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More chronologies:

The Moon Race

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Pre-20th century rocketry

Since around 1895, Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, (born in 1857) works on the idea of a rocket-propelled spaceship.

A spaceship in the novel "The First Men in the Moon" by H. G. Wells travels to the Moon by the means of an anti-gravity material.

May: A Russian magazine publishes "The Exploration of the World's Space with Reactive Instruments" by Tsiolkovsky.

Dec. 17: Wright brothers achieve the first powered flight of a heavier-than-air vehicle.

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V. V. Karavodine patents a pulsating ram jet.

In the US, Robert Goddard ponders the idea of electric rocket propulsion in his personal notes.

In the US, Robert Goddard starts research in the field of rocket dynamics.

Hermann Oberth drafts his first rocketship.

N. A. Sytenko designs a solid-fueled anti-aircraft rocket.

St Petersburg-based magazine starts the publication of a second series entitled "Exploration of the World Space with Reactive Instruments" by Tsiolkovsky.

The American Aeronautical Society is formed in the US.

I. V. Volovskiy, vice-director of Putilov Plant in St. Petersburg, proposes automobile-based missiles, capable of striking aerial and ground targets.

N. I. Tikhomirov proposes a project of a solid-propellant rocket to the navy ministry.

Nov. 15: At the meeting of the French Physical Society, R. Esnault-Pelterie delivers a report entitled "The considerations on the Results of Unlimited Reduction in Engine Weight."

March 3: The US Congress creates Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), precursor of NASA.

May 31: British employ rockets in the defense of London during the first German air raid with Zeppelin air ships. (310)

In France, Henri Melot works on rocket engines for aircraft. (276)

July 14: I. P. Grave from Russia's Artillery Academy submits a proposal for rockets burning smokeless gun powder.

Jan. 5: The Smithsonian Institution awards a $5,000 grant to Robert Goddard to conduct rocket research in the upper atmosphere.

Nov. 7: The Bolshevik revolution in Russia.

In US, Robert Goddard confirms the feasibility of electric rocket propulsion. (2)

Jan. 14: Robert Goddard writes "The Ultimate Migration" describing the exodus of the human civilization from a dying Solar System onboard a nuclear-powered colony. The work would not be published until 1972.

April: The Byloye ("The Past") magazine publishes the description of a manned rocket ship originally proposed by Nikolai Kibalchich in 1881.

Nov. 7: Goddard demonstrates solid-propellant rocket (Bazooka) at Aberdeen, Maryland.

May 3: N. I. Tikhomirov proposes to the Soviet government to organize a rocket development lab.

In the US, Robert Goddard submits a progress report entitled "A Method of Attaining Extreme Altitudes," to the Smithsonian Institution. (Dated May 26) (158)

In Germany, Hermann Oberth publishes work called "The Rocket into Interplanetary Space."

Revolutionary Military Council of USSR issues a request to Tikhomirov's laboratory to test the possibility of using jet propulsion for increasing the range of existing munitions.

Nov. 1: In the US, Robert Goddard tests a rocket engine using liquid oxygen and gasoline and supplied by a pump.

Tikhomirov's lab, later known as Gas Dynamics Laboratory, GDL, moves to Leningrad (St Petersburg).

The first exhibit dedicated to the interplanetary travel is held in Kiev.

November: Walter Hohmann publishes "Die Erreichbarkeit der Himmelskorper" (The Attainability of Celestial Bodies) describing rocket motion in space.

March 16: In Auburn, Massachusetts, Robert Goddard launches the world's first liquid-propellant rocket.

Konstantin Tsiolkovsky publishes new and expanded edition of the "Exploration of the Outer Space with Reactive Vehicles."

In Germany, Willy Ley publishes "Die Fahrt ins Weltall," popularizing astronautics.

March 15: RNII initiates development of the ORM-65 engine with the thrust of 175 kilograms.

May 9: Sergei Korolev oversees the first test of a winged missile, designated 216.

Nov. 5: Official test firing of the ORM-65 engine for the RP-318 rocket glider and the 212 cruise missile at RNII.

The publication of a series on rocket technology is started.

Robert Goddard publishes "Liquid Propellant Rocket Development."

May: The construction of early technical facilities is completed at the rocket development center in Peenemünde, Germany. Key rocket specialists move in from Kummersdorf. Wernher von Braun becomes Technical Director of the Army's development plant, a.k.a. East Plant.

