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January[edit]
February[edit]
- February 1, 2003 - Space shuttle Columbia disintegrates during reentry of mission STS-107, with the loss of all seven crew.
- February 3, 1994 - Sergei Krikalev becomes first Russian cosmonaut to fly aboard a U.S. mission.
- February 3, 1966 - Luna 9 becomes the first spacecraft to land on the Moon.
- February 7, 1984 - On Space Shuttle flight STS-41-B, Bruce McCandless II becomes the first untethered spacewalker.
- February 20, 1962 - Mercury-Atlas 6 launched John Glenn, the first American to orbit the Earth.
- March 2, 1978 - Vladimír Remek of Czechoslovakia becomes the first non-Soviet, non-American in space.
- March 10, 1972 - Pioneer 10 is launched toward the first flyby of Jupiter.
- March 16, 1926 - Robert Goddard launches the world's first liquid-fueled rocket.
- March 17, 1958 - Launch of Vanguard 1, the oldest artificial satellite still in orbit.
- March 17, 1992 - Aleksandr Kaleri and Aleksandr Viktorenko become the first cosmonauts to go into space as Russians, after the breakup of the Soviet Union.
- March 18, 1965 - Aleksei Leonov makes the first spacewalk on the Voskhod 2 mission.
- March 22, 1995 - Valeri Polyakov returns to Earth after 437.7 days, setting the space endurance record.
- March 31, 1966 - Luna 10 is launched to become the first lunar orbiter.
- 3 June 1965 - Ed White becomes the first American to walk in space.
- 7 June 1971 - Soyuz 11 performs the first successful docking with a space station, Salyut 1.
- 16 June 1963 - Valentina Tereshkova becomes the first woman in space, aboard Vostok 6.
- 16 June 2000 - The Mir space station is abandoned, as its final crew depart aboard Soyuz TM-30
- 21 June 2004 - Mike Melvill pilots SpaceShipOne on its maiden spaceflight, 15P.
- 26 June - 1978 - Sigmund Jähn becomes the first East German in space, aboard Soyuz 31
- 28 June - 1978 - Mirosław Hermaszewski becomes the first Polish cosmonaut, aboard Soyuz 30.
- 29 June 1971 - Cosmonauts Georgi Dobrovolski, Viktor Patsayev, and Vladislav Volkov are killed when Soyuz 11 depressurises during re-entry.
- 29 June 1995 - Space Shuttle Atlantis, on mission STS-71, becomes the first spacecraft to dock to a space station of another nation, as it docks with the Russian Mir station.
- July 1, 2004 - The Cassini spacecraft becomes the first Saturn orbiter.
- July 4, 1997 - Mars Pathfinder lands on Mars and, the next day, releases Sojourner, the first automated roving vehicle on Mars.
- July 4, 2005 - Deep Impact smashes into Comet Tempel 1, the first comet impact.
- July 14, 1965 - Mariner 4 makes the first flyby of Mars.
- July 17, 1975 - Soviet and U.S. spacecraft dock on the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project, the first joint U.S.-Soviet space mission.
- July 19, 1963 - Joseph A. Walker pilots first winged craft into space on X-15 Flight 90.
- July 20, 1969 - Apollo 11 makes the first human landing on the Moon.
- August 12, 1962 - First time two spacecraft were in space at once (Vostok 3 and 4).
- August 20, 1977 - Voyager 2 launched towards Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.
- August 23, 1963 - Joseph A. Walker, on X-15 Flight 91, becomes first person to fly into space twice.
- August 27, 1962 - Mariner 2 launched toward 1st Venus Flyby
- August 30, 1983 - On Space Shuttle flight STS-8, Guion Bluford becomes the first African-American in space.
September[edit]
October[edit]
- October 1, 1958 - NASA began operations, replacing the NACA.
- October 3, 1985 - Space Shuttle Atlantis flew its maiden voyage. (STS-51-J)
- 4 October 1957 - Sputnik 1 became the first artificial satellite launched into orbit around the Earth.
- October 4, 2004 - SpaceShipOne wins Ansari X Prize for private spaceflight.
- October 5, 1984 - Marc Garneau becomes the first Canadian in space, aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger.
- October 11, 1968 - Apollo program: NASA launches Apollo 7, the first successful manned Apollo mission, with astronauts Wally Schirra, Donn F. Eisele and Walter Cunningham aboard.
- October 15, 1997 - The Cassini probe launches from Cape Canaveral on its way to Saturn.
- October 15, 2001 - NASA's Galileo spacecraft passes within 112 miles of Jupiter's moon Io.
- October 15, 2003 - China launches Shenzhou 5, its first manned space mission.
- October 22, 1968 - Apollo program: Apollo 7 safely splashes down in the Atlantic Ocean after orbiting the Earth 163 times.
November[edit]
- November 2, 2000 - The first crew, Expedition 1, arrives at the International Space Station.
- November 3, 1957 - Sputnik program: The Soviet Union launches Sputnik 2. On board is the first animal to enter orbit, a dog named Laika.
- November 3, 1973 - Mariner program: NASA launches the Mariner 10 toward Mercury, which would become the first space probe to reach that planet.
- November 7, 1996 - NASA launches the Mars Global Surveyor.
- November 9, 1961 - Neil Armstrong records a world record speed in a rocket plane, flying 6,587 km/h in an X-15.
- November 9, 1967 - Apollo program: NASA launches the unmanned Apollo 4 test spacecraft from Cape Kennedy.
- November 9, 2005 - The Venus Express mission of the European Space Agency is launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
- November 15, 1988 - First and only spaceflight of the Soviet spaceplane Buran.
December[edit]
- December 3, 1973 - Pioneer program: Pioneer 10 sends back the first close-up images of Jupiter.
- December 4, 1959 - A monkey returns to Earth safely, after being launched 55 miles high into outer space by the United States space program.
- December 6, 1957 - Project Vanguard: A launchpad explosion of Vanguard TV3 thwarts the first United States attempt to launch a satellite into orbit around the Earth.
- December 6, 2006 - NASA reveals photographs taken by Mars Global Surveyor suggesting the presence of liquid water on Mars.
- December 7, 1972 - Apollo 17, the last Apollo moon mission, is launched. The crew take the photograph known as "The Blue Marble" as they leave the Earth.
- December 14, 1962 - NASA's Mariner 2 becomes the first spacecraft to fly by Venus.
- December 18, 1973 - Soviet Soyuz Programme: Soyuz 13, crewed by cosmonauts Valentin Lebedev and Pyotr Klimuk, is launched from Baikonur in the Soviet Union.
