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Space history timeline

6,410 records

1840s

3 records

  1. 1842

    1. 1842-07-08 solar science

      Francis Baily’s eclipse observations supported interpreting the corona as part of the Sun.

  2. 1843

    1. 1843 CE Year only solar science

      Heinrich Schwabe identified a recurring pattern in sunspot numbers after years of observation.

  3. 1846

    1. 1846-09-23 astronomical discovery

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      Johann Galle observed Neptune after its position had been predicted from planetary-motion calculations.

1850s

1 record

  1. 1859

    1. 1859-09-01 solar science

      Richard Carrington observed a white-light solar flare preceding an intense geomagnetic storm.

1860s

1 record

  1. 1864

    1. 1864 CE Year only astronomy theory

      Maxwell’s equations described electromagnetism and provided a basis for understanding astronomical radiation.

1890s

3 records

  1. 1895

    1. 1895-11-08 astronomy instrument

      Wilhelm Röntgen detected penetrating radiation later fundamental to high-energy astronomy.

  2. 1899

    1. 1899 CE Year only observatory institution

      Astronomers founded the American Astronomical Society at a meeting at Yerkes Observatory.

    2. 1899-10-19 rocketry history

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      Robert Goddard later associated a childhood experience in a cherry tree with his interest in spaceflight.

1900s

1 record

  1. 1908

    1. 1908-06-30 impact event

      A large atmospheric explosion devastated forest near the Stony Tunguska River in Siberia.

1910s

1 record

  1. 1919

    1. 1919-05-29 astronomy measurement

      Eclipse expeditions measured starlight deflection near the Sun, testing Einstein’s general relativity.

1920s

2 records

  1. 1920

    1. 1920-04-26 astronomy theory

      Harlow Shapley and Heber Curtis debated the scale of the universe and the nature of spiral nebulae.

  2. 1926

    1. 1926-03-16 rocketry history

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      Robert Goddard flew his first successful liquid-propellant rocket.

1930s

3 records

  1. 1933

    1. 1933-05-05 astronomical discovery

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      A New York Times report brought Karl Jansky’s detection of radio emission from the Milky Way to public attention.

  2. 1934

    1. 1934 CE Year only astronomy theory

      Walter Baade and Fritz Zwicky proposed that supernovae can mark the formation of neutron stars.

  3. 1939

    1. 1939-09-01 astronomy theory

      The paper described continuing gravitational collapse of a massive star.

1940s

2 records

  1. 1949

    1. 1949-02-24 rocketry history

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      A two-stage Bumper rocket reached approximately 393 kilometers in a high-altitude test.

    2. 1949-09-29 solar science

      A Naval Research Laboratory detector on a V-2 rocket measured X-rays from the Sun.

1950s

7 records

  1. 1956

    1. 1956-02-23 solar science

      Ground-based instruments registered an exceptionally large increase in solar energetic particles.

  2. 1958

    1. 1958-01-04 mission end

      The first artificial satellite reentered Earth’s atmosphere.

    2. 1958-07-29 space policy

      President Dwight Eisenhower signed the law creating NASA.

    3. 1958-10-01 space policy

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

  3. 1959

    1. 1959-04-09 human spaceflight

      NASA announced its first seven astronauts.

    2. 1959-05-01 observatory institution

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

    3. 1959-09-13 impact

      Moon impact.

1960s

26 records

  1. 1960

    1. 1960-03-23 launch failure

      Category:

      Mission:

      Juno II launched on the NASA S-46 flight from Cape Canaveral Air Station, Florida, pad LC26B. Launch failure.

    2. 1960-04-16 launch failure

      Category:

      Mission:

      Vostok-L 8K72 launched on the E-3 No. 2 flight from NIIP-5, Baykonur, Kazakstan, pad LC1. Launch failure.

    3. 1960-05-13 launch failure

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      Mission:

      Thor Delta launched on the Echo flight from Cape Canaveral Air Station, Florida, pad LC17A. Launch failure.

    4. 1960-05-15 launch

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      Mission:

      Vostok 8K72 launched on the Korabl'-Sputnik flight from NIIP-5, Baykonur, Kazakstan, pad LC1. Launch vehicle success.

    5. 1960-07-28 launch failure

      Category:

      Mission:

      Vostok 8K72 launched on the Vostok-1 No. 1 flight from NIIP-5, Baykonur, Kazakstan, pad LC1. Launch failure.

