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Space Exploration Events
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| Date | Event leading to space exploration | Country | Researcher(s) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1610 | First telescopic observation of the night sky: discovery of Jupiter's moons, lunar craters and the phases of Venus. | Republic of Venice | Galileo Galilei | |
| 1687 | Publication of the Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica | England | Sir Isaac Newton | |
| 1813 | First exposition of the rocket equation based on Newton's third law of motion: Treatise on the Motion of Rockets | UK | William Moore | |
| 1840 | First clear telescopic photograph of another world: the Moon. | United States | John William Draper | |
| 1865 | From the Earth to the Moon published. | France | Jules Verne | |
| 1898 | The War of the Worlds published. This inspired Robert Goddard to investigate rocketry. | UK | H. G. Wells | |
| 1903 | Inspired by the writings of Jules Verne, first serious work published that showed physical space exploration was theoretically possible: Исследование мировых пространств реактивными приборами (The Exploration of Cosmic Space by Means of Reaction Devices) | Russia | Konstantin Tsiolkovsky | |
| 1914 | Goddard files for and is subsequently awarded U.S. patents on multistage and liquid-fueled rockets | United States | Robert H. Goddard | |
| 1919 | Goddard's widely influential paper "A Method of Reaching Extreme Altitudes" discussed solid- and liquid-fueled rocketry | United States | Robert H. Goddard | |
| 12/15/1923 | Die Rakete zu den Planetenräumen ("By Rocket into Planetary Space") self-published after its rejection as a doctoral thesis. | Germany | Hermann Oberth | |
| 1924 | Society for Studies of Interplanetary Travel founded | USSR | Members include Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, Friedrich Zander, Yuri Kondratyuk | |
| 3/16/1926 | Goddard launches the first liquid-fueled rocket | United States | Robert H. Goddard | |
| 1927 | Verein für Raumschiffahrt (Society for Space Travel) formed; it includes many top European rocket scientists. | Germany | ||
| 1927 | Завоевание межпланетных пространств (The Conquest of Interplanetary Space) discusses rocket mechanics and orbital effects including the gravitational slingshot | USSR | Yuri Kondratyuk | |
| 1928 | Das Problem der Befahrung des Weltraums – der Raketen-Motor (The Problem of Space Travel – The Rocket Motor) discusses space travel and its potential uses for scientific experiments. | Germany | Herman Potočnik | |
| 1929 | Oberth, with students including Wernher von Braun, launches his first liquid-fueled rocket | Germany | Hermann Oberth | |
| 1931 | First German military liquid-fueled rocket engines developed | Germany | Walter Riedel | |
| 1933 | Work begins on the Aggregate series of rockets which leads to the V-2 rocket. | Germany | Wernher von Braun | |
| Group for the Study of Reactive Motion (GIRD) launches the first Soviet liquid-fueled rocket | USSR | Sergey Korolev (group leader), Friedrich Zander (designer) | ||
| 1935 | Graduate student Frank Malina under his professor Theodore von Kármán begins work on a sounding rocket | United States | Frank Malina | |
| 11/11/1935 | The Explorer II balloon takes two people to 22,066 metres (72,395 ft), where they observe and photograph the curvature of the Earth. | United States | Albert W. Stevens and Orvil A. Anderson | |
| 6/20/1944 | V-2 Rocket (MW 18014): First man-made object to cross what would later be defined as the Kármán line and hence first spaceflight in history. | Germany | Wehrmacht | |
| 5/10/1946 | First space research flight (cosmic radiation experiments) | United States | captured and improved V-2rocket | |
| 5/22/1946 | First U.S.-designed rocket to reach edge of space (80 km (49 mi)) | United States | WAC Corporal | |
| 10/24/1946 | First pictures of Earth from 105 km (65 mi) [1][2] | United States | V-2 | |
| 2/20/1947 | First animals in space (fruit flies) [1][3] | United States | V-2 | |
