Timeline of the Space Race
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This article is about achievements specific to the Space Race. For space achievements of all decades and nations, see Timeline of space exploration.
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This is a timeline of achievements in Soviet and United States spaceflight, spanning the Cold War era of nationalistic competition known as the Space Race.
This list is limited to first achievements by the USSR and USA which were important during the Space Race in terms of public perception and/or technical innovation. This excludes first uses of specific on-board equipment and new scientific discoveries, or achievements by other countries.
Beginning
[edit ]| Date | Country | Achievement | Mission / Vehicle |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1955 July 29 | United States USA | The United States announces their intention to launch an artificial satellite [1] during the International Geophysical Year (1 July 1957 to 31 December 1958). | / |
| 1955 August 30 | Soviet Union USSR | In the Soviet Union, the commission approved launching a 1 ton satellite using the R-7 ICBM.[1] | / |
1957–1959
[edit ]
| Date | Country | Achievement | Mission / Vehicle |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1957 August 21 | Soviet Union USSR | First intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM); fully operational September 1957 | R-7 Semyorka |
| 1957 October 4 | Soviet Union USSR | First artificial satellite First man-made signals from orbit |
Sputnik 1 |
| 1957 November 3 | Soviet Union USSR | First mammal (the dog Laika) in orbit around Earth. | Sputnik 2 |
| 1958 March 17 | United States USA | First solar-powered satellite | Vanguard 1 |
| 1959 January 2 | Soviet Union USSR | First lunar spacecraft (fly-by) First rocket engine restart in Earth orbit First spacecraft to leave Earth's orbit First spacecraft on an escape trajectory from Earth |
Luna 1 |
| 1959 January 4 | Soviet Union USSR | First spacecraft in heliocentric orbit | Luna 1 |
| 1959 February 28 | United States USA | First satellite in a polar orbit | Discoverer 1 |
| 1959 August 7 | United States USA | First photograph of Earth from orbit | Explorer 6 |
| 1959 September 14 | Soviet Union USSR | First hard landing on another celestial body (the Moon) | Luna 2 |
| 1959 October 7 | Soviet Union USSR | First three-axis stabilised spacecraft First photos of far side of the Moon, covering 70% of the surface invisible from Earth First automated on board development of photographic film and conversion to radio signals First gravity assist ('sling shot'), returning the spacecraft to Earth to retrieve the photos |
Luna 3 |
1960–1969
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| Date | Country | Achievement | Mission / Vehicle |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1960 August 11 | United States USA | First satellite recovered intact from orbit | Discoverer 13 |
| 1960 August 18 | United States USA | First spy photography from space First aerial recovery of an object (the film) returning from Earth orbit |
Discoverer 14 |
| 1960 August 19 | Soviet Union USSR | First animals and plants returned alive from space (the dogs Belka and Strelka) First capsule recovered from orbit |
Korabl-Sputnik 2 (aka Sputnik 5) |
| 1961 January 31 | United States USA | First great ape or Hominidae in space, Ham, a chimpanzee | Mercury-Redstone 2 |
| 1961 February 12 | Soviet Union USSR | First launch from Earth orbit of upper stage into a heliocentric orbit First mid-course corrections First spin-stabilisation |
Venera 1 |
| 1961 April 12 | Soviet Union USSR | First human spaceflight mission (Yuri Gagarin)[2] First orbital flight of a manned vehicle |
Vostok 1 |
| 1961 May 5 | United States USA | First pilot-controlled space flight (Alan Shepard) | Freedom 7 |
| 1961 May 19 | Soviet Union USSR | First planetary flyby (Venus), although contact was lost | Venera 1 |
| 1961 August 6 | Soviet Union USSR | First crewed mission lasting a full day (Gherman Titov). | Vostok 2 |
