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National Aeronautics and Space Administration

organization

70 records

1950s

3 records

  1. 1958

    1. 1958-10-01 space policy

      NASA opened as the United States’ civilian aeronautics and space agency.

  2. 1959

    1. 1959-04-09 human spaceflight

      NASA announced its first seven astronauts.

    2. 1959-05-01 observatory institution

      Category: Type:

      NASA established a space-science center named for rocket pioneer Robert Goddard.

1960s

8 records

  1. 1961

    1. 1961-05-05 human spaceflight

      Shepard completed a suborbital flight aboard Freedom 7.

  2. 1962

    1. 1962-12-14 planetary flyby

      Category: Type:

      Mission:

      Mariner 2 completed the first successful close-range planetary encounter.

  3. 1965

    1. 1965-06-03 spacewalk

      Category: Type:

      White worked outside Gemini 4 during an orbital flight.

    2. 1965-07-15 planetary flyby

      Category: Type:

      Mission:

      Mariner 4 returned close-range photographs of Mars during its encounter.

  4. 1966

    1. 1966-03-16 docking

      Category: Type:

      Mission:

      Neil Armstrong and David Scott docked Gemini VIII with its Agena target vehicle.

  5. 1967

    1. 1967-01-27 accident

      Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee died during an Apollo spacecraft ground test.

  6. 1968

    1. 1968-12-24 human spaceflight

      Apollo 8’s crew photographed Earth rising above the lunar horizon.

  7. 1969

    1. 1969-07-21 human spaceflight

      Armstrong stepped onto the Moon at about 02:56 UTC.

1970s

11 records

  1. 1971

    1. 1971-11-13 orbital insertion

      Category: Type:

      Mission:

      Mariner 9 became the first spacecraft to orbit another planet.

  2. 1972

    1. 1972-12-07 human spaceflight

      Apollo 17’s crew photographed the fully illuminated Earth while traveling toward the Moon.

  3. 1974

    1. 1974-03-29 planetary flyby

      Category: Type:

      Mission:

      Mariner 10 completed its first Mercury flyby after a Venus gravity assist.

  4. 1975

    1. 1975-03-16 planetary flyby

      Category: Type:

      Mission:

      The spacecraft passed Mercury for a third time, approaching within about 327 kilometers.

    2. 1975-07-17 docking

      Category: Type:

      American and Soviet spacecraft docked during their joint test mission.

  5. 1976

    1. 1976-06-19 orbital insertion

      Category: Type:

      Mission:

      Viking 1 entered orbit to prepare for its landing and study Mars.

    2. 1976-07-20 planetary landing

      Category: Type:

      Mission:

      Viking 1 began surface operations in Chryse Planitia.

    3. 1976-08-07 orbital insertion

      Category: Type:

      Mission:

      Viking 2 reached Mars orbit before its lander descended the following month.

    4. 1976-09-03 planetary landing

      Category: Type:

      Mission:

      Viking 2 touched down in Utopia Planitia.

  6. 1979

    1. 1979-03-05 planetary flyby

      Category: Type:

      Mission:

      Voyager 1 made its closest approach to Jupiter.

    2. 1979-07-09 planetary flyby

      Category: Type:

      Mission:

      Voyager 2 made its closest approach to Jupiter.

1980s

3 records

  1. 1980

    1. 1980-11-12 planetary flyby

      Category: Type:

      Mission:

      Voyager 1 made its closest approach to Saturn and studied its rings and moons.

  2. 1986

    1. 1986-01-24 planetary flyby

      Category: Type:

      Mission:

      Voyager 2 became the first spacecraft to fly past Uranus.

  3. 1989

    1. 1989-08-25 planetary flyby

      Category: Type:

      Mission:

      Voyager 2 made the first close spacecraft encounter with Neptune.

1990s

8 records

  1. 1990

    1. 1990-01-01 mission operations

      The Voyager program formally began its extended investigation of the outer heliosphere.

    2. 1990-04-25 mission operations

      The Hubble Space Telescope was deployed from the Space Shuttle Discovery on April 25, 1990, one day after the STS-31 launch.

  2. 1995

    1. 1995-07-13 deployment

      Category: Type:

      Mission:

      Galileo released the probe intended to descend into Jupiter's atmosphere.

    2. 1995-12-07 atmospheric entry

      The Galileo probe entered Jupiter's atmosphere and returned measurements for 58 minutes.

  3. 1997

    1. 1997-06-27 flyby

      Category: Type:

      Mission:

      NEAR observed Mathilde during its journey toward Eros.

    2. 1997-07-04 landing

      Category: Type:

      Mission:

      Pathfinder reached the surface of Mars.

  4. 1998

    1. 1998-02-17 mission operations

      Voyager 1 surpassed Pioneer 10’s distance from the Sun.

    2. 1998-12-06 assembly

      The STS-88 crew joined the Unity and Zarya modules in orbit.

2000s

14 records

  1. 2000

    1. 2000-02-14 orbital insertion

      Category: Type:

      Mission:

      NEAR entered Eros orbit at 15:33 UT, beginning sustained close-range observations.

  2. 2001

    1. 2001-02-12 landing

      Category: Type:

      Mission:

      NEAR Shoemaker touched down on Eros at 19:44 UT and continued returning data.

    2. 2001-02-28 mission end

      Controllers received the final communication from NEAR Shoemaker on Eros.

  3. 2003

    1. 2003-02-01 accident

      Space Shuttle Columbia broke apart during atmospheric reentry, killing seven astronauts.

    2. 2003-09-21 mission end

      The Galileo orbiter entered Jupiter's atmosphere at the end of its mission.

  4. 2004

    1. 2004-01-04 landing

      Category: Type:

      Mission:

      Spirit landed at Gusev Crater.

    2. 2004-01-25 landing

      Category: Type:

      Mission:

      Opportunity landed at Meridiani Planum.

    3. 2004-07-01 orbital insertion

      Category: Type:

      Mission:

      Cassini became the first spacecraft to orbit Saturn.

    4. 2004-12-16 mission operations

      Voyager 1 entered the heliosheath beyond the solar wind’s termination shock.

  5. 2005

    1. 2005-01-14 planetary landing

      ESA’s Huygens probe descended through Titan’s atmosphere and transmitted from its surface.

  6. 2006

    1. 2006-01-15 sample return

      Category: Type:

      Mission:

      Stardust delivered collected material from comet Wild 2 to Earth.

  7. 2007

    1. 2007-02-28 planetary flyby

      Category: Type:

      Mission:

      New Horizons used a Jupiter encounter to accelerate toward Pluto.

    2. 2007-08-30 mission operations

      Voyager 2 entered the heliosheath.

  8. 2009

    1. 2009-05-19 deployment

      Category: Type:

      Mission:

      The STS-125 crew released Hubble back into free flight after servicing.

2010s

3 records

  1. 2011

    1. 2011-03-18 orbital insertion

      Category: Type:

      Mission:

      MESSENGER entered Mercury orbit at 00:45 UT.

    2. 2011-07-16 orbital insertion

      Category: Type:

      Mission:

      Dawn used ion propulsion to enter orbit around Vesta.

  2. 2012

    1. 2012-08-06 landing

      Category: Type:

      Mission:

      The Curiosity rover landed in Gale Crater.

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