Important Space Events

Science

1961•Alan Shephard, Jr. was the first American, and the second man in space to sub-orbit the earth.

•This was on the Freedom 7 mission

•He was also the 5th man to walk on the moon.

Alan Shepard, Jr. was the first American in a suborbital flight

1962•John Glenn, Jr. was the first American, and the third man to orbit the earth.

•This happened on the Friendship 7 spacecraft

•John Glenn was also the oldest man to fly in space, at age 77

John Glenn, Jr. was the first American to orbit the Earth

1965•Edward H. White II was the first American to walk in space.

•This happened on the Gemini 4 spacecraft.

•Edward H. White II died on the Apollo 1 mission while on the launch pad.

Edward H. White II became the first American to walk in space

1969•Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin became the first men to walk on the moon.

•This happened on the Apollo 11 mission

•After stepping on the moon, Neil Armstrong said:

"That's one small step for man; one giant leap for mankind."

Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin are the first men to walk on the moon

1971•As a part of the Apollo 15 mission, Dave Scott and Jim Irwin lived on the moon for 3 days.

•They had a lunar rover that drove around collecting artifacts.

•These two astronauts lived among the moon’s Apennine Mountains.

Dave Scott and Jim Irwin are able to live and work on the moon

1973Named Skylab, three people lived in this space station.

This space station remained in orbit from 1973 to 1979

This space station was launched by a modified Saturn V rocket.

First U.S. manned space laboratory to orbit Earth

1975USA and USSR (United Soviet States of Russia) worked together on a joint mission.

They both worked on connecting two space crafts—Apollo and Soyuz

This marked the end of the tension of the space race between the two countries.

First joint space mission between the U.S.A. and U.S.S.R

1981•Space Shuttle Colombia becomes the first space shuttle to fly to space.

•Space Shuttle Colombia flew for 28 flights during its history.

•Colombia was destroyed on re-entry into the earth’s atmosphere and all 7 astronauts died.

First space shuttle completes 36 orbits of Earth