June: Rocket-powered Heinkel He-112 aircraft developed at Kummersdorf flies in Neuhardenberg.

October: "Introduction in Cosmonautics" by A. Shternfeld is published in the USSR.

Dec. 4-11: Four German A-3 missiles tested unsuccessfully at the Greifswalder Oie island in the Baltic Sea.

The Astronautics Exhibit in Paris.

Kleimenov and Langemak, the leaders of RNII, arrested and executed by Stalin's henchmen.

May 29: Sergei Korolev is injured during testing of the 212 cruise missile.

BMW starts the development of rocket engines for airplanes and rockets.

Korolev and Glushko arrested and imprisoned during Stalin's terror.

Eugen Sanger and Irene Bredt initiate a design of a stratospheric rocket-powered bomber.

Jan. 29: The experimental cruise missile 212 powered by the ORM-65 No. 2 engine is tested in flight.

Summer: Soviet I-16 fighter planes fire missiles at Japanese targets during the conflict in the Far East.

June 20: The He-176 aircraft powered by the Walter-built liquid-fueled rocket engine conducts a test flight in Germany's Peenemünde, powered by Walter's HWK R1-203 engine.

Feb. 28: The RP-318-1 rocket-powered glider, originally designed by Korolev, is tested in flight and reaches a speed of 200 km per hour.

Dec. 18: Germany tests Henschel Hs 293 radio-controlled bomb.

May: RUS-1 and RUS-2 air defense radar start operations.

June-October: Russian aviation institutions urgently evacuate to the eastern regions of the USSR in the face of German advance toward Moscow.

June 22: Germany invades the Soviet Union, planning to defeat the Red Army by fall 1941.

Aug. 13: German rocket-powered Messerschmitt Me 163 Komet aircraft completes its first test flight.

Spring: The first (unsuccessful) attempt to launch German V-2 (A-4) ballistic missile.

May 15: A BI-1 rocket-powered aircraft-interceptor is tested in flight.

Oct. 3: German A-4 missile (4th launch) reaches altitude of 85 kilometers.

Red Army defeats German forces in Stalingrad, turning the tide of World War II.

Aug. 17-18: British RAF bombers conduct a devastating raid on the German missile development center in Peenemünde.

Aug. 22 - Nov. 18: The RD-1 rocket engine is tested in USSR onboard the Pe-2R bomber in 40 rocket-powered flights.

A team of top German ballistic missile designers led by Wernher Von Braun surrenders to the US army occupying Germany. They eventually create a core of the missile development team at Redstone Arsenal in Hunstville, Ala.

April-August: Russian engineers and scientists come to Germany to search and evaluate Nazi missile programs.

September: Helmut Gröttrup, a leading Peenemünde scientist, joins Soviet efforts to restore the production of the German A-4 missiles.

May 10: The first A-4 missile blasts off from White Sands, NM, reaching the altitude of 112 kilometers.

May 13: The Soviet government launches a wide-scale missile development program based on the German technology.

Oct. 22: Soviet authorities deport dozens of German rocket engineers to the USSR.

March 7: The 20th A-4 (V-2) rocket launched in the US obtains first photos of the cloud cover from the altitude exceeding 100 kilometers, during a mission from White Sands, New Mexico.

Oct. 14: The X-1 plane piloted by Charles Yeager breaks the sound barrier.

Oct. 18: The first German A-4 rocket is launched from Kapustin Yar.

The program of a long-range ballistic missile (MX-774) canceled as "not promising."

July 14: At the summer session of the Academy of Artillery Sciences, AAN, Tikhonravov presented a report entitled "Means of reaching long range of firing with missiles." (247)

Sept. 17: The R-1, the Soviet copy of German A-4 is launched for the first time.

British Interplanetary Society initiates studies of the launch vehicle for the artificial satellite.

Feb. 24: Bamper-5 rocket reaches altitude of 393 kilometers (244 miles).

The US Air Force establishes Department of Space Medicine.

Sept. 21: The first R-2 ballistic missile is launched.

April 26: Sergei Korolev officially becomes a chief designer of OKB-1, the developer of the Soviet long-range ballistic missiles.

Within R-3 ballistic missile program, Korolev team studies a multistage version of the rocket capable of launching a satellite.

July: The first rocket (German A-4 with WAC "Bumper" second stage) blasts off from Cape Canaveral.

Sept. 30: The First International Astronautics Congress convenes in Paris, creating International Federation of Astronautics.

