Space Exploration

Celestial navigation

Related Lives

Tunisia

Golden beaches, Sunny weather, and Affordable luxuries.

China

Land of Silk

Iraq

The Cradle of Civilization

Finland

Land of a Thousand Lakes

Life cover image

1982

First Venus Soil Samples and Sound Recording

01 Mar 1982

First Venus Soil Samples and Sound Recording

1981

First Crewed Reusable Orbital Spacecraft Launch

12 Apr 1981

First Reusable Crewed Orbital Spacecraft

12 Apr 1981

First Reusable Crewed Orbital Spacecraft

1980

NASA's Voyager 1 and Its Journey

12 Nov 1980

1979

Pioneer 11's Historic Flyby of Saturn

01 Sep 1979

Pioneer 11's Historic Flyby of Saturn

Jupiter flyby and discovery of volcanism on Io

05 Mar 1979

Jupiter flyby and discovery of volcanism on Io

1978

First extended orbital exploration of Venus

04 Dec 1978

First extended orbital exploration of Venus

First spacecraft to orbit the Sun at Lagrange point 1

20 Nov 1978

The International Ultraviolet Explorer (IUE)

26 Jan 1978

The International Ultraviolet Explorer (IUE)

1976

First successful photos and soil samples from Mars

20 Jul 1976

First successful photos and soil samples from Mars

1975

First successful photos from the surface of another planet

22 Oct 1975

First successful photos from the surface of another planet

First spacecraft to orbit Venus

20 Oct 1975

First spacecraft to orbit Venus

First Multinational Crewed Space Mission

15 Jul 1975

First Multinational Crewed Space Mission

1974

First spacecraft to flyby the same planet multiple times

21 Sep 1974

First mission to explore two planets in a single mission

29 Mar 1974

First Flyby of Mercury by Mariner 10

29 Mar 1974

First Flyby of Mercury by Mariner 10

First spacecraft to return data on a long-period comet

Jan 1974

1973

Pioneer 10's Historic Flyby of Jupiter

03 Dec 1973

Pioneer 10's Historic Flyby of Jupiter

First mission sent to study Mercury

03 Nov 1973

First mission sent to study Mercury

1972

First orbital gamma ray observatory

15 Nov 1972

First orbital gamma ray observatory

First spacecraft to successfully enter the asteroid belt

15 Jul 1972

First spacecraft designed to travel on a trajectory out of the Solar System

03 Mar 1972

First spacecraft designed to travel on a trajectory out of the Solar System

1971

First soft landing on Mars

02 Dec 1971

First soft landing on Mars

First spacecraft to impact another planet

27 Nov 1971

First spacecraft to impact another planet

First spacecraft to orbit another planet

14 Nov 1971

First spacecraft to orbit another planet

The Apollo 15 mission

26 Jul 1971

The Apollo 15 mission

First Space Station and Crewed Observatory

1971

The establishment of the first space station and the first crewed orbital observatory

19 Apr 1971

Milestones in Early Space Station Development

19 Apr 1971

1970

First soft landing on another planet

15 Dec 1970

First soft landing on another planet