Space Exploration Timeline

Space Exploration

Timeline

1942

The V2 was the first rocket to
reach the boundaries of space
at 100km.
The rocket was designed by
Wernher Von Braun, who later
worked with NASA as the
creator of the rockets that
went to the moon.

1947

First animals were launched
into space. Scientists chose
fruit flies and sent them with
corn to eat for their trip.

Fruit flies were sent due to
their genetic similarities to
humans.

1949

Albert was the first monkey in
space. He flew in a specially
adapted rocket to 83 miles
from the Earth.

1957

Russia launched the first
satellite into space:
Sputnik 1.
Sputnik means “Satelite”
in Russian.
Today there are over 500
working satellites in space.

1957

The Russian space dog
Laika became the first
animal to orbit the earth
in the Sputnik 2. Her
mission help scientist
understand whether
people couldsurvive in
space.

1959

“Space race” begins.
American and Russian
scientists raced to get a
spacecraft to the moon.
Russians won!

Their second space craft
the Luna 2 crashed into
the moon so hard it
would have killed a
human.

1961

Russian Yuri Gagarin became
first man in space. Orbited for
2 hours and had to eject from
craft because Vostok 1 was
not designed to land properly.

Gagarin had to bail out and
land using his parachute,
because the Vostok 1 was
designed to crash land!

1963

Valentina Tereshkova was the
first woman in space. She has
a crater on the moon named
after her!

After her mission she became
an important member of the
Russian Government.

1966

President Kennedy Promised
US landing on the moon
before 1970. Sent a probe to
the moon for landing as one
last test before sending a
human. Called the Surveyor 1!

Once the surveyor 1 landed, it
began relaying picture
messages of the landscape of
the moon so scientists could
find a good landing spot.

1969

Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin
took "one small step" and became
the first men on the moon. Their
spaceship, Apollo 11 worked
perfectly, flying them 250,000
miles to the moon, and bringing
them all the way back safely to
earth.

• Buzz’s real name was Edwin
• Their first words on the moon were “The Eagle

has landed”

1970

Two days into its journey,
Apollo 13, suffered an
explosion due to wiring.
Using only whatever was on
board, NASA scientists and
the astronauts on board
improvised repairs to bring
the crippled spaceship
home. All astronauts on
board successfully returned
home on their failed ship.

American astronauts on the 15th,
16th, and 17th Apollo missions
enjoyed use of a moon car to
explore the moon. Known as the
Lunar Rover, it was electric
powered, and had a top speed of
8mph. It was designed by Boeing

1971

1973

Russian space probe Mars 2
explored Mars. One part stayed in
orbit for a year, sending pictures of
Mars back to earth. The other was
to land and explore the surface of
Mars, but it was destroyed when
its parachute failed to open.

1981

1986

Until this point Spacecraft were
designed to be used only once. The
Space Shuttle was designed to be
reused for up to 100 visits to space, in
an attempt to make space travel less
expensive.
17,000mph. 6 made

Space Shuttle Challenger
exploded shortly after launch,
because of a fuel system
failure. All seven astronauts
on board were killed, and all
shuttles were grounded for
nearly three years.

1986

The MIR space station was
built in sections, each piece
launched by a rocket and then
joined together in orbit.
Construction started in 1986,
with the last piece being fitted
ten years later! MIR means
peace

1989

Helen Sharman competed
to become the first British
astronaut in space. She was
part of a Russian mission to
the MIR space station.

2000

The first permanent crew
moved into the International
Space Station (ISS), where
crews of astronauts have been
living ever since. It wasn’t
finished until 2010.

ISS facts

2001

American millionaire Dennis Tito
became the first space tourist
when he paid around 20 million
dollars for a ride in a Russian
Soyuz spacecraft. Trained for 900
hours!

2003

Tragedy once again struck when the
Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated
upon reentering the atmosphere
killing all 7 members. Flights were
suspended for two years after this
accident.

2004

Space Ship One made the first privately
funded manned flight. A new Airline,
Virgin Galactic has been set up to offer
private tourist flights into space, using a
new version of this space plane.

2011

The space program shut down
and no more space shuttle
missions have been launched
since. The U.S. still has a space
program, however, due to poor
funding we mostly rely on Russia
for our space travel. Other
missions are funded by private
parties.

US President George Bush
announced that NASA would
resume missions to the moon by
2020, and work on a permanent
moon-base would begin.

2003-2018

Mars Rover Opportunity was only supposed to
last one year on Mars. It ended up having a life
span of 15 years. It measured dust storms, took
data of rocks and soil, and even took a selfie.

2006-2015

NASA launched the
spacecraft New
Horizons to the dwarf
planet Pluto. It arrived
in 2015 and as it slowly
passed by it took
pictures of Pluto and
one of its moons
Charon.

2015-2016

Scott Kelly went to live on
the ISS for almost an
entire year, being the
longest American to stay
in space. Scientists
collected data while he
was in space and currently
now to determine the
effects of space on the
human body.

2019

First image of a
black hole
successfully
captured.

Present

Mars One is currently
recruiting volunteers
for a one-way trip to
Mars to start a
settlement. Their first
unmanned mission is
set for 2020 with
crews leaving in 2026.
Their recruitment
started in 2011.