Timeline 1910-1930's Robert Goddard -- Developed Liquid Propelled Rockets that were far more advanced than those of their time. These rockets were later used to launch humans into space. Werhner Von Braun -- Developed V-2 Rocket for Germany and later shared secrets with the U.S. after escaping from Germany. 1940's 1957 Sputnik 1 -- (Soviet Union) First artificial satellite of the Earth. Sputnik 2 -- (Soviet Union) First animal in space. 1957 1958 Mercury -- (U.S.) Mercury Project Started by NASA. Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin -- (Russia) First human being into space. 1961 1961 Apollo -- The Apollo Project was unveiled by John F. Kennedy Gemini -- (U.S.) Gemini Project Started by NASA. 1962 1963 Valentina Vladmirovna Tereshkova -- (Russia) First woman into space. Voskhod 1 -- (Soviet Union) First multiperson space mission. 1964 1967 Apollo 1 -- (U.S.) The crew of Apollo 1 were killed in a fire while testing their capsule. Apollo 8 -- (U.S.) First space craft to orbit the moon. 1968 1969 Apollo 11 -- (U.S.) First human to land on the moon. Apollo 17 -- (U.S.) Last humans to land on the moon. 1972 1981 Space Transportation System Implemented -- (U.S.) First manned reusable spacecraft (STS-1) Columbia SpaceShuttle. Challenger -- (U.S.) The space shuttle Challenger exploded 72 seconds after launch. The explosion was blamed on a faulty O-Ring on the right booster. 1986 1986 Mir -- (Soviet Union) First space station inhabited by rotating crews. Voyager 2 -- (United States) First flyby of Neptune. 1989 1990 Hubble Telescope -- Launched to take long range pictures without the interference of the atmosphere. Mars Global Surveyor -- NASA launched the MGS to study Mars' surface features, atmosphere, and magnetic properties. 1996 1998 International Space Station -- First sections of Space Station assembled. Discovery Space Station Assembly Flight 2A.1 -- Projected to launch May 20 with first visitors to the International Space Station. 1999 1999 Galileo -- Galileo will begin its Europa Mission studying the atmosphere and surface of the planet. Stardust -- The stardust probe will intercept the comet Wild-2 and collect particles from the comets tail. Two years later it will return those samples back to Earth for scientific analysis. 2004 Randall Gordon, Eric Mackie, J.D. Scott, Marrisa Dietz