Space Exploration – Timeline
The following table lists down the major space missions along with their timelines −
| Mission | Year | Comment | Country |
|---|---|---|---|
| WAC Corporal | 1946 | It was the first (US designed) rocket that reached the edge of space. | USA |
| V-2 | 1946 | The first pictures of the Earth were taken from an altitude of 105 km. | USA |
| R-1 | 1951 | First time dogs were sent to space. | USSR |
| R-7 | 1957 | First intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) developed. | USSR |
| Sputnik 1 | 1957 | First artificial satellite. | USSR |
| Sputnik 2 | 1957 | First animal (dog named Laika) sent to the orbit. | USSR |
| Explorer 6 | 1959 | First photograph of Earth taken from the orbit (by NASA). | USA |
| Vostok I | 1961 | First manned flight carrying Yuri Gagarin | USSR |
| OSO-1 | 1962 | First orbital solar observatory (by NASA). | USA |
| Vostok 6 | 1963 | First woman in space (Valentina Tereshkova). | USSR |
| Luna 10 | 1966 | First artificial satellite around the Moon. | USSR |
| Apollo 8 | 1968 | First piloted orbital mission of Moon (by NASA). | USA |
| Apollo 11 | 1969 | First human on the Moon and first space launch from a celestial body (by NASA) – Commander Neil Armstrong and Pilot Buzz Aldrin. | USA |
| Luna 16 | 1970 | First automatic sample return from the Moon. | USSR |
| Salyut 1 | 1971 | First space station. | USSR |
| Pioneer 10 | 1972 | First human made object that had been sent on escape trajectory away from the Sun (by NASA). | USA |
| Mariner 10 | 1974 | First photograph of Venus from Space (by NASA). | USA |
| Venera 13 | 1982 | First Venus soil samples and sound recording of another world. | USSR |
| STS-41-B | 1984 | First untethered spacewalk, Bruce McCandless II (by NASA). | USA |
| Voyager 1 | 1990 | First photograph of the whole Solar System (by NASA). | USA |
| Mir | 1995 | First Record longest duration spaceflight (i.e. 437.7 days) set by Valeri Polyakov. | Russia |
| HALCA | 1997 | First orbital radio observatory. | Japan |
| NEAR Shoemaker | 2000 | First orbiting of an asteroid (433 Eros) – by NASA. | USA |
| NEAR Shoemaker | 2001 | First landing on an asteroid (433 Eros) – by NASA. | USA |
| Genesis | 2004 | First sample return beyond lunar orbit (solar wind)- by NASA. | USA |
| Cassini Huygens | 2005 | First soft landing on Titan (Moon of Saturn). | |
| Hayabusa | 2005 | First interplanetary escape without undercarriage cutoff. | Japan |
| Stardust | 2006 | First sample return from comet (81P/Wild) – by NASA. | USA |
| Kepler Mission | 2009 | First space telescope designated to search for Earth-like exoplanets – by NASA. | USA |
| MESSENGER | 2011 | First orbit of Mercury – by NASA. | USA |
| Voyager 1 | 2012 | First manmade probe in interstellar space – by NASA. | USA |
| Rosetta | 2014 | First man-made probe to make a planned and soft landing on a comet. | European Space Agency |
| 2015 | Lettuce was the first food eaten that was grown in space. | USA & Japan |
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