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Space Race Timeline Cheat Sheet (DRAFT) by

Timeline of The Space Race between US & USSR during the Cold War

This is a draft cheat sheet. It is a work in progress and is not finished yet.

1940s: Origins of the Space Race

1945
US & USSR capture German V-2 rocket technology & scientists
 
July 16: US conducts the first successful test of an atomic bomb
1947
October 14: US Air Force Test Pilot breaks the sound barrier

1950s: The Race Begins

1955
July 29: US announces intention to launch satellites
 
August 2: USSR announces intention to launch satellites
1957
October 4: USSR launches Sputnik 1 an artificial satellite
 
November 3: USSR launches Sputnik 2 with Laika
1958
January 31: US launches satellite, Explorer 1
 
March 17 US launches Vanguard 1 a solar-­powered satellite
 
October 1: NASA is establ­ished
1959
January 2: USSR's Luna 1 reaches the vicinity of the Moon
 
September 12: USSR’s Luna 2 impacts the Moon
 
October 4: Luna 3 sends images of Moon's far side
 

1960s: Major Milestones

1961
April 12: Soviet Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin becomes the first human in space on Vostok 1
 
May 5: US astronaut Alan Shepard completes the first U.S. manned spacef­light on Mercur­y-R­edstone 3 (Freedom 7)
 
May 25: US President JFK sets the goal of landing a man on the Moon
 
August 6: Soviet Cosmonaut Gherman Titov orbits the Earth on Vostok 2
1962
February 20: John Glenn becomes the first American to orbit Earth on Mercur­y-Atlas 6
 
August 11-15: Soviet cosmonaut Andrian Nikolayev orbits the Earth aboard Vostok 3, while Pavel Popovich orbits aboard Vostok 4, marking the first simult­aneous crewed spacef­lights
 
October 3: US astronaut Walter Schirra orbits the Earth 6 times aboard Mercur­y-Atlas 8
1963
June 16: Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova becomes the first woman in space aboard Vostok 6
 
July 19: US launches Syncom 2 a geosta­tionary commun­ica­tions satellite
1964
October 12: USSR launches Voskhod 1 a multi person spacecraft
1965
March 18: Soviet cosmonaut Alexei Leonov conducts a spacewalk from Voskhod 2
 
March 23: US astronauts Gus Grissom & John Young conduct a crewed mission Gemini 3
 
June 3-7: US astronaut Ed White performs first American spacewalk from Gemini 4
 
August 21-29: Gemini 5 sets a new space endurance record of 8 days
1966
March 16: Gemini 8, piloted by Neil Armstrong, completes a successful docking of two spacecraft in orbit
 
June 2: The U.S. Surveyor 1 spacecraft makes the first successful soft landing on the Moon.
 
September 12: USSR’s Luna 9 makes a soft landing on the moon & transmits images back to Earth
 
November 11: NASA succes­sfully launches Gemini 12 with astronauts James Lovell & Buzz Aldrin
1967
January 27: Tragedy strikes with the Apollo 1 fire, killing three astronauts
 
April 24: Soviet Cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov dies when Soyuz 1 crashes during re-entry
 
October 18: USSR succes­sfully tests the Proton Rocket
1968
September 15: USSR launches Zond 5, which carries the first living organisms to orbit the moon & return safely to Earth
 
December 21-27: Apollo 8 a manned mission to orbit the Moon
1969
July 20: Apollo 11 lands on the Moon. Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walks on the surface
 

1970s: The Space Race Winds Down

1970
April 11-17: Apollo 13 mission suffers in flight emergency when oxygen tank explodes
 
September 12: USSR's Luna 16 returns lunar soil samples to Earth
1971
April 19: USSR launches Salyut 1 a space station
 
June 6-30: Soyuz 11 crew dies during re entry after boarding Salyut 1
1972
December 7-19: Apollo 17 last Apollo mission, and final Moon landing
1975
July 15-24: The Apollo­-Soyuz Test Project a intern­ational human spacef­light & end of Space Race

Post-Space Race: The Legacy

1986
USSR launches Mir, a modular space station that would remain in orbit until 2001
1998
US, Russia, & other intern­ational partners begin the constr­uction of the Intern­ational Space Station (ISS), symbol­ising the cooper­ative spirit that emerged after the Space Race