| Jun 20, 1944 |
First suborbital launch, DE |
109 mi (176 km) |
Aggregat A-4 MW 18014 |
| May 10, 1946 |
First suborbital launch, USA |
70 mi (112.7 km) |
Hermes V-2 No. 3 |
| Feb 20, 1947 |
First animals in space |
fruit flies |
Hermes V-2 No. 20, Blossom 1 |
| Oct 10, 1948 |
First suborbital launch, USSR |
~62 mi (100 km) |
R-1 No. 3 |
| Jun 14, 1949 |
First mammal in space. Died on impact. |
Albert II |
Hermes V-2 No. 47, Blossom 4B |
|
| Jul 22, 1951 |
First mammals recovered from space |
Tsygan, Dezik |
R-1 IIIA-1 |
| Oct 4, 1957 |
First satellite, USSR | Sputnik-1 |
Sputnik-1, 8K71PS No. M1-1PS |
| Nov 3, 1957 |
First animal in orbit. Died in flight. |
Laika |
Sputnik-2, 8K71PS No. M1-2PS |
| Feb 1, 1958 |
First satellite, USA |
Explorer 1 |
Juno I RS-29 UE |
| Jan 4, 1959 |
First Moon approach |
Luna 1 |
Ye-1 No. 4 |
| May 28, 1959 |
First primates recovered from space |
Miss Able, Miss Baker |
Bio-Flight No. 2, Jupiter AM-18 |
| Sep 12, 1959 |
First spacecraft on Moon |
Luna 2 |
Ye-1 No. 7 |
| Oct 7, 1959 |
First gravity assist maneuver |
Luna 3 |
Ye-2A No. 1 |
|
| Aug 19, 1960 |
First mammals recovered from orbit |
Belka, Strelka |
Korabl-Sputnik 2, Vostok-1K No. 2 |
| Jan 31, 1961 |
First hominid in space |
Ham |
Mercury-Redstone 2, Mercury No. 5 |
| Mar 30, 1961 |
First human in mesosphere |
Joseph Walker |
X-15-1 Flight 35 |
| Apr 12, 1961 |
First human in space and orbit |
Yuri Gagarin |
Vostok 1, Vostok-3KA No.3 |
| May 5, 1961 |
First human-piloted spaceflight |
Alan Shepard |
Mercury-Redstone 3, Freedom 7 |
| May 19, 1961 |
First planetary flyby, Venus |
Venera-1 |
Venera-1VA No. 2 |
| Jun 19, 1963 |
First Mars flyby |
Mars 1 |
Mars 2MV-4 No. 4 |
| Mar 18, 1965 |
First EVA |
Alexei Leonov |
Voskhod 2, Voskhod-3KD No. 4 |
| Mar 16, 1966 |
First orbital spacecraft docking |
Neil Armstrong, David Scott |
Gemini SC8, GATV-5003 |
| Apr 3, 1966 |
First spacecraft to orbit Moon |
Luna 10 |
Luna Ye-6S |
| Dec 24, 1968 |
First humans to orbit Moon |
Frank Borman, James Lovell, William Anders |
Apollo 8 CSM-103 |
| Jul 20, 1969 |
First humans on Moon |
Neil Armstrong, Edwin Aldrin |
Apollo 11 LM-5, Eagle |
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