July 5, 1960

First reconnaissance satellite

USA-NRL

GRAB-1

August 11, 1960

First satellite recovered intact from orbit

USA-Air Force

Discoverer 13

August 12, 1960

First passive communications satellite

USA-NASA

Echo 1A

August 18, 1960

First photo reconnaissance satellite

USA-Air Force

KH-1 9009

1961

First launch from orbit
First mid-course corrections
First spin-stabilisation

USSR

Venera 1

Date

Mission Success

Country or International Organization

Mission Name

April 12, 1961

First manned spaceflight (Yuri Gagarin)
First manned orbital flight

USSR

Vostok 1

May 5, 1961

Second nation to achieve manned spaceflight

USA-NASA

Mercury-Redstone 3

March 7, 1962

First orbital solar observatory

USA-NASA

OSO-1

December 14, 1962

First planetary flyby (Venus closest approach 34,773 kilometers)

USA-NASA

Mariner 2

1963

First woman in space (Valentina Tereshkova)

USSR

Vostok 6

July 19, 1963

First reusable manned spacecraft (suborbital)

USA-NASA

X-15 Flight 90

July 26, 1963

First geosynchronous communications satellite

USA-NASA

Syncom 2

December 5, 1963

First satellite navigation system

US Navy

NAVSAT

August 19, 1964

First geostationary communications satellite

USA-NASA

Syncom 3

October 12, 1964

First multi-man crew (three members)

USSR

Voskhod 1

March 18, 1965

First extra-vehicular activity

USSR

Voskhod 2

April 6, 1965

First commercial communications satellite

Intelsat, Ltd.

Intelsat 1

July 14, 1965

First Mars flyby (closest approach 9,846 kilometers)

USA-NASA

Mariner 4

December 15, 1965

First orbital rendezvous (parallel flight, no docking)

USA-NASA

Gemini 7

February 3, 1966

First soft landing on another world (the Moon)
First photos from another world

USSR

Luna 9

March 1, 1966

First impact into another planet (Venus)

USSR

Venera 3

March 16, 1966

First orbital rendezvous (docking)

USA-NASA

Gemini 8 / Agena target vehicle

April 3, 1966

First artificial satellite around another world (the Moon)

USSR

Luna 10

June 2, 1966

soft landing on the Moon
photos from the Moon

USA-NASA

Surveyor 1

April 23, 1967

First spaceflight casualty

USSR

Soyuz 1

October 30, 1967

First unmanned rendezvous with docking

USSR

Cosmos 186 / Cosmos 188

December 21, 1968

First human orbiting of another celestial body (Moon)

USA-NASA

Apollo 8

January 16, 1969

First manned docking and exchange of crew

USSR

Soyuz 4 / Soyuz 5

July 21, 1969

First human on the Moon and first space launch from a celestial body

USA-NASA

Apollo 11

November 19, 1969

First rendezvous on the surface of a celestial body

USA-NASA

Apollo 12 / Surveyor 3

Date

Mission Success

Country or International Organization

Mission Name

September 24, 1970

First automatic sample return from the Moon

USSR

Luna 16

November 23, 1970

First lunar robotic rover

USSR

Lunokhod 1

December 12, 1970

First X-ray orbital observatory

USA-NASA

Uhuru (satellite)

December 15, 1970

First soft landing on another planet (Venus)
First signals from another planet

USSR

Venera 7

April 23, 1971

First space station

USSR

Salyut 1

June, 1971

First Manned orbital observatory

USSR

Orion 1

November 14, 1971

First orbit around another planet (Mars)

USA-NASA

Mariner 9

November 27, 1971

First impact into Mars

USSR

Mars 2

December 2, 1971

First soft Mars landing
First signals from Mars surface

USSR

Mars 3

March 3, 1972

First human made object sent on escape trajectory away from the Sun

USA-NASA

Pioneer 10

July 15, 1972

First mission to enter the asteroid belt and leave inner solar system

USA-NASA

Pioneer 10

December 3, 1973

First Jupiter flyby (at 130,000 km)

