| 4/10/1957 | The Space age started with the the Russian launch of the first Satellite Sputnik 1. Sputnik 1 orbited the earth Whilst transmitting a beep which the fascinated world listen to. See how the Americans reacted to Sputnik 1 in this New York Times article Just two weeks later the Soviets tested their first intercontinental ballistic missiles, based on the same rocket that launched Sputnik 1 into space. |
| 3/11/1957 | Sputnik II was launched by the Russians. This second satellite carried a dog called Laika into orbit, hinting at the Soviets aims to send a man into space. |
| 31/1/1958 | The Americans successfully launched their first satellite into space; Explorer I, whilst in orbit Explorer I discovered the magnetic radiation belts around the Earth, which where named after Dr. James Van Allen, the man named as responsible for designing the instrumentation carrried by the satellite. |
| September 1959 | Luna II a Soviet probe was the first to land on the Moon. The landing was not a soft landing however as the probe crashed into the Moon as planned. |
| 9/10/1959 | Luna III was the first satellite to orbit around the Moon. During this orbit around the Moon it took the first pictures of the far side of the Moon. |
| 12/4/1961 | The Russian Yuri Gararin became the first man to orbit the Earth. |
| 25/5/1961 | President Kennedy announced America's aim to put a man on the Moon and return him safely to Earth by the end of the Sixties |
| October 1964 | The Russians achieve the first multi man mission into space with the first of their Voskhod (sunrise) missions. Three men where carried into space for the mission. |
| March 1965 | The first of the American two man missions named the Gemini program. |
March 1965 |
The first space walk is achieved by the Russians in the Voskhod II mission. Aleksei Leonov spent a total of 20 minutes in space. |
| September 1968 | Soviets test for Moon landing. Zond 5 unmanned test flight loops around the Moon and returns to Earth. |
| October 1968 | American Moon landing tests continue with the manned test flight of Apollo 7 in orbit around the Earth. |
December 1968 |
Soviet manned flight to the moon cancelled after October Zond problems |
| December 1968 | Apollo 8 crew orbits the moon and return safely to Earth. |
| February 1969 | Soviet test on its N-1 rocket fails. The N-1 rocket was needed for the heavier payloads of a Moon landing. |
| March 1969 | Apollo 9: tests the Lunar Module in Earth orbit |
| May 1969 | Apollo 10: tests the Lunar Module in orbit around the Moon. Tests were made on descending into a low lunar orbit. |
| July 1969 | Second Soviet tests of the N-1 rocket fail and the hopes of landing a man on the Moon first are lost. |
| July 1969 | Apollo 11 crew land on the surface of the Moon carry out basic scientific tests and then return safely to Earth. |
| July 1969 | In an attempt to be the first to return samples from the Moon the Soviets launch lunar 15. However it crashes on the surface of the Moon. |