Apollo Moon Landings
- Apollo 11 - Landed 7/20/1969 in Sea of Tranquility - Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin - CSM Columbia, LM Eagle
- Apollo 12 - Landed 11/19/1969 in Ocean of Storms - Pete Conrad, Alan Bean - CSM Yankee Clipper, LM Intrepid
- Apollo 14 - Landed 2/05/1971 in Fra Mauro Highlands - Alan Shephard, Edgar Mitchell - CSM Kitty Hawk, LM Antares
- Apollo 15 - Landed 7/30/1971 in Hadley–Apennine - David Scott, James Irwin - CSM Endeavor, LM Falcon
- Apollo 16 - Landed 4/21/1972 in Descartes Highlands - John Young, Charles Duke - CSM Casper, LM Orion
- Apollo 17 - Landed 12/11/1972 in Taurus-Littrow - Eugene Cernan, Harrison Schmitt - CSM America, LM Challenger
Explorer 1
First satellite launched by the US - Launched 1/31/1958 from Cape Canaveral, as part of the International Geophysical Year (1957-58) - Detected the Van Allen Radiation Belt - Remained in orbit until 1970
Luna Program
Series of missions sent to the Moon by the USSR from 1959-76
- Luna 1 (1959) - Missed the Moon, became 1st spacecraft to orbit the Sun
- Luna 2 (1959) - 1st man-made object to impact the Moon
- Luna 3 (1959) - 1st photo of far side of the Moon (pic)
- Luna 9 (1966) - 1st soft landing y surface photos
Mercury Seven astronauts
Project Mercury was the first human spaceflight program of the USA, running from 1958-1963
- Alan Bartlett Shepard Jr. (1923–1998) - 1st American in space (Freedom 7 - 1961); 5th man on moon (Apollo 14 - 1971)
- Virgil Ivan “Gus” Grissom (1926-67) - 2nd American in space (Liberty Bell 7 - 1961); 1st in space twice (Gemini 3 - 1965); Died in Apollo 1 fire (1967)
- John Herschel Glenn Jr. (1921-2016) - 1st American to orbit (Friendship 7 - 1962); Oldest person in space at age 77 (1998 - Discovery)
- (Malcolm) Scott Carpenter (1925-2013) - 2nd American to orbit (Aurora 7 - 1962)
- Donald Kent “Deke” Slayton (1924-1993) - Pilot on 1st joint American–Soviet space mission (Apollo-Soyuz - 1975)
- Walter Marty “Wally” Schirra Jr. (1923-2007) - Only to fly in Mercury (Sigma 7 - 1962), Gemini (Gemini 3 - 1965), and Apollo (Apollo 7 - 1968)
- Leroy Gordon “Gordo” Cooper Jr. (1927-2004) - 1st American in space more than 1 day (Faith 7 - 1963); 1st 8-day mission (Gemini 5 - 1965)
Skylab
First American space station, in orbit from 1973-79 - Launched on the final mission of the Saturn V rocket - Damaged during launch, y first major repair in space conducted by first crew - Three manned crews from 1973-74 - Orbit became unstable, y broke apart over Western Australia
Sputnik 1
The first artificial satellite, launched on 10/04/1957 from Baikonur Cosmodrome - Completed 1440 orbits, travelling 29,000 kph, emitting radio pulses - Burned up in atmosphere in 1958 - Russian name Prosteyshiy Sputnik-1 means “Elementary Satellite 1”
Sputnik 2
Second spacecraft launched into Earth orbit, on 11/03/1957 - The first to carry a living animal, a Soviet space dog named Laika, who died a few hours after the launch from overheating - Contained compartments for radio transmitters, telemetry system, programming unit, a temperature-control system for the cabin, y scientific instruments
Successful Mars Landings (9)
- Viking 1 (1976-82)
- Viking 2 (1976-80)
- Mars Pathfinder lander y Sojourner rover (1997)
- Spirit rover (2004-10)
- Opportunity rover (2004-18)
- Phoenix lander (2008)
- Mars Science Laboratory (Curiosity) rover (2012- )
- InSight lander (2018- )
- Perseverance Rover & Ingenuity Helicopter (2021- )
Vanguard 1
Launched 3/17/1958 - Second American satellite, y fourth overall - First to have solar power - Oldest man-made object still in orbit, along with its launch vehicle - A 3 lb aluminum sphere, described by Nikita Khrushchev as “the grapefruit satellite”
Vostok 6
Launched 6/16/1963 - First human spaceflight to carry a woman, cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova (1937- ), into space - Mission duration of 2 days 22 hours, completing 48 orbits - The final Vostok flight
