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General Launches Timeline

1957

October 4: Soviets launch Sputnik, the first artificial satellite.
November 4: Soviets send first living creature into space, the dog Laika.
1958
January 4: SPUTNIK I reentered the atmosphere and disintegrated.
January 31: EXPLORER I, first U.S. earth satellite, launched by modified ABMA-JPL Jupiter-C, with U.S.-IGY scientific experiment of James A. Van Allen, which discovered the radiation belt around the earth.
February 5: Trial firing of IGY Vanguard (TV-3Bu) satellite failed at Cape Canaveral, Fla., 57 seconds after launch.
February 21: U.S.S.R. fired a single-stage rocket to 294-mile altitude with 3,340 pounds of experiments for measuring ion composition of the atmosphere, pressure, temperature, micrometeorites, etc., according to the Soviet IGY Committee.
March 5: EXPLORER II launched by Army Jupiter-C failed to orbit due to failure of last stage to ignite, a joint JPL-ABMA project.
March 17: Second U.S.-IGY satellite, VANGUARD I, launched into orbit with life expectancy of perhaps a 1,000 years, a highly successful scientific satellite which proved that the earth is slightly pear shaped. Operating on solar-powered batteries, it was still transmitting after 3 years in orbit.
March 21: Two-stage monorail rocket-propelled sled exceeded 2,700 mph at Holloman AFB.
March 26: Third U.S.-IGY Satellite, EXPLORER III, a joint ABMA-JPL project, successfully launched by Army Juno II, yielded valuable data on radiation belt, micrometeorite impacts, and temperature before returning to earth on June 27.
March 26: SPUTNIK II reentered earth's atmosphere.
April 28: Vanguard (TV-5) failed to orbit due to malfunction of minor components in the firing circuit of third stage.
May 7: Flying a Lockheed F-104A Starfighter at Edwards AFB, Calif., Maj. Howard C. Johnson (USAF) set a 91,249-foot world altitude record for ground-launched planes.
May 15: SPUTNIK III placed into orbit by the U.S.S.R. with a total payload weight of about 7,000 pounds, and called "flying laboratory." (Satellite almost 3,000 pounds.)
May 18: First U.S. full-size tactical nose cone was recovered from the Atlantic Ocean 41&Mac218;2 hours after launching from Cape Canaveral on a Jupiter missile.
June 28: EXPLORER III reentered the earth's atmosphere.
July 26: EXPLORER IV, fourth U.S.-IGY satellite, successfully launched by Army Jupiter-C.
August 24: EXPLORER V successfully launched by ABMA-JPL Jupiter-C and all stages fired, but orbit not achieved because of collision between parts of booster and instrument compartment.
September 8: Unmanned ONR balloon carried telescope and camera to an altitude of 104,600 feet.
September 25: First launching of an Exos sounding rocket in USAF-NASA joint effort from Wallops Island, Va.
September 26: Vanguard (SLV-3) reached 265 miles' altitude and was destroyed 9,200 miles downrange over Central Africa on reentry into the atmosphere.
October 8: In MAN HIGH III balloon launched from Holloman AFB, Lt. Clifton M. McClure attained a near-record altitude of 99,900 feet.
November 8: Second U.S.-IGY space probe under direction of NASA with Air Force as executive agent, PIONEER II, was launched from AMR. Unseparated third and fourth stages reached an altitude of about 1,000 miles and flew some 7,500 miles before burning out.
November 14: First launch of a 3,750,000-cubic-foot plastic balloon at Holloman AFB; payload was parachute test vehicle for development of high-Mach parachute systems.
December 6: The third U.S.-IGY space probe3&Mac218;4the second under direction of NASA and with the Army as executive agent3&Mac218;4was launched at 12:45 a.m., from AMR by Juno II rocket. The primary mission of PIONEER III, to place the scientific payload in the vicinity of the moon, was not accomplished although an altitude of 63,580 miles was achieved and it discovered that radiation belt was comprised of at least two bands.
December 20: First Titan test launch exploded on the pad at Cape Canaveral.
1959
January 2: U.S.S.R. launched LUNIK I into a solar orbit, with a total weight of a reported 3,245 pounds, the first man-made object placed in orbit around the sun. It was called MECHTA ("dream") by the Russians.
January 28: Nike-Cajun successfully launched 12-foot-diameter test inflatable sphere to a height of 75 miles over NASA Wallops Island, the sphere inflating satisfactorily.
February 6: First test launch of USAF Titan ICBM (A-3) from Cape Canaveral.
February 17: VANGUARD II (SLV-4), the fifth U.S.-IGY satellite, successfully launched payload containing photocells designed to produce cloud cover images for 2 weeks; processing or wobbling prevented significant interpretation of data.
March 3: PIONEER IV, fourth U.S.-IGY space probe, a joint ABMA-JPL project under direction of NASA, was launched by a Juno II rocket from AMR and achieved earth-moon trajectory, passing within 37,000 miles of the moon before going into permanent solar orbit. Radio contact was maintained to a record distance of 406, 620 miles. It was the first U.S. sun-orbiter.
March 7: First French Veronique sounding rocket launched from Columb Bechar to an altitude of 104 km (64.6 mi.).
March 13: From an altitude of 123 miles boosted by an NRL Aerobee-Hi rocket, fired from White Sands, N. Mex., the first ultraviolet photos of the sun were taken and recorded.
March 17: First flight launching of a spin-stabilized 20-inch-diameter spherical rocket, by NASA Langley's PARD at Wallops Station, Va.