July 29: The first launch of the "geophysical" rocket carrying live animals onboard.

K. Gatland, A. Dixon and A. Kunesh present project of "minimal" spacecraft at the meeting of the International Astronautical Congress in London.

First Physics and Medicine of Upper Atmosphere Symposium is held.

The International Astronautical Federation is established.

May 21: Hubert M. Drake and L. Robert Carman from NACA release a proposal to build hypersonic research vehicle, which could reach the speed of 6.4 Mach.

Space Biology Branch of the Aeromedical Field Laboratory is established at Holloman AFB.

August - September: the USSR conducts final test flights of the R-2 ballistic missile.

Feb. 18: The commission on space science is organized within Academy of Sciences of USSR.

Aug. 20: Redstone missile flies its first test mission.

October: The US Air Force Scientific Advisory Board recommends the development of the research vehicle capable of Mach 7.

The X-1A research plane reached the altitude of 27 kilometers and speed of 2,655 kilometers per hour.

Feb. 12: The government approves the development of the NIIP-5 test range near Tyuratam (Baikonur Cosmodrome).

April: The NII-4 research institute issued a preliminary report No. 571 on the Subject No. 72, entitled "The research on the issue of creation of artificial Earth satellite" commissioned by Korolev. (126)

September: The Vanguard project is officially approved as the program of launching a satellite in the US.

Qian Xuesen, an MIT-trained rocket scientist, returns to his native China, after accusations of spying in the US.

Jan. 30: The Soviet of Ministers of the USSR approves the development of the scientific satellite (Object D)

January: "The Mechanics of Photon Rockets" by E. Sanger is published in West Germany.

The X-2 experimental plane reaches the altitude of 38 kilometers (126,000 feet) and the speed of 3,540 kilometers per hour (2,200 mph).

The Aerobee-Hi AGUL-0113C rocket reaches the altitude of 264 kilometers (164 miles).

Jan. 31: Explorer-1, the first US satellite, reaches orbit.

Feb. 5: US Navy attempts to launch the Vanguard (TV-3 backup) satellite. The launcher fails after 57 seconds in flight.

March 17: The Vanguard (TV-4), the first satellite to use solar energy, reaches orbit.

May 15: Object D (Sputnik-3), a geophysical lab, reaches orbit.

Aug. 17: The Thor-Able rocket, carrying US Air Force's Pioneer lunar orbiter, explodes 77 seconds after launch.

Oct. 1: The US Congress creates NASA.

Qian Xuesen, the father of the Chinese rocketry, proposes a satellite project to the Chinese government.

Jan. 1-2: Luna-1, the first spacecraft to escape Earth orbit, is launched.

March 3: Pioneer-4 passes within 60,000 kilometers from the Moon.

May 28: The first primates (Able and Baker) complete a suborbital flight onboard Jupiter ballistic missile.

Sept. 12: Luna-2 the first man-made object to impact the Moon.

Oct. 3: Luna-3 photographs far side of the Moon.

Feb. 20: John Glenn completes the first US manned orbital space flight onboard Mercury-Atlas-6 spacecraft.

May 16: Korolev approved a preliminary design of the N1 rocket, which envisioned a 2,200-ton, three-stage vehicle capable of launching 75 tons of payload.

Aug. 11-15: Two manned spacecraft, Vostok 3 and 4, orbit the Earth simultaneously.

Dec. 14: Mariner-2 completes the first Venus flyby.

April 8: NASA launches an unmanned Gemini-1 spacecraft on a first test mission of the program.

Aug. 19: The Syncom-3 communications satellite becomes the world's first geostationary satellite.

Oct. 12-13: A first three-member crew orbited Earth onboard Voskhod spacecraft.

March 18: Alexei Leonov conducts world's first spacewalk during the 24-hour, 16-orbit Voskhod-2 mission.

March 23: NASA astronauts Gus Grissom and John Young fly a three-orbit mission onboard Gemini-3 spacecraft, the first manned launch in the program.

July 15: Mariner-4 completes flyby of Mars.

July 16: The first Proton rocket blasted off from Site 81 in Tyuratam (Baikonur) carrying Proton-1 spacecraft.

Nov. 2: The second Proton rocket delivers Proton-2 spacecraft.

Nov. 26: The Diamant rocket orbited the first French satellite, the A-1, making the country the third space power.

Feb. 3: Luna-9 conducts soft-landing and scientific research on the surface of the Moon.

