A history of human spaceflight 11 Apr 1961 - - 4 Apr 2011 - 11 Apr 1961 - The race to be first There's something in the human genetic code that urges people to explore new worlds and push the boundaries. Human history is full of exploration, from the Vikings and Marco Polo to Columbus, Magellan and James Cook. Whether it's climbing to the top of Mount Everest, reaching the poles, or just seeing what's over the next hill, that urge to explore remains a fundamental part of what it is to be human. So, we shouldnt be surprised that this urge to explore has taken humans to the final frontier, space. The history of space flight has always been a battle between science and politics as the Soviet Union and the US pushed to become the dominant power during the Cold War. The Americans were the first to break the sound barrier in 1947, which in turn helped develop better jet fighters. A decade later, the launch of Sputnik as the first human-made object to orbit the Earth, demonstrated the Soviet Union's ability to deliver nuclear weapons to anywhere on the planet. Yuri Gagarin's historic achievement 50 years ago as the first man in space was a natural progression of that race. Our timeline celebrates the extraordinary achievements we've made since that historic moment. Resources: Where does space begin? (ABC Science Online) (http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2010/01/13/2791372.htm) 12 Apr 1961 - The first man in space Soviet fighter pilot, Yuri Gagarin became the first human to fly into space on 12 April 1961. Gagarin completed one orbit of the Earth on board Vostok 1 , a capsule mounted on a modified Soviet R7 rocket. During his flight he reached a maximum altitude of 327 kilometres before returning to Earth just under two hours later. Interestingly, the Federation Aeronautique Internationale rules in 1961 required that the pilot must land with the spacecraft to be considered an official spaceflight for the record books. It was later revealed that Gagarin had abandoned the capsule during re-entry at an altitude of 23,000 feet instead of parachuting to the ground. After his historic space flight, Gagarin was proclaimed a national hero of the Soviet Union serving as a deputy to the Supreme Soviet and later returned to the cosmonaut facility at Star City. However, Soviet officials worried about losing their hero in an accident banned him from training for, and participating in further spaceflights. On 27 March 1968, while on a routine training flight from Chkalovsky Air Base he and flight instructor Vladimir Seryogin died in a MiG 15 jet fighter crash near the town of Kirzhach. Resources: 50 years of human space flight (ROSCOMOS) (http://www.roscosmos.ru/main.php?lang=en) Yuri Gagarin: first man in space (NASA) (http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/sts1/gagarin_anniversary.html) Yuri Gagarin video (NASA) (http://www.nasa.gov/mpg/146085main_yuri.mpg) Yuri Gagarin: his life in pictures (Russian Archives Online) (http://www.russianarchives.com/gallery/gagarin/) 5 May 1961 - First American in space Almost a month after Gagarin's historic flight, US Navy pilot Alan Shepard became the first American in space on 5 May 1961. Shepard piloted a Mercury capsule named Freedom 7, which was mounted on a Redstone rocket on a sub-orbital flight that lasted just 15 minutes and 22 seconds. Its ballistic trajectory carried Shepard to an altitude of 187 kilometres before falling back to the Earth's surface 486 kilometres down-range in the Altantic Ocean. While the Redstone rocket wasn't as powerful as the Soviet rocket that took Gagarin into space, the Freedom 7 enabled Shepard to control the spacecraft's altitude. Also unlike Gagarin, Shepard stayed with his spaceship for the entire mission, which was broadcast live on television and watched by millions. Resources: Alan Shepard biography (NASA) (http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/shepard-alan.html) Project Mercury (NASA) (http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/mercury/missions/program-toc.html) 25 May 1961 - Kennedy declares US will "land a man on the moon" On 25 May 1961 US President John F Kennedy delivered his now famous moon speech "to land a man on the Moon and safely return him to the Earth again". "I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth. No single space project in this period will be more impressive to mankind, or more important for the long-range exploration of space; and none will be so difficult or expensive to accomplish." Resources: Transcript of Kennedy's speech (Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum) (http://www.jfklibrary.org/Research/Ready-Reference/JFK-Speeches/Special-Message-to-the-Congress-on-Urgent-National-Needs-May-25-1961.aspx) 20 Feb 1962 - First American to orbit the Earth The introduction of the powerful Atlas rocket into the Mercury