space exploration - Timeline of space exploration

Imagined for centuries, the era began with the first artificial satellite (Sputnik, 1957, Soviet Union) and the first manned flight (Gagarin, 1961, Soviet Union), with subsequent rapidly evolving capabilities in Earth orbit and Solar System exploration (initiated by Mariner 2, 1962, USA). It has been an arena of intense international competition and, recently, co-operation. The utilitarian uses of space - communications and meteorology - are now taken for granted; astronomy and Earth remote-sensing capabilities provide a new perspective on the universe and our own planet. Solar System exploration has provided reconnaissance as far as Neptune, in-depth exploration of Mars and Venus, and detailed study of the Moon; the study of comets and asteroids is less advanced. Human activity has been demonstrated even to the point of crewed lunar landings (Apollo programme, 1969–72) and continuing space station occupancy (Skylab, Salyut, Mir, International), but remains dangerous and costly. Launch vehicle advances have achieved a re-usable crewed orbiter (US space shuttle), but inexpensive, reliable transportation is still in the future. The Soviet Union was a dominant participant from the beginning but later Russian exploration effort has been blunted by economic disruption. The USA has retained its dominance, with Europe and Japan increasingly influential; China launched its first spacecraft capable of carrying a human in 1999. In 2004, SpaceShip-One became the first private manned spacecraft to fly to the edge of space and back, winning the Ansari X Prize for the Mojave Aerospace Ventures LLC team led by aviation pioneer Burt Rutan. In the USA the scientific exploration of space has developed a multi-disciplinary emphasis on the study of the origin and distribution of life in the universe. The rate at which future human exploration proceeds beyond low earth orbit into deep space will be limited by space physiological effects and by the costliness of launch vehicles.

Timeline of space exploration

See also: List of human spaceflights, Timeline of solar system exploration, Timeline of artificial satellites and space probes, Spaceflight records

1942-1975

Date	First Success	Country	Mission Name
1944	Rocket to reach 100km (boundary to space)	Nazi Germany	V2 rocket, military program
July 1946	Animals in space (fruit flies)	USA-ABMA	V2
August 21, 1957	Intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM)	USSR	R-7 Semyorka/SS-6 Sapwood
October 4, 1957	Artificial satellite Signals from space	USSR	Sputnik 1
November 3, 1957	Animal in orbit (dog)	USSR	Sputnik 2
January 31, 1958	Detection of Van Allen belts	USA-ABMA	Explorer I
December 18, 1958	Communications satellite	USA-ABMA	Project SCORE
January 2, 1959	Firing of a rocket in Earth orbit Reaching escape velocity Detection of solar wind	USSR	Luna 1
January 4, 1959	Orbit around the Sun	USSR	Luna 1
February 17, 1959	Weather satellite	USA-NASA (NRL)1	Vanguard 2
August 7, 1959	Photo of Earth from space	USA-NASA	Explorer 6
September 13, 1959	Landing on another world (the Moon)	USSR	Luna 2
October 4, 1959	Photos of far side of the Moon	USSR	Luna 3
August 18, 1960	Reconnaissance satellite	USA-Air Force	KH-1 9009
1961	Launch from orbit Mid-course corrections Spin-stabilisation Venus fly-by	USSR	Venera 1
April 12, 1961	Human in space Human in orbit	USSR	Vostok 1
November 1, 1962	Mars flyby	USSR	Mars 1
June 16, 1963	Woman in space	USSR	Vostok 6
July 19, 1963	Reusable Manned Spacecraft (suborbital)	USA-NASA	X-15 Flight 90
October 12, 1964	Multi-man crew (3)	USSR	Voskhod 1
March 18, 1965	Extra-vehicular activity	USSR	Voskhod 2
April 6, 1965	Commercial communications satellite	Intelsat	Intelsat 1
December 15, 1965	Orbital rendezvous (parallel flight, no docking)	USA-NASA	Gemini 6A/Gemini 7
February 3, 1966	Soft landing on another world (the Moon) Photos from another world	USSR	Luna 9
March 1, 1966	Landing on another planet (Venus)	USSR	Venera 3
April 3, 1966	Artificial satellite around another world (the Moon)	USSR	Luna 10
April 23, 1967	Spaceflight casualty	USSR	Soyuz 1
October 30, 1967	Unmanned rendezvous with docking	USSR	Cosmos 186/Cosmos 188
January 16, 1969	Manned docking and exchange of crew	USSR	Soyuz 4/Soyuz 5
July 21, 1969	Human on the Moon	USA-NASA	Apollo 11
September 24, 1970	Automatic sample return from the Moon	USSR	Luna 16
November 23, 1970	Lunar rover	USSR	Lunokhod 1
December 15, 1970	Soft landing on another planet (Venus) Signals from another planet	USSR	Venera 7
April 23, 1971	Space station	USSR	Salyut 1
December 1971	Orbit around Mars	USSR	Mars 2
November 27, 1971	Mars landing	USSR	Mars 2
December 2, 1971	Soft Mars landing signals from Mars surface	USSR	Mars 2
July 15, 1975	Multinational manned mission	USSR USA-NASA	Apollo-Soyuz Test Project
October 20, 1975	Orbit around another planet (Venus)	USSR	Venera 9
October 22, 1975	Photos from the surface of another planet (Venus)	USSR	Venera 9