March 16: Gemini-8 completes world's first manual docking with Agena-8.

In the US, the Northrop HL-10 wingless "lifting-body" rocket plane conducts the first flight.

Jan. 27: Three US astronauts die in the fire inside Apollo spacecraft during on-pad tests.

March 10: The Proton rocket launches the first prototype of the L1 circumlunar spacecraft (Cosmos-146).

April 24: Vladimir Komarov dies on landing during the test flight of the Soyuz-1 spacecraft.

June 12: Venera-4, the first probe to enter the atmosphere of Venus, blasts off from Baikonur.

The first Saturn-5 rocket blasts off, carrying the unmanned Apollo-4 spacecraft.

March 2: The Proton launches the prototype of the L1 circumlunar spacecraft. It was announced as Zond-4.

Sept. 18: Zond-5, the prototype of the L1 spacecraft for manned circumlunar flight swings around the Moon.

April 23: The Proton rocket fails to deliver prototype of the L1 circumlunar spacecraft.

July 14: The explosion at the Proton launch complex with L-1 (Zond) spacecraft in pre-launch processing kills one person, delaying the program.

Oct. 11: The Apollo-7 with the crew of three orbits Earth.

Dec. 24: The Apollo-8 with the crew of three completes world's first translunar flight and orbiting of the Moon.

Jan. 14: Soyuz-4 blasts off on a mission to practice first docking of the two manned spacecraft and crew transfer between two ships.

Feb. 21: The N1-L3 moon rocket (#3L) fails after 68.7 seconds in flight.

March 3: The Apollo-9 blasts off to Earth orbit on mission to practice lunar landing maneuvers.

May 18: The Apollo-10 blasts off toward the Moon to practice lunar landing maneuvers.

July 3: The N1-L3 moon rocket (#5L) fails at launch.

July 20: The Apollo-11 astronauts land and walk on the surface of the Moon.

Oct. 11: The Soyuz-6 blasts off starting the first triple mission of manned spacecraft. Soyuz-7 and 8 follow.

Nov. 14: The Apollo-12 blasts off to conduct the second successful expedition to the Moon.

April 24: China launches an artificial satellite onboard a domestically built Long March 1 rocket, converted from CSS-3 ICBM.

July 22: The Venera-7 lander transmits data from the surface of Venus.

Jan. 5: President Nixon approved development of the Space Shuttle.

March 2: NASA launched the Pioneer 10 space probe, the first spacecraft to capture close-range images of Jupiter and the first to travel outside our solar system.

July 29: The DOS-2 (Salyut) space station fails to reach orbit due to the Proton rocket failure.

December: The Apollo-17, the sixth and last lunar expedition of the 20th century, visits the Moon.

May 11: The DOS-3 (Cosmos-557) orbital station fails in orbit soon after the launch by the Proton rocket.

May 14: The last Saturn-5 rocket launches Skylab orbital lab. Three crews visit and work onboard the station.

Dec. 4: The Pioneer-10 completes flyby of Jupiter.

March 29: Mariner-10 completes flyby of Mercury.

July: The first Soviet crew works onboard the military space station (Salyut-3).

Dec. 26: The Salyut-4 orbital station is launched. Two crews visit the lab.

March 16: Mariner-10 completes its third and last flyby of Mercury.

July: Two cosmonauts work onboard Salyut-4, as Soviet Soyuz-19 and the US Apollo spacecraft dock elsewhere in space.

July 17: The Soviet Soyuz and US Apollo spacecraft dock in space.

Oct. 22: Venera-9 transmitted first ever images from the surface of Venus.

China recovers a remote-sensing satellite from orbit.

Feb. 17: The Soviet government officially approves the Energia-Buran development.

March 16: The Soviet government officially approves the development of the Zenit rocket.

Two Viking spacecraft land on Mars and transmit first images from the surface.

September 29: The Salyut-6 is launched.

October: The Shuttle Enterprise conducts first atmospheric flights after separation from Boeing-747 carrier aircraft.

January 20: The Progress-1 the first cargo ship to resupply the space station is launched.

The Pioneer-Venus spacecraft is launched toward Venus.

Sept. 1: Pioneer-11 completes flyby of Saturn.

December 16: The first Soyuz-T spacecraft is launched into unmanned test flight.

Shaghai-based newspaper Wen Hui Bao publishes a photo of a spacesuited Chinese astronaut in training. More photos would follow.

June 5-9: The Soyuz-T spacecraft carries the crew for the first time (Soyuz-T2).

