Timeline of the Space Race

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

Date	Country	Achievement	Mission / Vehicle
1955 July 29		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		In the Soviet Union, the commission approved launching a 1 ton satellite using the R-7 ICBM.[1]	/

1957–1959

First artificial satellite, Sputnik 1 (replica)

First photograph of far side of the Moon, Luna 3

Date	Country	Achievement	Mission / Vehicle
1957 August 21		First intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM); fully operational September 1957	R-7 Semyorka
1957 October 4		First artificial satellite First man-made signals from orbit	Sputnik 1
1957 November 3		First mammal (the dog Laika) in orbit around Earth.	Sputnik 2
1958 March 17		First solar-powered satellite	Vanguard 1
1959 January 2		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		First spacecraft in heliocentric orbit	Luna 1
1959 February 28		First satellite in a polar orbit	Discoverer 1
1959 August 7		First photograph of Earth from orbit	Explorer 6
1959 September 14		First hard landing on another celestial body (the Moon)	Luna 2
1959 October 7		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

First human in space, Yuri Gagarin

First humans on the Moon, Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong (behind camera)

Date	Country	Achievement	Mission / Vehicle
1960 August 11		First satellite recovered intact from orbit	Discoverer 13
1960 August 18		First spy photography from space First aerial recovery of an object (the film) returning from Earth orbit	Discoverer 14
1960 August 19		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		First great ape or Hominidae in space, Ham, a chimpanzee	Mercury-Redstone 2
1961 February 12		First launch from Earth orbit of upper stage into a heliocentric orbit First mid-course corrections First spin-stabilisation	Venera 1
1961 April 12		First human spaceflight mission (Yuri Gagarin)[2] First orbital flight of a manned vehicle	Vostok 1
1961 May 5		First pilot-controlled space flight (Alan Shepard)	Freedom 7
1961 May 19		First planetary flyby (Venus), although contact was lost	Venera 1
1961 August 6		First crewed mission lasting a full day (Gherman Titov).	Vostok 2
1962 August 12		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		First successful planetary flyby mission (Venus).	Mariner 2
1963 June 16		First woman in space (Valentina Tereshkova) First civilian in space	Vostok 6
1963 June 19		First Mars flyby, although contact was lost	Mars 1
1963 July 19		First reusable piloted spacecraft and the first spaceplane (suborbital)	X-15 Flight 90
1963 July 26		First geosynchronous satellite	Syncom 2
1964 August 19		First geostationary satellite	Syncom 3
1965 March 18		First extra-vehicular activity ("space walk")	Voskhod 2
1965 March 23		First piloted spacecraft orbit change	Gemini 3
1965 July 14		First successful Mars flyby mission	Mariner 4
1965 December 15		First rendezvous of manned spacecraft	Gemini 6A & Gemini 7
1966 February 3		First soft landing on another celestial body (the Moon) First photos from another celestial body	Luna 9
1966 March 1		First hard landing on another planet (Venus)	Venera 3
1966 March 16		First spacecraft docking	Gemini 8 / ATV
1966 April 3		First artificial satellite to orbit another celestial body (the Moon)	Luna 10
1966 September 12		First direct-ascent (first orbit) rendezvous	Gemini 11 / ATV
1967 October 18		First in situ analysis of the atmosphere of another planet (Venus)	Venera 4
1967 October 30		First docking of two remote-controlled spacecraft	Cosmos 186 / Cosmos 188
1968 September 14–21		First return to Earth after circling the Moon First life forms to circle the Moon (returned safely)	Zond 5
1968 December 21		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		First parachute to be deployed on another planet (Venus)	Venera 5
1969 January 16		First crew exchange in space First docking of two manned spacecraft	Soyuz 4 / Soyuz 5
1969 July 20		First humans on the Moon First space launch from another celestial body First sample return from the Moon	Apollo 11
1969 November 19		First precisely targeted piloted landing on the Moon (Surveyor 3 site)	Apollo 12