April 13: DISCOVERER II satellite successfully placed into polar orbit by Thor-Agena A booster, but capsule ejection malfunctioned causing it to impact in vicinity of Spitsbergen on April 14 instead of vicinity of Hawaii. It was first vehicle known to have been placed in a polar orbit and was the first attempt to recover an object from orbit.
June 3: DISCOVERER III failed to achieve orbit.
June 22: VANGUARD (SLV-6) satellite designed to measure the radiation balance of the earth, its atmosphere, and the solar energy flux, failed to go into orbit.
August 7: EXPLORER VI, popularly called the "Paddlewheel Satellite," launched by NASA Thor-Able 3, contained 14 experiments, and a photocell scanner which transmitted a crude picture of the earth's surface and cloud cover from a distance of 17,000 miles. Placed in highly elliptical orbit (26,000 miles out, 156 miles in), it gave a broad sample of readings.
September 12: Russia's LUNIK II launched with a total payload weight of 858.4 pounds, became the first manmade object to hit the moon on the following day. Its launching coincided with the departure of Premier Nikita Khrushchev for the United States in turboprop Tu-114.
September 18: VANGUARD III, sixth U.S.-IGY satellite, successfully injected into orbit, marking the end of Vanguard launching activities. VANGUARD III provided comprehensive survey of magnetic field, lower edge of radiation belts, and accurate micrometeorite impacts.
October 13: EXPLORER VII, the seventh and last U.S.-IGY earth satellite, and now under direction of NASA with the Army as executive agent, launched into an earth orbit by modified Army Juno II. By late December, data from the satellite indicated possible relationships between solar events and geomagnetic storms, and revealed information about trapped radiation and cosmic rays near the earth. With launching of this ABMA-JPL project, all experiments for the U.S.-IGY space program had been successfully placed into orbit.
October 18: LUNIK III provided man's first look at 70 percent of the backside of the moon, 2 weeks after launch, by transmitting automatically taken pictures. Pictures were released on October 26.
1960
March 11: PIONEER V, NASA space probe, successfully launched by Thor-Able-4, the start of a historic flight to measure radiation and magnetic fields between Earth and Venus, and to communicate over great distances. Managed by AFBMD and Space Technology Laboratories for NASA, PIONEER V carried experiments designed by various civilian and governmental scientists.
April 2: LUNIK I completed first orbit around the sun.
May 15: SPACECRAFT I weighing 10,000 pounds launched into orbit by the U.S.S.R., the first successful effort to orbit a vehicle large enough to contain a human passenger, although efforts to recover the space capsule failed.
May 19: TIROS I weather satellite spotted a tornado storm system in the vicinity of Wichita Falls, Tex.
July 4: Soviet Tass announced that Russia last month successfully launched a new 4,400-pound-thrust rocket carrying a rabbit and two dogs to a reported altitude of 124.8 miles.
July 29: Project Apollo, advanced manned spacecraft program, was first announced at NASA's Industry Conference.
August 10: DISCOVERER XIII launched successfully into polar orbit.
August 11: First manmade object recovered from an orbiting satellite, the 85-pound instrumented capsule of DISCOVERER XIII recovered from the ocean off Hawaii after 16 orbits. Silken 50-star American flag it carried was presented to the President on August 15.
August 18: USAF DISCOVERER XIV launched into polar orbit from Vandenberg AFB, Calif.
August 19: SPACECRAFT II launched into orbit by the U.S.S.R. weighing 5 tons and carrying a biological payload including two dogs.
August 21: U.S.S.R. announced safe recovery of biologic payloads of SPACECRAFT II after 17 orbits, and reported that 2 dog passengers were in excellent physical condition. This was the first successful recovery of life forms from orbit.
September 13: DISCOVERER XV placed into polar orbit.
November 4: New results in sustaining hydrogen fusion for 1 millisecond at 60^o F reported by University of California scientists.
November 14: DOD announced that NASA, USAF, USA, and USN were jointly building a geodetic satellite to map the earth accurately.
November 23: TIROS II weather satellite launched by Thor-Delta at AMR, the 14th successful U.S. satellite launched to date in 1960.
December 1: SPACECRAFT III launched by U.S.S.R., weighing over 5 tons and carrying a biological payload in its "space cabin."
December 31: To date, the United States had successfully launched 31 earth satellites (9 of 16 still in orbit were still transmitting) and 2 deep space probes into orbit around the sun. The U.S.S.R. had launched seven satellites (one of which remained in orbit) and one deep space probe. The U.S.S.R. had also launched one lunar impact mission (LUNIK II), while LUNIK III had passed once around the moon and then went into earth orbit before decaying.
1961
February 4: Sputnik IV launched into orbit by U.S.S.R., a 7.1-ton payload, but mission of flight was not announced.
February 12: Sputnik VIII launched into Earth orbit by U.S.S.R., from which it placed 1,419-pound Venus probe on its course.
February 22: French Veronique launched capsule containing rat (Hector) to 95-mile altitude, recovered successfully.
March 13: Soviet astronomers claimed to have discovered the presence of oxygen in the atmosphere of Venus. Dr. Brian Warner of the London Observatory correlated and reinterpreted spectrographic data gathered earlier by Soviet Astronomer Nikolai Kozyrev.
