Portal:Spaceflight/Anniversaries/All

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Contents 1 January 2 February 3 March 4 April 5 May 6 June 7 July 8 August 9 September 10 October 11 November 12 December

[edit] January

• January 16, 1969 - Yevgeny Khrunov and Aleksei Yeliseyev make first transfer between spacecraft (from Soyuz 5 to 4)
• January 27, 1967 - Three astronauts are killed in a fire aboard the Apollo 1 spacecraft, during a practice countdown.
• January 28, 1986 - The Space Shuttle Challenger explodes 73 seconds after the launch of STS-51-L, killing all seven astronauts.

[edit] February

• 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.

[edit] March

• 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, 1992 - Alexandr Kaleri and Alexandr 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.

[edit] April

• April 12, 1961 - Yuri Gagarin, aboard Vostok 1 becomes the first human in space.
• April 12, 1981 - First flight of the Space shuttle.
• April 12, 1985 - Jake Garn becomes the first politician in space.
• April 14, 1970 - An oxygen tank explodes onboard Apollo 13.
• April 23, 1967 - Vladimir Komarov becomes the first fatality during spaceflight when Soyuz 1 fails on reentry.
• April 24, 1990 - Hubble Space Telescope launched aboard the Space Shuttle.
• April 29, 2001 - Dennis Tito becomes the first space tourist.

[edit] May

• 5 May 1961 Alan Shepard becomes the first American in space, and the first person to make a sub-orbital spaceflight, on Mercury-Redstone 3.
• 18 May 1969 Apollo 10 is launched, testing the Apollo Lunar Module in lunar orbit.
• 18 May 1991 Helen Sharman becomes the first British person in space, aboard Soyuz TM-12.

[edit] June

• 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 Jahn becomes the first East German in space, aboard Soyuz 31
• 28 June - 1978 - Miroslaw 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.

[edit] July

• 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 X-15 Flight 90.
• July 20, 1969 - Apollo 11 makes the first human landing on the Moon.

[edit] August

• 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 makes 1st Venus Flyby
• August 30, 1983 - On Space Shuttle flight STS-8, Guion Bluford becomes the first African-American in space.

[edit] September

• September 12, 1970 - Luna 16 launched on 1st unmanned lunar sample return mission.
• September 14, 1959 - Luna 2 makes the 1st lunar impact.
• September 16, 1994 - Carl J. Meade makes an 3½ hour untethered spacewalk to test the Simplified Aid for EVA Rescue.
• September 18, 1980 - Arnaldo Tamayo-Mendez becomes the first Cuban and the first black person to fly in space on Soyuz 38.
• September 26, 1983 - Soyuz T-10-1 explodes on the launchpad two seconds after the crew is saved by the escape system. They land 4 kilometers away.
• September 28, 1988 - STS-26 sees the Space Shuttle Discovery launch on NASA's return to flight after the Challenger Disaster
• September 29, 2004 - Mike Melvill makes the first of two flights (second flight overall) in SpaceShipOne to capture the Ansari X Prize

[edit] October

• October 1, 1958 - NASA was created to replace NACA.
• October 3, 1985 - Space Shuttle Atlantis flys its maiden voyage. (STS-51-J)
• 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.

[edit] November

• 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.

[edit] December

• 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.