USA-NASA

Pioneer 10

February 5, 1974

Venus flyby at 5768 kilometers, first gravitational assist manoeuvre

USA-NASA

Mariner 10

March 29, 1974

First Mercury flyby at 703 kilometers

USA-NASA

Mariner 10

July 15, 1975

First multinational manned mission

USSR

USA-NASA

Apollo-Soyuz Test Project

October 20, 1975

First orbit around Venus

USSR

Venera 9

October 22, 1975

First photos from the surface of another planet (Venus)

USSR

Venera 9

July 20, 1976

First photos and soil samples from the surface of Mars

USA-NASA

Viking Lander

January 26, 1978

First real time remotely operated ultraviolet orbital observatory

USA-NASA

ESA

UK-SERC

International Ultraviolet Explorer

March 2, 1978

First Non-American and non-Soviet in space (Vladim�r Remek)

USSR

Czechoslovakia

Soyuz 28

March 5, 1979

Jupiter flyby (closest approach 349,000 km)

USA-NASA

Voyager 1

September 1, 1979,

First Saturn flyby at 21,000 km

USA-NASA

Pioneer 11

November 12, 1980

Saturn flyby (closest approach 124,000 kilometers)

USA-NASA

Voyager 1

Date

Mission Success

Country or International Organization

Mission Name

April 12, 1981

First Reusable manned spacecraft (orbital)

USA-NASA

Columbia

March 1, 1982

First Venus soil samples and sound recording of another world

USSR

Venera 13

January 25, 1983

Infrared orbital observatory

USA-NASA

UK-SERC

Netherlands-NIVR

IRAS

March 23, 1983

Ultraviolet orbital observatory

USSR

France

Astron

June 13, 1983

First spacecraft beyond the orbit of Neptune (first spacecraft to pass beyond all Solar System planets)

USA-NASA

Pioneer 10

July 25, 1984

First extra-vehicular activity by a woman

USSR

Salyut 7

January 24, 1986

First Uranus flyby (closest approach 81,500 kilometers)

USA-NASA

Voyager 2

February 19, 1986

First consistently inhabited long-term research space station

USSR

Mir

August 25, 1989

First Neptune flyby

USA-NASA

Voyager 2

December 1, 1989

Ultraviolet to gamma ray spectrum orbital observatory

USSR

France

Denmark

Bulgaria

Granat

April 24, 1990

Optical orbital observatory

USA-NASA

ESA

Hubble Space Telescope

December 2, 1990

First commercial manned-spaceflight

USSR

Japan

Soyuz TM-11

October 21, 1991

First asteroid flyby (951 Gaspra closest approach 1,600 kilometers)

USA-NASA

Galileo

February 8, 1992

First polar orbit around the Sun

USA-NASA

ESA

Ulysses

December 7, 1995

First orbit of Jupiter

USA-NASA

Galileo

December 7, 1995

First mission into the atmosphere of a gas giant (Jupiter)

USA-NASA

Galileo's atmospheric entry probe

July 7, 1998

First submarine-launched spacecraft

Russia

K-407

February 14, 2000

First orbiting of an asteroid (433 Eros)

USA-NASA

NEAR Shoemaker

February 12, 2001

First landing on an asteroid (433 Eros)

USA-NASA

NEAR Shoemaker

April 28, 2001

First space tourist

Russia

USA

Soyuz TM-32

October 15, 2003

Third nation to achieve manned spaceflight

China

Shenzhou 5

January 4, 2004

Free ranging Mars rover

USA-NASA

Spirit rover

January 25, 2004

Free ranging Mars rover

USA-NASA

Opportunity rover

June 21, 2004

First private human spaceflight / spacecraft (suborbital)

USA-MAV

SpaceShipOne 15P

July 1, 2004

First orbit of Saturn

USA-NASA

ESA

ASI

Cassini�Huygens

January 14, 2005

First soft landing on Titan

ESA

USA-NASA

ASI

Cassini�Huygens