March 25: U.S.S.R. launched Spacecraft V, a more than 5-ton payload, and recovered capsule containing a dog named Little Star. This was apparently a repeat of the March 9 shot.
March 30: NASA-USAF-USN rocket research X-15 flown to 169,600 feet by Joseph A. Walker, NASA pilot, the highest altitude ever reached by man and which included 2 minutes of weightlessness at the top of his climb. The X-15, powered by XLR-99 rocket engine designed to thrust it to 50 miles altitude and speeds of up to 4,000 miles per hour, was only run at three-quarters throttle.
April 19: Scientists from the United Kingdom and NASA announced agreement on the scientific instrumentation of a second United Kingdom satellite to be launched by NASA with a Scout vehicle.
April 27: Javelin launched 70.6-pound payload to altitude of 475 miles in beginning of Goddard Space Flight Center program to measure the density of eletrons in the ionosphere.
May 5: Freedom 7, manned Mercury spacecraft (No. 7) carrying Astronaut Alan B. Shepard, Jr., as pilot, was launched from Cape Canaveral by Mercury-Redstone (MR-3) launch vehicle, to an altitude of 115.696 miles and a range of 302 miles. It was the first American manned space flight. Shepard demonstrated that man can control a vehicle during weightlessness and high G stresses, and significant scientific biomedical data were acquired. He reached a speed of 5,100 miles per hour and flight lasted 14.8 minutes.
June 29: First launching of three active satellites in one shot, and the first launching of a satellite with nuclear power, when a Thor-Able-Star launched Transit IV-A (equipped with an atomic radioisotope-powered battery of the Snap series), and two accompanying satellites, Injun and Greb III, from Atlantic Missile Range. Transit IV is forerunner of a navigation satellite system, while Injun gathers data on the radiation belts, and Greb III gathers data on X-ray radiation from the Sun.
July 5: Major Gagarin, speaking in Helsinki, Finland, stated that the U.S.S.R.would launch another manned space vehicle sometime before the end of the year.
July 23: Red Star (Krasnaya Zvezda) of the U.S.S.R. stated Tiros III and Midas III launched on July 12 were comparable to the U-2: "A spy is a spy, no matter what height it flies."
July 27: France announced plans to launch its first satellite by the end of 1964.
August 6: U.S.S.R. launched Vostok II into orbit carrying Maj. Gherman S. Titov. Spacecraft weighed 13 pounds more than Vostok I (April 12) and progress of Cosmonaut Titov's flight was reported continuously of Radio Moscow.
August 11: Aerojet-General Corp. announced first successful underwater launching of a liquid-fueled rocket, an Aerobee fired from a water test basin at Azuza, Calif.
August 31: With successful launch of Explorer XII on August 15, NASA Delta launch vehicles had successfully launched five satellites out of six attempts, the only failure being the first attempt. Deta's high reliability record began with Echo I on August 12, 1960, and includes Tiros II and III, and Explorers X and XII. Built by prime contrator Douglas Aircraft, the NASA Delta launch vehicle consists of a Thor first stage (Rocketdyne MB-3 liquid engine), Aerojet-General second stage (AJ-10-118, an improved Vanguard second stage), and an ABL third stage (X-248 spin-stabilized version of Vanguard third stage).
October 23: First underwater launching of Navy Polaris A-2, and first firing from submarine, U.S.S. Ethan Allen.
October 27: Largest known rocket launch to date, the Saturn 1st stage booster, successful on first test flight from Atlantic Missile Range. With its eight clustered engines developing almost 1.3 million pounds of thrust at launch, the Saturn (SA-1) hurled waterfilled dummy upper stages to an altitude of 84.8 miles and 214.7 miles down range. In a postlaunch statement, Administrator Webb said: "The flight today was a splendid demonstration of the strength of our national space program and an important milestone in the buildup of our national capacity to launch heavy payloads necessary to carry out the program projected by President Kennedy on May 25. We in NASA deeply appreciate the contribution by the military services and American industry in achieving this important milestone." Development of Saturn had begun under Advanced Research Projects Agency auspices in 1958.
November 20: In news conference, Dr. Albert R. Hibbs, Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Chief of Space Sciences, stated that it would be a "major accomplishment" if the United States were to overtake the Russians in the race to the Moon, a "less than 50-50 chance." He pointed to the rumors that the Soviet Union had already attempted to launch a probe to Mars.
December 5: Reported by Drew Pearson that CIA had warned that Russia "is preparing to launch a man around the moon in 60 days."
December 15: NASA's Explorer XII satellite returned voluminous data revising previous information on the Van Allen radiation belts and showing them to be no substantial problem to manned space flight. Launched on August 15, 1961, and transmitting until December 6, 1961, Explorer XII returned information amounting to 5,636 telemetry tapes (2,400 feet each). Of principal interest was its finding that the Van Allen belts consist of a preponderance of protons over electrons in a ratio of 1,000 to 1. Since the protons are of less than 1 million electron volts energy, they do not themselves offer a serious radiation problem and serve to slow the velocity of other radiation.