| 3/5/1948 | The independently developed fully American made Aerobee sounding rocket passes the Karman line at 73 miles (117.5 km). Launched from White Sands, the sub-orbital space flight carries scientific instruments to study the effects of cosmic radiation. | United States | Aerobee RTV-N-8[4] | |
| 2/24/1949 | America mounts a WAC Corporal missile onto a V-2 rocket and produces a two-stage rocket that sets a record altitude of 244 miles (392.68 kilometers). | United States | Bumper-5 launch | |
| 7/22/1951 | First dogs in space (Dezik and Tsygan) [5] | USSR | R-1 | |
| 9/20/1956 | The three-stage Jupiter-C debut achieves an altitude of 682 miles. Wernher von Braun is forced to deactivate and ballast the fourth stage with sand to prevent an "accidental" satellite launch. The stigma of his past dealings along with President Eisenhower's belief that America's space program should not have military ties leads to the rejection of the Project Orbiter proposal in favor of the less developed Project Vanguard (a fateful decision that will have major ramifications). | United States | Jupiter-C (launch 1) | |
| 8/21/1957 | First intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) | USSR | R-7 Semyorka/SS-6 Sapwood | |
| 10/4/1957 | First artificial satellite First signals from space | USSR | Sputnik 1 | |
| 11/3/1957 | First animal in orbit, the dog Laika | USSR | Sputnik 2 | |
| 1/31/1958 | Confirmed the existence of the Van Allen belts | USA (ABMA) | Explorer 1 | |
| 1/2/1959 | First firing of a rocket in Earth orbit First reaching Earth escape velocity or Trans Lunar Injection First detection of solar wind | USSR | Luna 1 | |
| 1/4/1959 | First artificial satellite to reach the Moon vicinity and first artificial satellite in heliocentric orbit | USSR | Luna 1 | |
| 8/7/1959 | First photograph of Earth from orbit | USA (NASA) | Explorer 6 | |
| 9/13/1959 | First impact into another world (the Moon) First delivery of national (USSR) pennants to a celestial body | USSR | Luna 2 | |
| 10/4/1959 | First photos of another world from space: The far side of the Moon | USSR | Luna 3 | |
| 3/1/1960 | First solar probe. | USA (NASA) | Pioneer 5 | |
| 8/19/1960 | First plants and animals to return alive from Earth orbit | USSR | Sputnik 5 | |
| 10/10/1960 | First probe launched to Mars (failed to reach target) | USSR | Mars 1M | |
| 1/31/1961 | First Hominidae in space, first tasks performed in space; Ham (chimpanzee). | USA (NASA) | M-R 2 | |
| 2/12/1961 | First launch from Earth orbit of upper stage into a heliocentric orbit First mid-course corrections First spin-stabilisation | USSR | Venera 1 | |
| 4/12/1961 | First human spaceflight (Yuri Gagarin) First human-crewed orbital flight | USSR | Vostok 1 | |
| 5/5/1961 | First human-piloted space flight (Alan Shepard) First human-crewed suborbital flight First human space mission that landed with pilot still in spacecraft, thus the first complete human spaceflight by FAIdefinitions.[6] | USA | Freedom 7 | |
| 5/19/1961 | First planetary flyby (within 100,000 km of Venus – no data returned) | USSR | Venera 1 | |
| 3/7/1962 | First orbital solar observatory | USA (NASA) | OSO-1 | |
| 4/26/1962 | First spacecraft to impact the far side of the Moon[7] | USA (NASA) | Ranger 4 | |
| 11/1/1962 | First Mars flyby (11,000 km) but contact was lost | USSR | Mars 1 | |
| 12/14/1962 | First successful planetary flyby (Venus closest approach 34,773 kilometers) | USA (NASA) | Mariner 2 | |
| 6/16/1963 | First woman in space (Valentina Tereshkova) | USSR | Vostok 6 | |
| 7/19/1963 | First reusable crewed spacecraft (suborbital) | USA (NASA) | X-15 Flight 90 | |
| 3/18/1965 | First extra-vehicular activity (Alexei Leonov) | USSR | Voskhod 2 | |
| 3/1/1965 | First crewed spacecraft to change orbit | USA (NASA) | Gemini 3 | |
| 7/14/1965 | First Mars flyby (closest approach 9,846 kilometers; returned pictures) | USA (NASA) | Mariner 4 | |
| 7/14/1965 | First close-up photographs of another planet: Mars | USA (NASA) | Mariner 4 | |
| 12/15/1965 | First orbital rendezvous (parallel flight, no docking) | USA (NASA) | Gemini 6A/Gemini 7 | |
