By Raza Mehdi
Nov 07, 2022
On October 4, 1957, the U.S.S.R. launched Sputnik 1 satellite, the first artificial object to leave the Earth's atmosphere. The 23-inch diameter sphere orbited the Earth and transmitted signals until burning up on January 4, 1958.
World's first artificial satellite launch
Image: Wikipedia Commons
Sent by the U.S. in 1959, two monkeys named Able and Baker became the first living creatures to survive a space flight. The U.S.S.R. had launched the first living creature, a dog named Laika, into space in 1957, but she died a few hours from overheating and panic.
First creatures to return from space
Image: Wikipedia Commons
Yuri Gagarin became the first man to go into space in April 1961. Gagarin circled Earth for 108 minutes aboard the Vostok 1 spacecraft that travelled 27,400 km per hour.
First human in space
Image: Wikipedia Commons
On June 16, 1963, Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova, a former textile worker, became the first woman to go into space. During her three days on the mission, she circled the Earth 48 times.
First woman in space
Image: Wikipedia Commons
On March 18, 1965, Russian cosmonaut Alexei Leonov carried out the first-ever spacewalk from the Voskhod spacecraft. But minutes after stepping into space, his suit expanded. He released a valve to depressurise his suit and squeeze back inside.
First spacewalk
Image: Wikipedia Commons
NASA's spacecraft Mariner 4 was the first to fly to Mars and transmit 21 close-range photos from distances between 6,200 miles and 10,500 miles above the Red Planet on July 1965.
First pictures of Mars
Image: NASA
On July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin were the first humans to walk on the Moon. The two spent about 21 hours, 36 minutes outside the lunar module, taking photographs and collecting 21.5 kg of lunar material for research on Earth.
First human on the Moon
Image: NASA
Salyut 1 was the first space station launched by the Soviet Union on April 19, 1971, which was significant progress in human's ability to live and work in space. The three-person Soviet crew aboard Salyut 1 for 23 days later died while returning to Earth.
First space station
Image: NASA
On February 7, 1984, Bruce McCandless became the first person to do a spacewalk without lines attached to a spacecraft. He tested a manned manoeuvring unit that allowed him a 90-minute spacewalk away from the orbiter.
Free-flying in space
Image: NASA
Assembly of the International Space Station began with the launch of its first module, Zarya, on November 20, 1998. The I.S.S. is the largest artificial body in space occupied since November 2000, and more than 200 people from 15 countries have visited the space station.
Assembly of I.S.S. begins
Image: NASA
The goal of looking further into space finally happened with the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope on April 24, 1990. The telescope has captured millions of images, and discovered numerous galaxies, stars and distant planets.
Hubble Space Telescope becomes operational
Image: NASA
NASA launched the Mars exploration rovers in 2004 to understand Mars's history better. Spirit, the first of the twin rovers, made its last communication in 2010 and Opportunity operated until June 2018. Curiosity, which landed in 2012, is currently in contact with NASA.
First twin rover on Mars
Image: NASA