Timeline of the Space Race

Summary

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   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 edit

 
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 edit

 
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
1964 October 12   First spaceflight to carry more than one crewman into orbit (3) Voskhod 1
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 edit

 
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[a] 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 edit

 
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 edit

Notes edit

  1. ^ 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

  1. ^ 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.
  2. ^ "Yuri Gagarin: Who was the first person in space?". BBC Newsround. April 12, 2021. Retrieved July 13, 2022.
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  • 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.

External links edit

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