Timeline of the Space Race

The first image of another world returned from Space (Luna 3's of the far side of the Moon)

This is a timeline of first achievements in spaceflight from the first intercontinental ballistic missile through the first multinational human-crewed mission—spanning the era of the Space Race.

1957–1960

Date	Significance	USSR Mission	US Mission
August 21, 1957	First intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM)	R-7 Semyorka
October 4, 1957	First artificial satellite First signals from space	Sputnik 1
November 3, 1957	First dog in orbit ( Laika)	Sputnik 2
January 31, 1958	First US satellite, detection of Van Allen radiation belts		Explorer 1-ABMA
March 17, 1958	First solar powered satellite		Vanguard 1-NRL
December 18, 1958	First communications satellite		Project SCORE-ABMA
January 2, 1959	First rocket engine restart in Earth orbit First lunar spacecraft First detection of solar wind	Luna 1
January 4, 1959	First human-made object in heliocentric orbit	Luna 1
February 17, 1959	First weather satellite		Vanguard 2-NASA (NRL)^1
February 28, 1959	First satellite in a polar orbit		Discoverer 1-USAF/ARPA
June 25, 1959	First spy satellite to carry a camera (failed to achieve orbit)		Discoverer 4-USAF/ARPA
August 7, 1959	First photograph of Earth from orbit		Explorer 6-NASA
September 14, 1959	First impact into another celestial body (Moon)	Luna 2
October 7, 1959	First photos of far side of the Moon	Luna 3
April 1, 1960	First Imaging weather satellite		TIROS-1-NASA
July 5, 1960	First successful US spy satellite (returned intelligence data)		GRAB-1-NRL
August 11, 1960	First satellite recovered intact from orbit		Discoverer 13-USAF/ARPA
August 12, 1960	First passive communications satellite		Echo 1A-NASA
August 18, 1960	First successful recovery of film from an orbiting satellite First aerial recovery of an object returning from Earth orbit		Discoverer 14-USAF/ARPA
August 19, 1960	First animals and plants returned alive from space	Sputnik 5

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

1961–1969

Date	Significance	USSR Mission	US Mission
February 12, 1961	First launch from Earth orbit of upper stage into a heliocentric orbit First mid-course corrections First spin-stabilisation	Venera 1
April 12, 1961	First human spaceflight (Yuri Gagarin) First orbital flight of a manned vehicle	Vostok 1
May 5, 1961	First pilot-controlled space flight (Alan Shepard)		Freedom 7
May 19, 1961	First planetary flyby (Venus)	Venera 1
March 7, 1962	First orbital solar observatory		OSO-1-NASA
July 10, 1962	First active communications satellite		Telstar-AT&T
August 12, 1962	First ship-to-ship radio contact	Vostok 3 / Vostok 4
September 29, 1962	First artificial satellite constructed by a non-superpower	Canada — Alouette 1
December 14, 1962	First planetary flyby by a US mission (Venus)		Mariner 2-NASA
June 16, 1963	First woman in space (Valentina Tereshkova) First civilian in space	Vostok 6
June 19, 1963	Five-day human spaceflight record	Vostok 5
July 19, 1963	First reusable piloted spacecraft (X-15, suborbital)		X-15 Flight 90-NASA
July 26, 1963	First geosynchronous satellite		Syncom 2-NASA
December 5, 1963	First satellite navigation system		NAVSAT-USN
August 19, 1964	First geostationary satellite		Syncom 3-NASA
October 12, 1964	First multi-person crew (3)	Voskhod 1
March 18, 1965	First extra-vehicular activity ("space walk")	Voskhod 2
March 23, 1965	First piloted spacecraft orbit change		Gemini 3-NASA
July 14, 1965	First Mars flyby		Mariner 4-NASA
August 29, 1965	Eight-day human spaceflight record		Gemini 5-NASA
December 15, 1965	First orbital rendezvous (station-keeping, no docking)^2		Gemini 6A / Gemini 7-NASA
December 18, 1965	14-day human spaceflight record		Gemini 7-NASA
February 3, 1966	First soft landing on another celestial body (Moon) First photos from another celestial body	Luna 9
March 1, 1966	First impact into another planet (Venus)	Venera 3
March 16, 1966	First spacecraft docking		Gemini 8 / ATV-NASA
April 3, 1966	First artificial satellite to orbit another celestial body: the Moon	Luna 10
September 12, 1966	First direct-ascent rendezvous on first orbit Record highest apogee, 1,374 kilometers (854 mi), for piloted Earth orbit		Gemini 11/ATV-NASA
November 12–14, 1966	First 5.5 hr extra-vehicular activity First demonstration of practical work capability		Gemini 12-NASA
October 30, 1967	First docking of two remote-controlled spacecraft	Cosmos 186/ Cosmos 188
December 7, 1968	First orbital ultraviolet observatory		OAO-2-NASA
December 21, 1968	First human-crewed spaceflight to, and orbit of, another celestial object: the Moon		Apollo 8-NASA
January 16, 1969	First crew exchange in space	Soyuz 4 / Soyuz 5
July 20, 1969	First humans on the Moon First space launch from another celestial body		Apollo 11-NASA
November 19, 1969	First precisely targeted piloted landing on the Moon (Surveyor 3 site) First man to dance on the Moon (Pete Conrad)		Apollo 12-NASA

² The Soviet Union had attempted an earlier rendezvous on August 12, 1962. However, Vostok 3 and Vostok 4 only came within five kilometers of one another, and operated in different orbital planes. Pravda did not mention this information, but indicated that a rendezvous had taken place.