| 1962 August 12 | Soviet Union USSR | First dual crewed spaceflight (Andriyan Nikolayev and Pavel Popovich) First spacecraft-to-spacecraft radio contact First simultaneous flight of crewed spacecraft. First person to float freely in microgravity. |
Vostok 3 / Vostok 4 |
| 1962 December 14 | United States USA | First successful planetary flyby mission (Venus). | Mariner 2 |
| 1963 June 16 | Soviet Union USSR | First woman in space (Valentina Tereshkova) First civilian in space |
Vostok 6 |
| 1963 June 19 | Soviet Union USSR | First Mars flyby, although contact was lost | Mars 1 |
| 1963 July 19 | United States USA | First reusable piloted spacecraft
First spaceplane (suborbital) |
X-15 Flight 90 |
| 1963 July 26 | United States USA | First geosynchronous satellite | Syncom 2 |
| 1964 August 19 | United States USA | First geostationary satellite | Syncom 3 |
| 1964 October 12 | Soviet Union USSR | First spaceflight to carry more than one crewman into orbit (3) | Voskhod 1 |
| 1965 March 18 | Soviet Union USSR | First extra-vehicular activity ("space walk") | Voskhod 2 |
| 1965 March 23 | United States USA | First piloted spacecraft orbit change | Gemini 3 |
| 1965 July 14 | United States USA | First successful Mars flyby mission | Mariner 4 |
| 1965 December 15 | United States USA | First rendezvous of manned spacecraft | Gemini 6A & Gemini 7 |
| 1966 February 3 | Soviet Union USSR | First soft landing on another celestial body (the Moon) First photos from another celestial body |
Luna 9 |
| 1966 March 1 | Soviet Union USSR | First hard landing on another planet (Venus) | Venera 3 |
| 1966 March 16 | United States USA | First spacecraft docking | Gemini 8 / ATV |
| 1966 April 3 | Soviet Union USSR | First artificial satellite to orbit another celestial body (the Moon) | Luna 10 |
| 1966 September 12 | United States USA | First direct-ascent (first orbit) rendezvous | Gemini 11 / ATV |
| 1967 October 18 | Soviet Union USSR | First in situ analysis of the atmosphere of another planet (Venus) | Venera 4 |
| 1967 October 30 | Soviet Union USSR | First docking of two remote-controlled spacecraft | Cosmos 186 / Cosmos 188 |
| 1968 September 14–21 | Soviet Union USSR | First return to Earth after circling the Moon First life forms to circle the Moon (returned safely) |
Zond 5 |
| 1968 December 21 | United States USA | First return to Earth after orbiting the Moon First human spaceflight mission to enter the gravitational influence of another celestial body |
Apollo 8 |
| 1969 January | Soviet Union USSR | First parachute to be deployed on another planet (Venus) | Venera 5 |
| 1969 January 16 | Soviet Union USSR | First crew exchange in space
First docking of two manned spacecraft |
Soyuz 4 / |
| 1969 July 20 | United States USA | First humans on the Moon First space launch from another celestial body First sample return from the Moon |
Apollo 11 |
| 1969 November 19 | United States USA | First precisely targeted piloted landing on the Moon (Surveyor 3 site) | Apollo 12 |
1970–1979
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| Date | Country | Achievement | Mission / Vehicle |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1970 September 24 | Soviet Union USSR | First robotic automatic sample return from another celestial body (the Moon) | Luna 16 |
| 1970 November 23 | Soviet Union USSR | First lunar rover (remote-controlled)
First rover on another celestial body (the Moon) |
Lunokhod 1 |
| 1970 December 15 | Soviet Union USSR | First soft landing on another planet (Venus) First signals from another planet |
Venera 7 |
| 1971 April 19 | Soviet Union USSR | First human-crewed space station launched | Salyut 1 |
| 1971 June 29 | Soviet Union USSR | First human-crewed orbital observatory (Orion 1) | Soyuz 11 / Salyut 1 |
| 1971 July 31 | United States USA | First human-driven lunar rover, the Lunar Roving Vehicle | Apollo 15 |
| 1971 November 14 | United States USA | First spacecraft to orbit Mars | Mariner 9 |
| 1971 November 27 | Soviet Union USSR | First hard landing on Mars | Mars 2 |
| 1971 December 2 | Soviet Union USSR | First soft Mars landing First signals from Mars surface |
Mars 3 |
| 1972 March 3 | United States USA | First spacecraft sent on escape trajectory away from the Sun | Pioneer 10 |