| 2/3/1966 | First soft landing on another world (the Moon) First photos from another world | USSR | Luna 9 | |
| 3/1/1966 | First impact into another planet (Venus) | USSR | Venera 3 | |
| 3/16/1966 | First orbital docking between two spacecraft | USA (NASA) | Gemini 8/Agena target vehicle | |
| 4/3/1966 | First artificial satellite around another world (the Moon) | USSR | Luna 10 | |
| 8/1/1966 | First probe to map the Moon | USA | Lunar Orbiter 1 | |
| 10/30/1967 | First automated (crewless) docking | USSR | Cosmos 186/Cosmos 188 | |
| 9/1/1968 | First animals and plants to orbit the Moon, and the first to return safely to Earth | USSR | Zond 5 | |
| 12/7/1968 | First orbital ultraviolet observatory | USA (NASA) | OAO-2 | |
| 12/21/1968 | First piloted orbital mission of another celestial body (Moon), First Trans-Earth injection First human space mission to escape Earth's influence (25 December) | USA (NASA) | Apollo 8 | |
| 1/1/1969 | First docking between two crewed spacecraft in Earth orbit, also the first crew exchange in space | USSR | Soyuz 4 and Soyuz 5 | |
| 1/1/1969 | First to parachute in Venus's atmosphere, lost contact before landing. | USSR | Venera 5 | |
| 7/20/1969 | First human on the Moon, and first space launch from a celestial body other than the Earth First sample return from the Moon | USA (NASA) | Apollo 11 | |
| 8/4/1969 | First photograph of Phobos from Space | USA (NASA) | Mariner 7 | |
| 11/19/1969 | First rendezvous on the surface of a celestial body | USA (NASA) | Apollo 12/Surveyor 3 | |
| 9/24/1970 | First automatic sample return from the Moon | USSR | Luna 16 | |
| 11/17/1970 | First lunar rover | USSR | Lunokhod 1 | |
| 12/12/1970 | First X-ray orbital observatory | USA (NASA) | Uhuru (satellite) | |
| 12/15/1970 | First soft landing on another planet (Venus) First signals from another planet | USSR | Venera 7 | |
| 4/19/1971 | First space station | USSR | Salyut 1 | |
| 6/1/1971 | First Manned orbital observatory | USSR | Orion 1 | |
| 11/14/1971 | First to maintain orbit around another planet (Mars) | USA (NASA) | Mariner 9 | |
| 11/27/1971 | First impact into Mars | USSR | Mars 2 | |
| 12/2/1971 | First soft Mars landing First signals from Mars surface | USSR | Mars 3 | |
| 3/3/1972 | First human made object sent on escape trajectory away from the Sun | USA (NASA) | Pioneer 10 | |
| 7/15/1972 | First mission to enter the asteroid belt and leave inner Solar System | USA (NASA) | Pioneer 10 | |
| 11/15/1972 | First orbital gamma ray observatory | USA (NASA) | SAS 2 | |
| 12/3/1973 | First Jupiter flyby (at 130,000 km) | USA (NASA) | Pioneer 10 | |
| 2/5/1974 | Venus flyby at 5768 kilometers, first gravitational assist manoeuvreFirst photograph of Venus from Space | USA (NASA) | Mariner 10 | |
| 3/29/1974 | First Mercury flyby at 703 kilometers | USA (NASA) | Mariner 10 | |
| 7/15/1975 | First multinational manned mission | USSR USA (NASA) | Apollo-Soyuz Test Project | |
| 10/20/1975 | First orbit around Venus | USSR | Venera 9 | |
| 10/22/1975 | First photos from the surface of another planet (Venus) | USSR | Venera 9 | |
| 4/17/1976 | Closest flyby of the Sun (43.432 million kilometers) Maximum speed record among spacecraft (252,792 km/h) | USA (NASA) West Germany(DFVLR) | Helios 2 | |
| 7/20/1976 | First photos and soil samples from the surface of Mars | USA (NASA) | Viking Lander | |
| 1/26/1978 | First real time remotely operated ultraviolet orbital observatory | USA (NASA) ESA UK(SERC) | International Ultraviolet Explorer | |
| 12/4/1978 | First extended (multi-year) orbital exploration of Venus from 1978 to 1992 | USA (NASA) | Pioneer Venus Orbiter | |
| 3/5/1979 | Jupiter flyby (closest approach 349,000 km) encounters with Five Jovian moons, discovery of volcanism on Io | USA (NASA) | Voyager 1 | |
| 9/1/1979 | First Saturn flyby at 21,000 km, first photographs of Titan from Space | USA (NASA) | Pioneer 11 | |
| 11/12/1980 | Saturn flyby (closest approach 124,000 kilometers), close encounter of Titan and encounters with a dozen others. | USA (NASA) | Voyager 1 | |
| 4/12/1981 | First Reusable manned spacecraft (orbital) | USA (NASA) | STS-1 | |