December 15: S-IB stage of the Advanced Saturn launch vehicle would be built by the Boeing Co., NASA announced. The $300 million contract, to run through 1966, called for development, construction, and test of 24 flight stages, plus several for ground tests. Assembly would take place at the NASA Michoud Operations Plant, New Orleans, La. The S-1B would be the first stage of the vehicle that would launch the three-man Apollo spacecraft for direct circumlunar flight or, with rendezvous, for lunar landing.

-Lunar and Planetary Exploration-

1957

Name Date Event

Sputnik 1 October 4 Earth Orbiter

Sputnik 2 November 3 Earth Orbiter

1958

Explorer 1 February 1 Earth Orbiter

Vanguard 1 March 17 Earth Orbiter

Pioneer 0 Aug 17 Attempted Lunar Orbit (Launch Failure)

Luna 1958A September 23 Attempted Lunar Impact? (Launch Failure)

Pioneer 1 Oct 11 Attempted Lunar Orbit (Launch Failure)

Luna 1958B October 12 Attempted Lunar Impact? (Launch Failure)

Pioneer 2 Nov 8 Attempted Lunar Orbit (Launch Failure)

Luna 1958C December 4 Attempted Lunar Impact? (Launch Failure)

Pioneer 3 Dec 4 Attempted Lunar Flyby (Launch Failure)

1959

Luna 1 Jan 2 Lunar Flyby (Attempted Lunar Impact?)

Pioneer 4 March 3 Lunar Flyby

Luna 1959A June 16 Attempted Lunar Impact? (Launch Failure)

Luna 2 Sep 12 Lunar Impact

Luna 3 Oct 4 Lunar Flyby

Pioneer P-3 Nov 26 Attempted Lunar Orbiter (Launch Failure)

1960

Luna 1960A April 16 Attempted Lunar Flyby (Launch Failure)

Luna 1960B April 18 Attempted Lunar Flyby (Launch Failure)

Pioneer P-30 Sept 25 Attempted Lunar Orbiter (Launch Failure)

Marsnik 1 (Mars 1960A) Oct 10 Attempted Mars Flyby (Launch Failure)

Marsnik 2 (Mars 1960B) Oct 14 Attempted Mars Flyby (Launch Failure)

Pioneer P-31 Dec 14 Attempted Lunar Orbiter (Launch Failure)

1961

Sputnik 7 Feb 4 Attempted Venus Impact

Venera 1 Feb 12 Venus Flyby (Contact Lost)

Ranger 1 Aug 23 Attempted Lunar Test Flight

Ranger 2 Nov 18 Attempted Lunar Test Flight

1962

Ranger 3 Jan 26 Attempted Lunar Impact

Ranger 4 Apr 23 Lunar Impact

Mariner 1 Jul 22 Attempted Venus Flyby (Launch Failure)

Sputnik 23 Aug 25 Attempted Venus Flyby

Mariner 2 Aug 27 Venus Flyby

Sputnik 24 Sep 1 Attempted Venus Flyby

Sputnik 25 Sep 12 Attempted Venus Flyby

Ranger 5 Oct 18 Attempted Lunar Impact

Sputnik 29 Oct 24 Attempted Mars Flyby

Mars 1 Nov 1 Mars Flyby (Contact Lost)

Sputnik 31 Nov 4 Attempted Mars Flyby

1963

Sputnik 33 Jan 4 Attempted Lunar Lander

Luna 1963B Feb 2 Attempted Lunar Lander (Launch Failure)

Luna 4 Apr 2 Attempted Lunar Lander

Cosmos 21 Nov 11 Attempted Venera Test Flight?

1964

Ranger 6 Jan 30 Lunar Impact (Cameras Failed)

Venera 1964A Feb 19 Attempted Venus Flyby (Launch Failure)

Venera 1964B Mar 1 Attempted Venus Flyby (Launch Failure)

Luna 1964A Mar 21 Attempted Lunar Lander (Launch Failure)

Cosmos 27 Mar 27 Attempted Venus Flyby

Zond 1 Apr 2 Venus Flyby (Contact Lost)

Luna 1964B Apr 20 Attempted Lunar Lander (Launch Failure)

Zond 1964A Jun 4 Attempted Lunar Lander (Launch Failure)

Ranger 7 Jul 28 Lunar Impact

Mariner 3 Nov 5 Attempted Mars Flyby

Mariner 4 Nov 28 Mars Flyby

Zond 2 Nov 30 Mars Flyby (Contact Lost)

1965

Ranger 8 Feb 17 Lunar Impact

Cosmos 60 Mar 12 Attempted Lunar Lander

Ranger 9 Mar 21 Lunar Impact

Luna 1965A Apr 10 Attempted Lunar Lander? (Launch Failure)

Luna 5 May 9 Lunar Impact (Attempted Soft Landing)

Luna 6 Jun 8 Attempted Lunar Lander

Zond 3 Jul 18 Lunar Flyby

Luna 7 Oct 4 Lunar Impact (Attempted Soft Landing)

Venera 2 Nov 12 Venus Flyby (Contact Lost)

Venera 3 Nov 16 Venus Lander (Contact Lost)

Cosmos 96 Nov 23 Attempted Venus Lander?

Venera 1965A Nov 23 Attempted Venus Flyby (Launch Failure)

Luna 8 Dec 3 Lunar Impact (Attempted Soft Landing?)

1966

Luna 9 Jan 31 Lunar Lander

Cosmos 111 Mar 1 Attempted Lunar Orbiter?