1970–1979

First lunar rover, Lunokhod 1

First spacecraft on an escape trajectory away from the Sun, Pioneer 10

First view and clear photograph taken of and from the surface of Venus, Venera 9

Date	Country	Achievement	Mission / Vehicle
1970 September 24		First robotic automatic sample return from another celestial body (the Moon)	Luna 16
1970 November 23		First lunar rover (remote-controlled) and first rover on another celestial body (the Moon)	Lunokhod 1
1970 December 15		First soft landing on another planet (Venus) First signals from another planet	Venera 7
1971 April 19		First human-crewed space station launched	Salyut 1
1971 June 29		First human-crewed orbital observatory (Orion 1)	Soyuz 11 / Salyut 1
1971 July 31		First human-driven lunar rover, the Lunar Roving Vehicle	Apollo 15
1971 November 14		First spacecraft to orbit another planet (Mars)	Mariner 9
1971 November 27		First hard landing on Mars	Mars 2
1971 December 2		First soft Mars landing First signals from Mars surface	Mars 3
1972 March 3		First spacecraft sent on escape trajectory away from the Sun	Pioneer 10
1972 July 15		First mission to enter the asteroid belt and leave inner Solar System	Pioneer 10
1973 December 3		First Jupiter flyby	Pioneer 10
1974 March 29		First Mercury flyby	Mariner 10
1975 July 15		First multinational human-crewed mission[lower-alpha 1]	Soyuz 19 Apollo–Soyuz Test Project
1975 October 20		First spacecraft to orbit another planet (Venus) (the orbiter) First view and clear photograph from and of the surface of another planet (the lander)	Venera 9
1979 September 1		First Saturn flyby	Pioneer 11

1980–1989

First Space Shuttle

Date	Country	Achievement	Mission / Vehicle
1981 April 12		First spaceplane in orbit, the Space Shuttle (test flight)	STS-1
1984 February 7		First untethered spacewalk, Bruce McCandless II	STS-41-B
1985 June 11		First aerostat balloon in the atmosphere of Venus	Vega 1 probe
1986 January 24		First Uranus flyby	Voyager 2
1986 February 19		First module of the first modular space station launched, marking the start of the orbital assembly	Mir Core Module
1989 August 25		First Neptune flyby	Voyager 2
1990 February 11		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

• 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

References

• 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. https://books.google.com/books?id=RUIjAAAAMAAJ. 
• 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. https://books.google.com/books?id=iJ8WwRBNgk0C. 
• Dallek, Robert (2003). An Unfinished Life: John F. Kennedy, 1917-1963. Boston: Little, Brown and Company. ISBN 978-0-316-17238-7. https://archive.org/details/unfinishedlifejo00dall_0. 
• 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. https://books.google.com/books?id=uFTbAAAAMAAJ. 
• Gainor, Chris (2001). Arrows to the Moon: Avro's Engineers and the Space Race. Burlington, Ontario: Apogee Books. ISBN 978-1-896522-83-8. https://archive.org/details/arrowstomoonavro0000gain. 
• 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. https://books.google.com/books?id=dbGchpi1HP8C. 
• 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. https://books.google.com/books?id=DrgvjPsfwhsC. 
• Seamans, Robert C. Jr. (1967-04-05). "Findings, Determinations And Recommendations". Report of Apollo 204 Review Board. NASA History Office. http://www.hq.nasa.gov/pao/History/Apollo204/find.html. Retrieved 2007-10-07. 
• 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. https://archive.org/details/lightthiscandlel00thom. 
• Wolfe, Tom (2001). The Right Stuff. New York: Bantam Books. ISBN 978-0-613-91667-7. https://books.google.com/books?id=OZ_jQVH3oMwC. 
• Yeager, Chuck; Leo Janos (1985). Yeager: An Autobiography. New York: Bantam Books. ISBN 978-0-553-05093-6. 

External links

• Timeline of the Space Race/Moon Race
• Chronology: Moon Race at russianspaceweb.com

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