| 3/1/1982 | First Venus soil samples and sound recording of another world | USSR | Venera 13 | |
| 1/25/1983 | First Infrared orbital observatory | USA (NASA) UK (SERC) Netherlands(NIVR) | IRAS | |
| 6/13/1983 | First spacecraft beyond the orbit of Neptune (first spacecraft to pass beyond all Solar System planets) | USA (NASA) | Pioneer 10 | |
| 2/7/1984 | First untethered spacewalk, Bruce McCandless II | USA (NASA) | STS-41-B | |
| 1/24/1986 | First Uranus flyby (closest approach 81,500 kilometers (44,000 nmi) | USA (NASA) | Voyager 2 | |
| 1/28/1986 | First major American space loss, the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster, an explosion soon after liftoff which killed, among others, Christa McAuliffe, a high school teacher | USA (NASA) | STS-51-L | |
| 2/19/1986 | First consistently inhabited long-term research space station | USSR | Mir | |
| 8/8/1989 | First astrometric satellite | ESA | Hipparcos | |
| 8/25/1989 | First Neptune flyby (closest approach at 29,240 km) | USA (NASA) | Voyager 2 | |
| 11/18/1989 | First orbital cosmic microwave observatory | USA (NASA) | COBE | |
| 2/14/1990 | First photograph of the whole Solar System[8] | USA (NASA) | Voyager 1 | |
| 4/24/1990 | Optical orbital observatory | USA (NASA) ESA | Hubble Space Telescope | |
| 9/15/1990 | Extended (multi-year) orbital exploration of Venus | USA (NASA) | Magellan | |
| 10/21/1991 | First asteroid flyby (951 Gaspra closest approach 1,600 kilometers) | USA (NASA) | Galileo | |
| 2/8/1992 | First polar orbit around the Sun | USA (NASA) ESA | Ulysses | |
| 3/22/1995 | Record longest duration spaceflight (437.7 days) set by Valeri Polyakov | Russia (FKA) | Mir | |
| 12/7/1995 | First orbit of Jupiter | USA (NASA) | Galileo | |
| 12/7/1995 | First mission into the atmosphere of a gas giant (Jupiter) | USA (NASA) | Galileo's atmospheric entry probe | |
| 2/12/1997 | First orbital radio observatory | Japan (ISAS) | HALCA | |
| 7/4/1997 | First operational rover on another planet (Mars) | USA (NASA) | Mars Pathfinder | |
| 11/20/1998 | First multinational space station, Largest man-made object built in space to date | Russia(FKA) USA (NASA) Europe (ESA) Japan (JAXA) Canada (CSA) | International Space Station | |
| 2/14/2000 | First orbiting of an asteroid (433 Eros) | USA (NASA) ESA | NEAR Shoemaker | |
| 2/12/2001 | First landing on an asteroid (433 Eros) | USA (NASA) | NEAR Shoemaker | |
| 7/1/2004 | First orbit of Saturn | USA (NASA) ESA Italy (ASI) | Cassini–Huygens | |
| 9/8/2004 | First sample return beyond lunar orbit (solar wind) | USA (NASA) | Genesis | |
| 1/14/2005 | First soft landing on Titan | ESA USA (NASA) Italy (ASI) | Cassini–Huygens | |
| 11/19/2005 | First asteroid ascent (25143 Itokawa) First interplanetary escape without undercarriage cutoff | Japan (JAXA) | Hayabusa | |
| 1/15/2006 | First sample return from comet (81P/Wild) | USA (NASA) | Stardust | |
| 3/6/2009 | Kepler Mission is launched, first space telescope designated to search for Earth-like exoplanets[9] | USA (NASA) | Kepler Mission | |
| 6/13/2010 | First sample return from asteroid (25143 Itokawa) | Japan (JAXA) | Hayabusa | |
| 3/18/2011 | First orbit of Mercury | USA (NASA) | MESSENGER | |
| 7/16/2011 | First orbit of giant asteroid Vesta | USA (NASA) | Dawn | |
| 8/25/2012 | First manmade probe in interstellar space. | USA (NASA) | Voyager 1 | |
| 11/12/2014 | First man-made probe to make a planned and soft landing on a comet (67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko).[10] | ESA | Rosetta | |
| 3/6/2015 | First orbit of dwarf planet (Ceres). First spacecraft to orbit two separate celestial bodies. | USA (NASA) | Dawn | |
| 7/1/2015 | First flyby of dwarf planet (Pluto). Last original encounter with one of the nine major planets recognized in 1981. | USA (NASA) | New Horizons | |
| 8/10/2015 | Lettuce was the first food eaten that was grown in space.[11] | USA (NASA) Japan (JAXA) | International Space Station | |
| 12/21/2015 | The first propulsive landing for an orbital rocket. | USA (SpaceX) | Falcon 9 first-stage landing tests |
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