Luna 10 March 31 Lunar Orbiter

Luna 1966A Apr 30 Attempted Lunar Orbiter? (Launch Failure)

Surveyor 1 May 30 Lunar Lander

Explorer 33 Jul 1 Attempted Lunar Orbiter

Lunar Orbiter 1 Aug 10 Lunar Orbiter

Luna 11 Aug 24 Lunar Orbiter

Surveyor 2 Sep 20 Attempted Lunar Lander

Luna 12 Oct 22 Lunar Orbiter

Lunar Orbiter 2 Nov 66 Lunar Orbiter

Luna 13 Dec 21 Lunar Lander

1967

Lunar Orbiter 3 Feb 4 Lunar Orbiter

Surveyor 3 Apr 17 Lunar Lander

Lunar Orbiter 4 May 8 Lunar Orbiter

Venera 4 Jun 12 Venus Probe

Mariner 5 Jun 14 Venus Flyby

Cosmos 167 Jun 17 Attempted Venus Probe

Surveyor 4 Jul 14 Attempted Lunar Lander

Explorer 35 (IMP-E) Jul 19 Lunar Orbiter

Lunar Orbiter 5 Aug 1 Lunar Orbiter

Surveyor 5 Sep 8 Lunar Lander

Zond 1967A Sep 28 Attempted Lunar Test Flight (Launch Failure)

Surveyor 6 Nov 7 Lunar Lander

Zond 1967B Nov 22 Attempted Lunar Test Flight (Launch Failure)

1968

Surveyor 7 Jan 7 Lunar Lander

Luna 1968A Feb 7 Attempted Lunar Orbiter (Launch Failure)

Zond 4 Mar 2 Test Flight

Luna 14 Apr 7 Lunar Orbiter

Zond 1968A Apr 23 Attempted Lunar Test Flight? (Launch Failure)

Zond 5 Sep 15 Lunar Flyby and Return to Earth

Zond 6 Nov 10 Lunar Flyby and Return to Earth

Apollo 8 Dec 21 Manned Lunar Orbiter

1969

Venera 5 Jan 5 Venus Probe

Venera 6 Jan 10 Venus Probe

Zond 1969A Jan 20 Attempted Lunar Flyby and Return (Launch Failure)

Luna 1969A Feb 19 Attempted Lunar Rover? (Launch Failure)

Zond L1S-1 Feb 21 Attempted Lunar Orbiter (Launch Failure)

Mariner 6 Feb 25 Mars Flyby

Mariner 7 Mar 27 Mars Flyby

Mars 1969A Mar 27 Attempted Mars Orbiter (Launch Failure)

Mars 1969B Apr 2 Attempted Mars Orbiter (Launch Failure)

Luna 1969B Apr 15 Attempted Lunar Sample Return? (Launch Failure)

Apollo 10 May 18 Manned Lunar Orbiter

Luna 1969C Jun 14 Attempted Lunar Sample Return? (Launch Failure)

Zond L1S-2 Jul 3 Attempted Lunar Orbiter (Launch Failure)

Luna 15 Jul 13 Lunar Orbiter (Attempted Lunar Lander?)

Apollo 11 Jul 16 Manned Lunar Landing

Zond 7 Aug 7 Lunar Flyby and Return to Earth

Cosmos 300 Sep 23 Attempted Lunar Sample Return?

Cosmos 305 Oct 22 Attempted Lunar Sample Return?

Apollo 12 Nov 14 Manned Lunar Landing

1970

Luna 1970A Feb 6 Attempted Lunar Sample Return? (Launch Failure)

Luna 1970B Feb 19 Attempted Lunar Orbiter? (Launch Failure)

Apollo 13 Apr 11 Manned Lunar Mission (Landing Aborted)

Venera 7 Aug 17 Venus Lander

Cosmos 359 Aug 22 Attempted Venus Probe

Luna 16 Sep 12 Lunar Sample Return

Zond 8 Oct 20 Lunar Flyby and Return to Earth

Luna 17/Lunokhod 1 Nov 10 Lunar Rover

1971

Apollo 14 Jan 31 Manned Lunar Landing

Mariner 8 May 8 Attempted Mars Flyby (Launch Failure)

Cosmos 419 May 10 Attempted Mars Orbiter/Lander

Mars 2 May 19 Mars Orbiter/ Attempted Lander

Mars 3 May 28 Mars Orbiter/ Lander

Mariner 9 May 30 Mars Orbiter

Apollo 15 Jul 26 Manned Lunar Landing

Luna 18 Sep 2 Attempted Lunar Sample Return

Luna 19 Sep 28 Lunar Orbiter

1972

Luna 20 Feb 14 Lunar Sample Return

Pioneer 10 Mar 3 Jupiter Flyby

Venera 8 Mar 27 Venus Probe

Cosmos 482 Mar 31 Attempted Venus Probe

Apollo 16 Apr 16 Lunar Manned Landing

Soyuz L3 Nov 23 Attempted Lunar Orbiter (Launch Failure)

Apollo 17 Dec 7 Lunar Manned Landing

1973

Luna 21/Lunokhod 2 Jan 8 Lunar Rover

Pioneer 11 Apr 5 Jupiter/Saturn Flyby

Explorer 49 (RAE-B) Jun 10 Lunar Orbiter/Radio Astronomy

Mars 4 Jul 21 Mars Flyby (Attempted Mars Orbiter)

Mars 5 Jul 25 Mars Orbiter

Mars 6 Aug 5 Mars Lander (Contact Lost)

Mars 7 Aug 9 Mars Flyby (Attempted Mars Lander)

Mariner 10 Nov 4 Venus/Mercury Flybys

1974

Luna 22 Jun 2 Lunar Orbiter

Luna 23 Oct 28 Attempted Lunar Sample Return

1975

Venera 9 Jun 8 Venus Orbiter and Lander

Venera 10 Jun 14 Venus Orbiter and Lander

Viking 1 Aug 20 Mars Orbiter and Lander

Viking 2 Sep 9 Mars Orbiter and Lander

Luna 1975A Oct 16 Attempted Lunar Sample Return?