| 1972 July 15 | United States USA | First mission to enter the asteroid belt and leave inner Solar System | Pioneer 10 |
| 1973 December 3 | United States USA | First Jupiter flyby | Pioneer 10 |
| 1974 March 29 | United States USA | First Mercury flyby | Mariner 10 |
| 1975 July 15 | Soviet Union USSR United States USA |
First multinational human-crewed mission[a] | Soyuz 19 Apollo–Soyuz Test Project |
| 1975 October 20 | Soviet Union USSR | First spacecraft to orbit Venus (the orbiter) First view and clear photograph from and of the surface of another planet (the lander) |
Venera 9 |
| 1979 September 1 | United States USA | First Saturn flyby | Pioneer 11 |
1980–1989
[edit ]
| Date | Country | Achievement | Mission / Vehicle |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1981 April 12 | United States USA | First spaceplane in orbit, the Space Shuttle (test flight) | STS-1 |
| 1984 February 7 | United States USA | First untethered spacewalk, Bruce McCandless II | STS-41-B |
| 1985 June 11 | Soviet Union USSR | First aerostat balloon in the atmosphere of Venus | Vega 1 probe |
| 1986 January 24 | United States USA | First Uranus flyby | Voyager 2 |
| 1986 February 19 | Soviet Union USSR | First module of the first modular space station launched, marking the start of the orbital assembly | Mir Core Module |
| 1989 August 25 | United States USA | First Neptune flyby | Voyager 2 |
| 1990 February 11 | Soviet Union USSR | First consistently inhabited long-term research space station | Mir |
On 1991 December 31, the United Nations accepted the dissolution of the USSR, which meant the end of the space race.
See also
[edit ]- 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
Notes
[edit ]- ^ After the first multinational crewed mission in July 1975, the competition continued to exist, but transitioned in intensity from a state of intense competition to one of cooperation by the dissolution of the Soviet Union and end of the Cold War on 26 December 1991.
References
[edit ]- ^ a b "Korolev and Freedom of Space: 14 February 1955 – 4 October 1957". NASA. Archived from the original on October 7, 2006. Retrieved February 18, 2007.
- ^ "Yuri Gagarin: Who was the first person in space?". BBC Newsround. April 12, 2021. Retrieved July 13, 2022.
- 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 978-0-16-048909-9.
- Brugess, Colin; Kate Doolan; Bert Vis (2003). Fallen Astronauts: Heroes Who Died Reaching for the Moon. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press. ISBN 978-0-8032-6212-6.
- Dallek, Robert (2003). An Unfinished Life: John F. Kennedy, 1917-1963 . Boston: Little, Brown and Company. ISBN 978-0-316-17238-7.
- Freni, Pamela (2002). Space for Women: A History of Women With the Right Stuff. Santa Ana, California: Seven Locks Press. ISBN 978-1-931643-12-2.
- Gainor, Chris (2001). Arrows to the Moon: Avro's Engineers and the Space Race. Burlington, Ontario: Apogee Books. ISBN 978-1-896522-83-8.
- Gatland, Kenneth (1976). Manned Spacecraft, Second Revision. New York, NY, USA: Macmillan Publishing Co., Inc. pp. 100–101. ISBN 978-0-02-542820-1.
- Hall, Rex; David J. Shayler (2003). Soyuz: A Universal Spacecraft. New York: Springer–Praxis Books. ISBN 978-1-85233-657-8.
- 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 978-0-471-14853-1.
- Harvey, Brian (2001). Russia in Space: The Failed Frontier?. New York: Springer–Praxis Books. ISBN 978-1-85233-203-7.
- Seamans, Robert C. Jr. (April 5, 1967). "Findings, Determinations And Recommendations". Report of Apollo 204 Review Board. NASA History Office. Retrieved October 7, 2007.
- Siddiqi, Asif A. (2003a). Sputnik and the Soviet Space Challenge. Gainesville: University Press of Florida. ISBN 978-0-8130-2627-5.
- Siddiqi, Asif A. (2003b). The Soviet Space Race with Apollo. Gainesville: University Press of Florida. ISBN 978-0-8130-2628-2.
- Thompson, Neal (2004). Light This Candle: The Life & Times of Alan Shepard—America's First Spaceman . New York: Crown Publishers. ISBN 978-0-609-61001-5.
- Wolfe, Tom (2001) [1979]. The Right Stuff. New York: Bantam Books. ISBN 978-0-613-91667-7.
- Yeager, Chuck; Leo Janos (1985). Yeager: An Autobiography. New York: Bantam Books. ISBN 978-0-553-05093-6.
