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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 animal in orbit (dog 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) 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, 1973 84-day human-crewed space record Skylab 3-NASA December 3, 1973 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 |
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