1976

Luna 24 Aug 9 Lunar Sample Return

1977

Voyager 2 Aug 20 Jupiter/Saturn/Uranus/Neptune Flyby

Voyager 1 Sep 5 Jupiter/Saturn Flyby

1978

Pioneer Venus 1 May 20 Venus Orbiter

Pioneer Venus 2 Aug 8 Venus Probes

ISEE-3/ICE Aug 12 Comet Giacobini-Zinner and Halley Flybys

Venera 11 Sep 9 Venus Orbiter and Lander

Venera 12 Sep 14 Venus Orbiter and Lander

1981

Venera 13 Oct 30 Venus Orbiter and Lander

Venera 14 Nov 4 Venus Orbiter and Lander

1983

Venera 15 Jun 2 Venus Orbiter

Venera 16 Jun 7 Venus Orbiter

1984

Vega 1 Dec 15 Venus Lander and Balloon/Comet Halley Flyby

Vega 2 Dec 21 Venus Lander and Balloon/Comet Halley Flyby

1985

Sakigake Jan 7 Comet Halley Flyby

Giotto Jul 2 Comet Halley Flyby

Suisei (Planet-A) Aug 18 Comet Halley Flyby

1988

Phobos 1 7 Jul Attempted Mars Orbiter/Phobos Landers

Phobos 2 12 Jul Mars Orbiter/Attempted Phobos Landers

1989

Magellan May 4 Venus Orbiter

Galileo Oct 18 Jupiter Orbiter/Probe

1990

Hiten Jan 24 Lunar Flyby and Orbiter

Ulysses Oct 06 Jupiter Flyby and Solar Polar Orbiter

1992

Name Date Event

Mars Observer Sep 25 Attempted Mars Orbiter (Contact Lost)

1994

Clementine Jan 25 Lunar Orbiter/Attempted Asteroid Flyby

1996

NEAR Feb 17 Asteroid Eros Orbiter

Mars Global Surveyor November 07 Mars Orbiter

Mars 96 November 16 Attempted Mars Orbiter/Landers

Mars Pathfinder Dec 04 Mars Lander and Rover

1997

Cassini Oct 15 Saturn Orbiter

Huygens Oct 15 Titan Probe

AsiaSat 3/HGS-1 Dec 24 Lunar Flyby

1998

Lunar Prospector Jan 7 Lunar Orbiter

Nozomi (Planet-B) Jul 3 Mars Orbiter

Deep Space 1 (DS1) Oct 24 Asteroid and Comet Flyby

Mars Climate Orbiter Dec 11 Attempted Mars Orbiter

1999

Mars Polar Lander Jan 3 Attempted Mars Lander

Deep Space 2 (DS2) Jan 3 Attempted Mars Penetrators

Stardust Feb 7 Comet Coma Sample Return

2001

Genesis Jan Solar Wind Sample Return

Mars Surveyor 2001 Orbiter Mar 7 Mars Orbiter

NEAP Apr 3 Asteroid Nereus Rendezvous

Mars Surveyor 2001 Lander Apr 5 Mars Lander/Rover

2002

Muses-C Jan Asteroid Lander and Sample Return

CONTOUR Jul Fly-by of three Comet Nuclei

SMART 1 Late 2002 Lunar Orbiter

2003

Rosetta Jan 23 Comet Orbiter and Lander

Champollion/DS4 April 19 Comet Orbiter and Lander [Cancelled]

