yeet - Timeline

Soviets launch first satellite "Sputnik 1"

A dog named Laika becomes the first living creature sent from Earth into space, aboard Russia’s Sputnik 2.

Launch of the first US Satellite "Explorer 1"

Soviets launch Luna 3, which sends back the first pictures of the far side of the Moon

NASA send a chimpanzee named Ham into space aboard a Mercury rocket

Russian Yuri Gagarin becomes the first person in space in a 108-minute flight in Vostok 1

First American in space (Alan Shepard).

First astronaut to orbit the Earth (John Glenn, USA).

NASA’s Mariner 2 scans the surface of Venus.

Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova becomes the first woman in space, aboard Vostok 6.

Soviet cosmonaut Alexei Leonov makes the first space walk

Mariner 4 flies by Mars.

First Moon landing (by Soviet spacecraft Luna 9).

A fire on the launch pad of Apollo 1 kills three US astronauts.

First death in space (Soviet cosmonaut Vladimir Komorov).

Soviet craft Venera 4 lands on Venus.

First crewed spacecraft to orbit the Moon (Apollo 8).

US astronaut Neil Armstrong becomes the first person to walk on the Moon.

Russian rover the first vehicle to drive on the Moon.

Launch of first space station (the Soviet Salyut 1).

First space probe to fly-by Jupiter (Pioneer 10).

First space probe to fly-by Mercury (Mariner 10).

First US and Soviet spacecraft docking (Apollo/Soyuz).

First successful landing on Mars (by space probe Viking 1).

First Saturn fly-by (Pioneer 11).

First space shuttle launch (Columbia).

First Uranus fly-by (Voyager 2).

Space shuttle Challenger explodes during launch, killing all seven crew.

Launch of Russian space station Mir.

First fly-by of Halley’s comet (by European space probe Giotto).

First Neptune fly-by (Voyager 2).

Space shuttle Discovery launches the Hubble Space Telescope (HST).

Mars Climate Orbiter disappears after orbiting Mars.

The first port of the international Space Station (ISS) launched.

Mars Polar Lander disappears, creating further embarrassment for NASA.

Mir space station abandoned and crashes off the coast of Australia in the Pacific ocean.

First tourist in space, Dennis Tito.

Space Shuttle Columbia explodes on re-entry, killing all seven astronauts.

Twin Mars Lander missions ‘spirit’ and ‘opportunity’ land on Mars.

Astronaut plays Space Oddysey on the ISS, pretty much NASA's biggest accomplishment since the Apollo missions.

New Horizons returns the best pictures of Pluto yet.