1Project Vanguard was transferred from the NRL to NASA immediately before launch.

Post-1975

Date	First Success	Country	Mission Name
March 2, 1978	Non-American and non-Soviet in space	USSR Czechoslovakia	Soyuz 28
April 12, 1981	Reusable manned spacecraft (orbital)	USA-NASA	Columbia
March 1, 1982	Venus soil samples & sound recording of another world	USSR	Venera 13
June 13, 1983	Spacecraft beyond the orbit of Neptune	USA-NASA	Pioneer 10
July 25, 1984	Extra-vehicular activity by a woman	USSR	Salyut 7
December 2, 1990	Commercial manned-spaceflight	USSR Japan	Soyuz TM-11
July 7, 1998	Submarine-launched spacecraft	Russia	K-407
April 28, 2001	Space tourist	Russia USA	Soyuz TM-32
October 15, 2003	Third nation to achieve manned spaceflight	China	Shenzhou 5
June 21, 2004	Private human spaceflight / spacecraft (suborbital)	USA-MAV	SpaceShipOne 15P

In addition, virtually all manned duration records have been set by the USSR, due largely to their Salyut/Mir series of space stations.

Recent and future developments

Crew Exploration Vehicle Exploration of Mars Future energy development Space tourism Private spaceflight Space colonization Interstellar spaceflight

Other

Atmospheric reentry Space station Space and survival Space disasters Space mathematics List of artificial objects on extra-terrestrial surfaces List of spaceflights

National agencies

http://www.nasa.gov National Aeronautics and Space Administration http://www.esa.int - European Space Agency http://www.space.gc.ca - Canadian Space Agency http://202.106.142.5/main_e.asp China National Space Administration website http://www.federalspace.ru/ Russian Space Agency Iran Space Agency website Pakistan Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission

Other

NASA Public Service Announcement for Space Exploration http://space.skyrocket.de/ http://www.planet4589.org/space/ http://www.spacefacts.de http://www.vastbeyond.com http://www.space.com http://spaceflight.nasa.gov http://www.spacelist.org Universe Today - space news from around the Internet National Space Society - non-profit organization that promotes a spacefaring civilization http://www.russianspaceweb.com/ Benefits of Space Exploration - bibliography fom NASA.gov Technology Spinoffs from Space Exploration - NASA.gov 20 minute video essay on space exploration v • d • e National space programmes

Argentina • Brazil • Canada • Europe (ESA) • France • Germany • Indonesia • Israel • Italy • Japan • India • South Korea • Malaysia • Republic of China (Taiwan) • Pakistan • Spain • Ukraine

Human spaceflight
People's Republic of China • Russia • United States