program enabled American astronauts to orbit the Earth. The first to do so was US Marine Corp aviator John Glenn onboard the Mercury spacecraft Friendship 7 on 20 February 1962. Glenn orbited the Earth three times in five hours and reached an altitude of 265 kilometres. After Glenn's flight, NASA sent three more Mercury missions into orbit before the program ended in May 1963. Resources: John Glenn biography (http://johnglennhome.org/about/john-glenn) Friendship 7 mission (NASA) (http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/mercury/missions/friendship7.html) 16 Jun 1963 - First woman in space Valentina Vladimirovna Tereshkova, a Russian textile factory worker became the first woman, and civilian in space on 16 June 1963. During her three-day flight she performed various tests to determine how the female body reacts to spaceflight. Resources: Russian Federal Space Agency (http://www.roscosmos.ru/main.php?lang=en) The Pioneers (Monash University) (http://www.ctie.monash.edu.au/hargrave/tereshkova.html) 19 Jul 1963 - The world's first space plane The X-15 was an experimental space plane developed in 1959 by the US Airforce and National Advisory Committee on Aeronautics (NACA), which was to become NASA in 1958. Between 1959 and 1968, the X-15 project carried out 199 test flights exploring the boundaries between the Earth's atmosphere and space. The project developed new technologies that were later used in the Mercury, Gemini, Apollo and Space Shuttle programs. On 19 July 1963, an X-15 rocket plane flown by US pilot Joe Walker reached space for the first time, achieving an altitude of 107.96 kilometres. On 3 October 1967, US pilot Pete Knight set a new world aircraft speed record of 7,273 kilometres per hour. The record still stands in 2011. Resources: X-15 website (NASA) (http://history.nasa.gov/x15/cover.html) 8 Apr 1964 - Gemini rises While Mercury was designed to get Americans into space, NASA developed Gemini to test the technology and skills needed to reach the moon. Following two unmanned flights in April 1964 and January 1965, the first manned flight was launched on 23 March 1965. Carrying two men into space at a time, Gemini's 10 manned spaceflights examined a human's ability to fly in space for extended periods of time, to rendevous and dock with other spacecraft and to evaluate an astronaut's ability to perform tasks outside the protection of the spacecraft. Resources: The Gemini Program (NASA) (http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/gemini.html) On the Shoulders of Titans: A History of Project Gemini (NASA) (http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/SP-4203/toc.htm) 18 Mar 1965 - Man walks in space On 18 March 1965, Soviet cosmonaut Aleksei Leonov became the first man to walk in space. Leonov was outside the Voskhod 2 spacecraft for 12 minutes and nine seconds, his only link to the capsule being a 5.35 metre tether. Problems developed at the end of the spacewalk when it was discovered that Leonov's spacesuit had over-inflated, preventing him from re-entering the airlock. Eventually after bleeding some pressure off through a valve in the suit, he managed to squeeze back in the capsule. Three months later on 3June, US astronaut Edward White became the first American to walk in space, spending 20 minutes outside the Gemini 4 capsule. The Americans continued to perfect spacewalk techniques throughout the Gemini missions. Buzz Aldrin trained for his November 1966 mission using techniques developed under water to simulate zero-gravity conditions. Resources: Space: Adventure into Emptiness (Time 1965) (http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,841800,00.html) Edward White biography (NASA) (http://www11.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/white-eh.html) Gemini 4 mission (NASA) (http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraftDisplay.do?id=1965-043A) 16 Mar 1966 - First space dockings Despite several attempts by the Soviets in 1962 and 1963 using simulatenously launched pairs of spacecraft, it was the Americans who achieved the first rendevous in space with another spacecraft. On 15 December 1965 US astronaut Wally Schirra piloted Gemini 6A to within 30 centimetres of its sister ship Gemini 7. The spacecraft were not equipped for docking but maintained station-keeping for more than 20 minutes. Then on 16 March 1966 Gemini 8 piloted by Neil Armstrong (who would eventually become the first man to walk on the moon) successfully docked with an unmanned Agena Target Vehicle. The mission almost ended in failure when the two docked spacecraft suddenly began spinning wildly in orbit eventually reaching some 60 revolutions per minute. Eventually the crew discovered the problem was caused by one of the thrusters on the Gemini 8 spacecraft, after regaining control of the craft they successfully returned to Earth.