Mars Surveyor 2003 May Mars Orbiter and Lander

Mars Express June 1 Mars Orbiter and Lander

Europa Orbiter Nov Proposed Europa Orbiter

Selene 2003 Lunar Orbiter

Lunar-A 2003 Lunar Orbiter and Penetrators

2004

Deep Impact Jan Comet Rendezvous and Impact

MESSENGER Mar Mercury Orbiter

Pluto-Kuiper Express Dec Proposed Flyby of Pluto and Kuiper Belt

2005

Mars Surveyor 2005 Orbiter July Mars Orbiter and Sample Return

Mars Surveyor 2005 Lander July Mars Lander, Rover and Sample Acquisition

Mercury Orbiter Aug ISAS Mercury Orbiter

2009

BepiColombo 2009 ESA Mercury Orbiter

-Timeline-

A.D. 140
Ptolemy comes up with a complete model of the motion of the heavens based on orbits and sub-orbits called epicycles, which explains why planets sometimes make strange loops.
1543
Nicolaus Copernicus shows that the earth is not the center of the universe and is not even fixed but is rotating very fast about its own axis.
1610
Galileo Galilei uses his telescope to show that the Milky Way is composed of distant stars and that Venus has phases just like the Moon--proving Copernicus's theory.
1781
William Herschel discovers Uranus, the first new planet to be discovered since ancient times.
1843
John Couch Adams analyzes pertubations of Uranus's orbit and predicts the position of an undiscovered planet within two desgrees. His calculations are repeated by Urbain Leverrier a couple years later.
1846
Johann Galle discovers Neptune using the predictions of Leverrier and Couch Adams.
1890
Grove Karl Gilbert shows that the Moon's large craters are different than those of Earth's volcanic craters and are made by meteor impacts.
1930
Clyde Tombaugh discovers Pluto by comparing two photographs made by a telescope donated to the Lowell Observatory.
1959
Russian Luna II probe is the first successful space mission to another planet, circling the Moon and revealing its dark side for the first time.
1962
The Mariner II probe flies by Venus and shows that the surface of the planet is 700^oF - 750^oF hotter than expected.
1964
Carl Sagan realizes that the high temperatures on the surface of Venus are due to a greenhouse effect, created by the fact that its atmosphere is 97% carbon dioxide (CO₂).
1969
Apollo missions bring back rocks from the Moon, revealing that the Moon's rocks were formed at the same time as the Earth's.
1973
The Pioneer 10 probe becomes the first space probe to encounter Jupiter and reveals a lot of detail about its magnetosphere and radiation belts.
1974
The Pioneer 11 space probe provides the first close-up images of Saturn and a lot of information about its moons and rings.
1980
Voyager I goes past Saturn's moon Titan and reveals that although it is very cold, it has an atmosphere like that of the early Earth. It also discovers 8 new moons of Saturn.
1986
Voyager II flies past Uranus and shows the planet is tilted on its side. It also discovers 10 new moons of Uranus.
1989
Voyager II becomes the first space craft to encounter Neptune and also observes geysers spewing nitrogen gas(N₂) on the surface of Neptune's moon Triton.
1990
The Hubble Space Telescope is launched and once its optics are fixed it provides views of the universe with incredible clarity.
1994
The American Clementine mission provides the most spectacular high-resolution pictures of the Moon's surface ever seen, and provides enough pictures to create a detailed 3D map of the entire surface.
1997
The Mars Pathfinder Sojouner lands on Mars and sends back some really cool live(!) pictures.
1998
The Lunar Prospector discovers water on the moon in the form of ice beneath the surface.