    6. 1960-08-12 launch

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      Mission:

      Thor Delta launched on the Echo 1 flight from Cape Canaveral Air Station, Florida, pad LC17A. Launch vehicle success.

    7. 1960-08-19 launch

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      Mission:

      Vostok 8K72 launched on the Korabl'-Sputnik-2 flight from NIIP-5, Baykonur, Kazakstan, pad LC1. Launch vehicle success.

    8. 1960-10-10 launch failure

      Category:

      Mission:

      Mars 1960A, also called Mars 1M No.1, was the first of two Soviet probes launched in October 1960 to attempt a flyby of Mars.

    9. 1960-10-14 launch failure

      Category:

      Mission:

      Mars 1960B, also called Mars 1M No.2, was the second Soviet attempt to send a spacecraft toward Mars in October 1960.

    10. 1960-11-03 launch

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      Mission:

      Juno II launched on the Explorer 8 flight from Cape Canaveral Air Station, Florida, pad LC26B. Launch vehicle success.

    11. 1960-11-23 launch

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      Mission:

      Thor Delta launched on the Tiros 2 flight from Cape Canaveral Air Station, Florida, pad LC17A. Launch vehicle success.

    12. 1960-12-01 launch

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      Mission:

      Vostok 8K72 launched on the Korabl'-Sputnik-3 flight from NIIP-5, Baykonur, Kazakstan, pad LC1. Launch vehicle success.

    13. 1960-12-22 launch failure

      Category:

      Mission:

      Vostok 8K72 (K) launched on the Vostok-1 No. 4 flight from NIIP-5, Baykonur, Kazakstan, pad LC1. Launch failure.

  2. 1961

    1. 1961-02-04 launch

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      Mission:

      Tyazhely Sputnik, also known by its development name as Venera 1VA No. 1, and in the West as Sputnik 7, was a Soviet spacecraft, which was intended to be the first spacecraft to explore Venus.

    2. 1961-02-12 launch

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      Mission:

      Venera 1, also known as Venera-1VA No.2 and occasionally in the West as Sputnik 8, was the first spacecraft to perform an interplanetary flight and the first to fly past Venus, as part of the Soviet Union's Venera programme.

    3. 1961-02-25 launch failure

      Category:

      Mission:

      Juno II launched on the NASA S-45 flight from Cape Canaveral Air Station, Florida, pad LC26B. Launch failure.

    4. 1961-03-09 launch

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      Mission:

      Vostok 8K72 (K) launched on the Korabl'-Sputnik-4 flight from NIIP-5, Baykonur, Kazakstan, pad LC1. Launch vehicle success.

    5. 1961-03-25 launch

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      Mission:

      Vostok 8K72 (K) launched on the Korabl'-Sputnik-5 flight from NIIP-5, Baykonur, Kazakstan, pad LC1. Launch vehicle success.

    6. 1961-03-25 launch

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      Mission:

      Thor Delta launched on the Explorer 10 flight from Cape Canaveral Air Station, Florida, pad LC17A. Launch vehicle success.

    7. 1961-04-08 launch

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      Mission:

      Thor Agena B launched on the Discoverer 23 flight from Vandenberg AFB, California, pad 75-3-5. Launch vehicle success.

    8. 1961-04-12 launch

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      Mission:

      Vostok 8K72 (K) launched on the Vostok flight from NIIP-5, Baykonur, Kazakstan, pad LC1. Launch vehicle success.

    9. 1961-04-25 launch failure

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      Mission:

      Atlas D launched on the MA-3 flight from Cape Canaveral Air Station, Florida, pad LC14. Launch failure.

    10. 1961-04-27 launch

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      Mission:

      Juno II launched on the Explorer 11 flight from Cape Canaveral Air Station, Florida, pad LC26B. Launch vehicle success.

    11. 1961-05-05 human spaceflight

      Shepard completed a suborbital flight aboard Freedom 7.

    12. 1961-05-24 launch failure

      Category:

      Mission:

      Juno II launched on the NASA S-45A flight from Cape Canaveral Air Station, Florida, pad LC26B. Launch failure.

    13. 1961-05-25 space policy

      President John F. Kennedy called for a crewed lunar landing and safe return before the decade ended.

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