July 18: India launches Rokhini satellite onboard its own SLV-3 rocket from its own launch site.

Aug. 25: The RD-170 engine for the Energia and Zenit rockets is test-fired for the first time.

April 12: The US Shuttle Columbia blasts off into the first test flight.

The TKS heavy transport ship docks with unmanned Salyut-6.

Nov. 12: The US Shuttle Columbia returns to orbit, becoming the first reusable spacecraft.

February: Shuttle astronauts conduct untethered spacewalk, with the help of a manned maneuvering unit, MMU.

April: The Shuttle Challenger crew retrieves, repairs and redeploys the Solar Maximum Mission satellite.

The 3rd expedition to Salyut-7 remains onboard the station for 237 days.

June: Two cosmonauts dock and revive the Salyut-7, after the station had flown powerless and out of control for several months.

August: A Shuttle crew captures, repairs and redeploys a navy satellite.

August: The Voyager-2 becomes the first spacecraft to flyby and study Neptune.

October 18-23: The Shuttle Atlantis launches Galileo spacecraft toward Jupiter (STS-34).

Dec. 2: The Kvant-2 module docks with Mir.

Russia and China officially normalize relations, including space cooperation.

Jan. 9-20: The Shuttle Columbia retrieves LDEF spacecraft and returns it to Earth (STS-32).

Jan. 24: Japan launches the 195-kilogram Muses-A (Hiten) spacecraft into highly-elliptical orbit, which periodically takes it into the vicinity of the Moon.

February: Cosmonauts onboard Mir test manned maneuvering unit in tethered flights.

March 19: Japan's Muses-A (Hiten) spacecraft conducted its first flyby of the Moon, inserting Hagoromo micro-satellite into its orbit.

April 24-29: The Shuttle Discovery deploys Hubble Space Telescope (STS-31).

June 11: The Kristall module carrying docking port for Buran orbiter docks with Mir.

China launches and recovers a biological satellite, carrying 60 animals and plants, including rats, and guinea pigs.

April: The Shuttle Atlantis deploys Gamma Ray Observatory (STS-37).

May: The first commercial passenger, British citizen Helen Sharman, visits Mir.

December: The Soviet Union officially dissolved in the aftermath of the communist coup attempt in Moscow.

Feb. 15: Japan's Muses-A (Hiten) probe enters orbit around the Moon.

May 7-16: The crew of the Shuttle Endeavor (STS-49) captures, repairs and redeploys the Intelsat VI communications satellite.

Sept. 11: The Mir crew mounts an auxiliary propulsion unit on the station's extendable boom.

Chinese government approves Project 921, the precursor to the manned space program.

Jan. 8: Valery Polyakov boards Mir starting world's longest (year-and-a-half) space flight.

Feb. 3-11: Sergei Krikalev becomes the first Russian cosmonaut to fly onboard the US Shuttle (STS-60).

Aug. 9: A rocket engine using three propellant components is live-tested in Sergiev Posad, Russia.

May 20: The Spektr module is launched toward Mir.

Mir is reconfigured to receive the US Space Shuttle.

June 27-July 7: The US Space Shuttle (STS-71) docks to the Mir space station for the first time.

Dec. 7: The Galileo spacecraft enters orbit around Jupiter.

April 23: The Priroda, the Mir's last originally planned module, blasts off toward the station.

April 25: Yuri Koptev, head of the Russian Space Agency, signs space cooperation with China, during a visit to Beijing. Two Chinese trainees would soon visit Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City.

May: Shuttle launches the Spartan spacecraft with an inflatable antenna experiment.

November: Mars 96 spacecraft left stranded in the Earth orbit after launch.

Feb. 11-21: Shuttle (STS-82) completes second servicing of Hubble Space Telescope.

June 25: Progress cargo ship collides with Mir during docking exercise, depressurizing the Spektr module.

Mars Pathfinder lands on Mars and deploys the first rover on the Red Planet.

The Russian government stops funding for Mir.

May 27-June 6: Shuttle (STS-96/2A) resupplies the ISS.

August: Mir is left unmanned for the first time since 1989.

November: Japan's H-2 rocket carrying a weather satellite goes off course and has to be destroyed during launch.

Nov. 20: China launches the first prototype of the manned spacecraft, Shenzhou-1, conducting a successful one-day mission without crew.

Dec. 3: Mars Polar Lander disappears during its descent on the surface of Mars.