1970–1975

Date	Significance	USSR Mission	US Mission
September 24, 1970	First robotic automatic sample return from another celestial body: the Moon	Luna 16
November 23, 1970	First remote-controlled mobile vehicle on another celestial body: the Moon	Lunokhod 1
December 12, 1970	First X-ray orbital observatory		Uhuru (satellite)-NASA
December 15, 1970	First soft landing on another planet (Venus) First signals from another planet	Venera 7
April 23, 1971	First human-crewed space station launched	Salyut 1
June 29, 1971	First human-crewed orbital observatory (Orion 1) 23-day manned space record	Soyuz 11 / Salyut 1
July 31, 1971	First mobile vehicle lunar rover driven by humans on the Moon		Apollo 15-NASA
November 14, 1971	First spacecraft to orbit another planet: Mars		Mariner 9-NASA
November 27, 1971	First impact into Mars	Mars 2
December 2, 1971	First soft Mars landing First signals from Mars surface	Mars 3
March 3, 1972	First human-made object sent on escape trajectory away from the Sun		Pioneer 10-NASA
July 15, 1972	First mission to enter the asteroid belt and leave inner solar system		Pioneer 10-NASA
November 9, 1972	First commercially operated domestic satellite in geostationary orbit	Canada — Anik A1-Telesat
November 15, 1972	First orbital gamma ray observatory		SAS-2-NASA
May 25, 1973	28-day human-crewed space record		Skylab 1-NASA
July 28, 1973	56-day human-crewed space record		Skylab 2-NASA
November 16, 1974	84-day human-crewed space record		Skylab 3-NASA
December 3, 1974	First Jupiter flyby		Pioneer 10-NASA
February 5, 1974	First planetary gravitational assist (Venus flyby)		Mariner 10-NASA
March 29, 1974	First Mercury flyby		Mariner 10-NASA
July 15, 1975	First multinational human-crewed mission	Soyuz 19	Apollo–Soyuz Test Project

See also

• List of communications satellite firsts
• List of space exploration milestones, 1957–1969
• Timeline of space exploration
• Timeline of first orbital launches by country
• Timeline of space travel by nationality

References

• Bilstein, Roger E. (1996). Stages to Saturn: A Technological History of the Apollo/Saturn Launch Vehicles. Washington: Scientific and Technical Information Branch, National Aeronautics and Space Administration,. ISBN 0-16-048909-1.
• Brugess, Colin; Kate Doolan; Bert Vis (2003). Fallen Astronauts: Heroes Who Died Reaching for the Moon. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press. ISBN 0-8032-6212-4.
• Dallek, Robert (2003). An Unfinished Life: John F. Kennedy, 1917-1963. Boston: Little, Brown and Company. ISBN 0-316-17238-3.
• Freni, Pamela (2002). Space for Women: A History of Women With the Right Stuff. Santa Ana, California: Seven Locks Press. ISBN 1-931643-12-1.
• Gainor, Chris (2001). Arrows to the Moon: Avro's Engineers and the Space Race. Burlington, Ontario: Apogee Books. ISBN 1-896522-83-1.
• Gatland, Kenneth (1976). Manned Spacecraft, Second Revision. New York, NY, USA: MacMillan Publishing Co., Inc. pp. 100–101. ISBN 0-02-542820-9.
• Hall, Rex; David J. Shayler (2003). Soyuz: A Universal Spacecraft. New York: Springer–Praxis Books. ISBN 1-85233-657-9.
• Harford, James J. (1997). Korolev: How One Man Masterminded the Soviet Drive to Beat America to the Moon (1 ed.). New York: John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 0-471-14853-9.
• Harvey, Brian (2001). Russia in Space: The Failed Frontier?. New York: Springer–Praxis Books. ISBN 1-85233-203-4.
• Seamans, Robert C., Jr. (1967-04-05). "Findings, Determinations And Recommendations". Report of Apollo 204 Review Board. NASA History Office. Retrieved 2007-10-07.
• Siddiqi, Asif A. (2003a). Sputnik and the Soviet Space Challenge. Gainesville: University Press of Florida. ISBN 0-8130-2627-X.
• Siddiqi, Asif A. (2003b). The Soviet Space Race with Apollo. Gainesville: University Press of Florida. ISBN 0-8130-2628-8.
• Thompson, Neal (2004). Light This Candle : The Life & Times of Alan Shepard—America's First Spaceman. New York: Crown Publishers. ISBN 0-609-61001-5.
• Wolfe, Tom (2001) [1979]. The Right Stuff. New York: Bantam Books. ISBN 0-613-91667-0.
• Yeager, Chuck; Leo Janos (1985). Yeager: An Autobiography. New York: Bantam Books. ISBN 0-553-05093-1.

External links

• Timeline of the Space Race/Moon Race
• Chronology: Moon Race at russianspaceweb.com