Space Race Timeline

1957

Oct. 4 - Sputnik I was launched by USSR

Nov. 3 - Sputnik II with a dog as its passenger was launched by USSR

1958

Jan. 31 - Explorer 1, the first American satellite to reach orbit, is launched which led to the discovery of Van Allen radiation belt.

Mar. 5 - Explorer 2 was launched by USA but failed to reach orbit.

Mar. 17 - Vanguard I satellite was launched by USA and functioned for 3 years.

May 15 - Sputnik III was launched by USSR

Oct. 1 - The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) was formed by USA

Oct. 11 - Pioneer I was launched to a height of 70,700 miles by USA

1959
Jan. 2 - Luna 1 the first man-made object to orbit the Sun was launched by USSR.

Mar. 3 - Pioneer IV was launched by USA and passed within 37,000 miles of the Moon before falling into a solar orbit.

Sep. 12 - Luna II was launched by USSR. It touched down on the Moon on September 13, becoming the first man-made object to do so.

Oct. 4 - Luna III was launched by USSR and orbited the Moon and photographed its surface.

1960

Apr. 1 - Tiros I the first successful weather satellite was launched by USA

Nov. 8 - John F. Kennedy was elected the 35th President of the United States.

1961

Apr. 12 - Yuri Gagarin (Soviet) orbited Earth and became first man in space.

May 5 - Alan B. Shepard became the first American in space.

May 25 - President John F. Kennedy (USA) set goal to send men to Moon within the decade.

Aug. 6 - Gherman Titov (Soviet) spent a day in space aboard Vostok II.

1962

Feb. 20 - John Glenn (USA) orbited Earth three times.

May 24 - Scott Carpenter (USA) repeated John Glenn's flight aboard "Aurora 7".

Oct. 3 - Walter Schirra (USA) orbited the Earth six times.

Dec. 14 - Mariner II (USA) flies past Venus and entered a solar orbit.

1963

May 15 - L. Gordon Cooper (USA) spent 34 hours in space becoming last American to be in space alone

Jun. 16 - Cosmonaut Valentia Tereshkova becomes the first Soviet woman in space.

Nov. 22 - President Kennedy (USA) was assassinated.

1964

Jul. 31 - Ranger 7 (USA) transmits the first close range images of the Moon.

1965

Mar. 18 - Alexei Leonov (Soviet) performed first spacewalk.

Jun. 3 - Ed White (USA) performs America's first spacewalk.

Jul. 14 - Mariner IV (USA) returns close ranger images of Mars.

1966

Feb. 3 - Luna 9 launched by USSR became the first spacecraft to soft-land on the Moon.

Apr. 3 - Luna 10 launched by USSR became the first satellite to orbit Moon.

Jun. 2 - Surveyor I (USA) soft-lands on Moon.

Aug. 14 - Lunar Orbiter I (USA) entered orbit around the Moon and took first picture of Earth from that distance.

Nov. 11 - Gemini 12 (USA), the last flight of the Gemini Program, launched with James Lovell and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin aboard.

1967

Jan. 27 - Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee (USA) were killed when in Apollo I capsule.

Apr. 24 - Cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov (Soviet) died during Soyuz I flight.

Oct. 18 - Venera IV (USSR) transmitted data about the atmosphere of Venus.

1968

Sep. 15 - Zond V (USSR) was launched with two turtles as passengers and went around the Moon returning to Earth six days later.

Dec. 21 - Frank Borman, James Lovell, and William Anders (USA) began the first manned journey from Earth to Moon. On Christmas Eve they take turns reading Genesis in a broadcast heard around the world.

1969

Jan. 16 - Soyuz IV and V (USSR) performed the first Soviet spacecraft docking.

Jul. 20 - Neil Armstrong and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin (USA) became the first men to walk on the Moon while crewmate Michael Collins orbited around Moon.

www.thespacerace.com/timeline/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_the_Space_Race