SETI Timeline
1959: Drs. Philip Morrison and Guiseppe Coconni publish in Nature magazine the first modern SETI article, "Searching for Interstellar Communication," which suggested the idea of using microwave radio for extraterrestrial communication.
1960: The 1st SETI search, Project Ozma, is conducted by Dr. Frank Drake at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory in Green Bank, WV using an 85-foot antenna tuned to the 21 cm (1,420 Mhz) line of neutral hydrogen.
1961: The optical approach to SETI using continuous wave laser beacons is proposed by Drs. Robert Schwartz and Charles Townes.
1961: The first SETI Conference, Order of the Dolphin, is held at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory in Green Bank, WV. Dr. Drake introduces as its agenda what is now know as the Drake Equation, a controversial statistical method for estimating the number of advanced civilizations in the Milky Way.
1962: Following studies of Barnard's Star spanning his entire professional career, Dr. Peter van de Kamp concludes that the proper motion of this star can best be explained by the presence of one or more planets. Today, the question of planets surrounding Barnard's Star remains unresolved.
1966: Drs. Carl Sagan and I.S. Shkolovskii write the book, "Intelligent Life in the Universe."
1971: A NASA team, Project Cyclops, is put together to create the design of an array of up to 1000 radio telescopes to find Earth-type radio signals up to 1000 light-years away. Costs prevent them from doing it.
1971: Drs. Carl Sagan, Frank Drake, and Phil Morrison join Russian scientists at the joint US-USSR SETI Conference in Byurakan, Armenia, Soviet Union.
1972: NASA publishes "Project Cylops, A Design Study of a System for Detecting Extraterrestrial Intelligent Life." Interest is now very high, and all 10,000 copies are distributed quickly.
1972 - 1973:The Pioneer Plaques, containing a message about our Earth, destined for points beyond our solar system, are launched on the Pioneer 10 and Pioneer 11 space probes.
1973: Ohio State University begins a major SETI project at its Big Ear Observatory in Delaware, Ohio (see l997).
1974: The Arecibo Radio Telescope is upgraded, and Dr. Drake sends a historic test transmission.
1977: The Ohio State Big Ear telescope detects the famous "Wow!" narrowband signal from the Constellation Sagittarius.
1977: Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 space probes are launched. They carry gold-plated records containing images and sounds of Earth.
1978: Cosmic Search magazine is first published by Dr. John Kraus; Vol. 1 No. 2 contains Dr. Sagan's influential "The Quest for Extraterrestrial Intelligence." It stopped being published in 1981, after 13 issues.
1979: The Planetary Society is founded by Doctors Carl Sagan, Bruce Murray and Louis Friedman.
1979: The Search for Extraterrestrial Radio from Nearby Developed Populations (Project SERENDIP I) launches at UC Berkeley's Hat Creek Observatory.
1981: The Proxmire Amendment stops Congressional support of NASA SETI
1981: International SETI Conference, Talliinn, Soviet Union. Because the Proxmire Amendment prevented US scientists from participating, The Planetary Society sends US delegates to the meeting.
1981: The Planetary Society urges NASA to conduct searches for extraterrestrial signals. Dr. Sagan, then becomes president of the Society. He then persuades Senator Proxmire to stop opposition.
1982: NASA begins SETI searches with The High Resolution Microwave Survey (HRMS).
1982: Dr. George Gatewood conducts extrasolar planet search at Allegheny Observatory in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
1983: Dr. Paul Horowitz's suitcase SETI is tested at the Arecibo radio telescope.
1983: The International Astronomical Union establishes Commission 51, dedicated to bioastronomy and the search for extraterrestrial life.
1983: Dr. Horowitz launches Project Sentinel, with the help of The Planetary Society, using the 26-meter-diameter (84-foot) radio telescope at Harvard Massachusetts.
1984: The SETI Institute is founded as a home for research investigating all aspects of life in the Universe. Initially, Institute activities were supported by NASA.
1985: The Mega-Channel Extraterrestrial Assay (Project META) begins at the Oak Ridge Observatory in Harvard Massachusetts, scanning 8.4 million 0.05 Hz channels. The project is sponsored by a generous grant from Steven Spielberg.
1985: Robert Stephens begins a Canadian search from the Hay River Radio Observatory, Hay River, Northwest Territories, Canada. His 21 cm search receives Planetary Society support in 1987, but ends with the closing of HRRO in 1988 due to lack of funding.
1986: UC-Berkeley's SERENDIP II begins to scan the skies.
1988: The Planetary Society organizes an international meeting on SETI in Toronto, Canada.
1988: Robert Stephens establishes Project TARGET (Telescope Antenna Researching Galactic Extraterrestrial Transmissions) SETI Program at Algonquin Radio Observatory. Program operates 21cm search continuously from 1988-1991. Program comes to unexpected halt with closure of ARO in 1991.
1989: The Planetary Society takes over the publishing of "Bioastronomy News" as one of its special-interest newsletters.
1990: The Columbus Optical SETI (COSETI) Observatory, developed by OSETI pioneer Dr. Stuart A. Kingsley, becomes the first optical SETI research facility in North America.
1990: Project META II becomes operational outside Buenos Aires, Argentina, with the support of The Planetary Society.
1992: UC Berkeley launches SERENDIP III.
1992: NASA's HRMS observations are launched at Goldstone Observatory outside Barstow, California and at the Arecibo radio telescope in Puerto Rico.
1993: Dr. Kingsley organizes the first OSETI Conference, sponsored by The International Society For Optical Engineering (SPIE).
1993: Funding for NASA's HRMS searches is eliminated by the US Congress.
1994: The SETI League is founded by Richard Factor, President, who appoints Dr. H. Paul Shuch its Executive Director; the League will become the world's major privatized SETI observational program.
1994: SETIQuest magazine founded by Mr. Carl Helmers, publisher, and Mr. Larry Klaes, editor. Helmers was inspired to start SETIQuest in part by the OSETI work of Dr. Kingsley, whom Klaes had introduced to Helmers. Publication terminated in 1998, after sixteen issues.
1995: The SETI league first accepts charter memberships (it has since grown to 1,100 members in 56 countries).
1995: The SETI Institute launches Project Phoenix, a privatized continuation of the NASA HRMS targeted search, using the 210-foot Parkes radio telescope in New South Wales, Australia, the largest radio telescope in the southern hemisphere. Observations continue for six months.
1995: The Billion-Channel Extraterrestrial Assay (Project BETA) begins SETI observation from the Harvard radio telescope in Massachusetts.
1995: 51 Pegasi B, first confirmed planet around a nearby Sun-like star, announced by Drs. Michel Mayor and Dedier Queloz. By 1999, roster of confirmed exoplanets grows to over twenty.
1996: OSETI II, the second SPIE Conference, is held under the direction of Dr. Kingsley.
1996: The SETI League launches Project Argus all-sky survey with 5 stations (now 82, which is probably more RA telescopes than exist collectively in the rest of the world).
1996: "Project Cyclops, Second Printing" is jointly published by The SETI League and The SETI Institute.
1996: The Planetary Society funds Project SERENDIP IV at UC Berkeley.
1996: After being shut down for one year due to equipment upgrades financed by the Planetary Society, a more powerful Project META II resumes sky searches in Argentina.
1996: The SETI Institute's Project Phoenix resumes its targeted search from the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, Green Bank WV.
1996: "Invitation to ETI" SETI project is launched on the World Wide Web. (The invitation is now issued by 60 SETI and Contact scientists.)
1997: At the University of California, Berkeley, Leuschner Observatory, The Optical SETI Pulse Search, directed by Dan Werthimer, begins.
1997: SERENDIP IV is installed at the 305 meter Arecibo Radio Telescope in a piggybacking configuration that permits continuous signal analysis, even when the major instrument is in use by other astronomers
1997: The Ohio State Big Ear SETI project is listed in "The Guinness Book World Records" as the longest ETI Search in History, just as Big Ear is being demolished to make way for a friggin' golf course.
1998: Optical SETI is becoming accepted by the SETI establishment previously dominated by radio astronomers who had questioned the viability of OSETI as a search mode; both The SETI Institute and The Planetary Society now support searching for light signals.
1998: The SETI Institute's Project Phoenix continues its targeted search from the Arecibo Radio Observatory in Puerto Rico.
1998: The Harvard/Smithsonian Optical SETI program, directed by Dr. Horowitz, becomes operational at the Oak Ridge Observatory.
1998: Southern SERENDIP (a second piggyback SETI program using components from Berkeley's SERENDIP IV begins at the Parkes 64 Meter Radio Telescope at New South Wales, Australia.
1999: SETI@home, a new screen saver program that uses home computers, has the potential of completely changing SETI program design in the future of ET searches.