| LAUNCH DATE |
NAME |
DESTINATION |
COUNTRY |
MISSION DETAILS |
ADDITIONAL
INFO |
CURRENT STATUS |
| 4th October 1957 |
Sputnik 1 |
Earth |
USSR
 |
Sputnik 1 was
the first man-made object to be launched into space. It circled the Earth
at a distance of about 250 km (150 miles), completing approximately 1,400
orbits. This launch caused panic in the USA who believed that Soviet
satellites could carry weapons which could be aimed at America from space. |
First artificial
satellite to orbit Earth |
Burned up on
re-entry into Earth's atmosphere on 3rd January 1958 |
| 3rd November
1957 |
Sputnik 2 |
Earth |
USSR
|
The second
artificial satellite to orbit Earth, Sputnik 2 was the Soviet Union's
second attempt to launch a man-made object into space, and the first to
contain a living animal: Laika, the first space dog! Sadly, Laika didn't survive
her trip into space and it is believed that she died from the heat
inside the space craft. Sputnik 2's mission lasted for 162 days and orbited
Earth about 2,000 times. |
Laika became the
living being to enter space. |
Burned up on
re-entry into Earth's atmosphere on 14th April 1958. |
| 6th December
1957 |
Vanguard TV3 |
Earth |
USA
 |
First American
attempt to launch a satellite to orbit Earth. It got about 4 feet from
the Earth's surface then sank back to the launch pad and exploded!
The satellite that should have gone into space is now on display at the
Smithsonian Air and Space Museum. |
First American
attempt to launch a satellite. |
Launch failure. |
| 31st January
1958 |
Explorer 1 |
Earth |
USA
|
America's first
satellite. It contained a Geiger counter which found high levels of
radiation about 2,000 km above Earth. This became known as the Van Allen
radiation belt. The mission lasted for 111 days when the batteries failed,
but the space craft remained in orbit around Earth until 1970. |
First US
satellite |
Burned up on
re-entry into Earth's atmosphere over the Pacific Ocean on 31st March
1970. |
| 5th March 1958 |
Explorer 2 |
Earth |
USA
|
Similar to
Explorer 1 but failed to launch. |
. |
Launch failure |
| 26th March 1958 |
Explorer 3 |
Earth |
USA
|
Almost identical
to Explorer 1 and 2. Successfully launched and confirmed the existence of
an area of high radiation surrounding Earth. |
Second US
satellite |
Burned up on
re-entry into Earth's atmosphere on 27th June 1958 |
| 29th July 1958 |
NASA |
The Universe! |
USA
|
Not a mission,
but the US government organisation behind American space exploration was
founded when President Eisenhower signed the National Aeronautics and
Space Act on 29th July 1958. NASA began operations from 1st October 1958. |
Putting the
first man on the Moon. |
Still operating |
| 17th March 1958 |
Vanguard 1 |
Earth |
USA
|
Earth satellite.
Stopped transmitting to Earth in May 1964 when its solar powered
transmitter stopped communicating. Was originally planned to remain in
Earth orbit for 2,000 years, but its orbital lifetime is now estimated at
about 240 years. |
Oldest satellite
to remain in orbit around Earth. |
Still orbiting
Earth, no longer communicating. |
| 26th July 1958 |
Explorer 4 |
Earth |
USA
|
Sent to explore
the Van Allen radiation belts as discovered by Explorer 1 and 3. Two
missions were planned but only one was launched. |
. |
Burned up on
re-entry, 23rd October 1958 |
| 17th August 1958 |
Pioneer 0 / Thor-Able 1
|
Moon |
USA
|
First satellite designed
to orbit the Moon. 77 seconds after take-off, at a height of 16km, its
booster exploded and the spacecraft landed in the Atlantic. If successful,
it would have orbited the Moon for about 2 weeks. |
First attempt at a
lunar mission.. |
Landed in the Atlantic
shortly after launch. |
| 23rd September 1958 |
Luna 1958A
|
Moon |
USSR
|
Luna
1958A was designed to go to impact with the moon's
surface by crashing into it! Only succeeded in taking off for 93 seconds
and crashing back to Earth's surface in bits! |
First Soviet lunar mission
attempt. |
Launch failure |
| 11th October
1958 |
Pioneer 1 |
Earth and Moon |
USA
|
Intended to
study cosmic rays, magnetic fields and radiation between Earth and around
the Moon. The spacecraft left Earth, but never reached the Moon. It still
sent back useful information about Earth |
First mission
launched by NASA. |
Burned up over
the Pacific when re-entering Earth atmosphere on 13th October 1958. |
| 12th October 1958 |
Luna 1958B
|
Moon |
USSR
|
Second attempt by the
Soviet Union to crash a spacecraft into the Moon. Failed to leave Earth,
exploding 104 seconds after launch. |
Second Soviet attempt to
reach the Moon. |
Launch failure |
| 8th November 1958 |
Pioneer 2 (attempted Moon
orbiter) |
Moon |
USA
|
Like Pioneer 1, this
spacecraft should have gone into orbit around the Moon. The spacecraft got
as far as 1550 km from Earth's surface, when the launch vehicle which
should have gone to the Moon separated but failed to ignite. The
spacecraft fell into Earth's atmosphere and burned up over Africa. |
Second American attempt to
reach the Moon. |
Launch failure. |
| 4th December 1958 |
Luna 1958C
|
Moon |
USSR
|
Another Soviet attempt to
crash into the Moon. Once again, it exploded shortly after launch, this time after 245 seconds. |
Third Soviet attempt to
reach the Moon |
Launch failure |
| 6th December 1958 |
Pioneer 3
(attempted Moon flyby)
|
Moon |
USA
|
If successful, Pioneer 3
would have flown past the Moon and then gone into an orbit around the Sun.
The mission was only 3.7 seconds short of being successful when an engine
shut down earlier than it should have meaning that the spacecraft couldn't
escape the gravitational pull of other (it couldn't attain escape
velocity) and at an altitude of 102,360 km, was brought back down to
Earth. |
Third American attempt to
reach the Moon (notice a pattern developing!) Discovered a second belt of
radiation surrounding Earth. |
Burned up in Earth's
atmosphere over Africa on 7th December 1958 |
| 2nd January 1959 |
Luna 1
(later known as |
Moon |
USSR
|
Another attempt to crash
into the Moon. This failed because the spacecraft missed the Moon. By
doing this though, it became the first successful Moon flyby. The Moon's
gravity flung the spacecraft into space and it then became the first
man-made object to orbit the Sun. |
First object to reach
escape velocity from Earth, first Lunar Flyby, first man-made object to
achieve Solar orbit. Discovered the Solar Wind. |
In an orbit of the Sun
between Earth and Mars. |
| 3rd March 1959 |
Pioneer 4 |
Moon |
USA
|
First American spacecraft
to reach escape velocity. Similar to Luna 1 in that it flew by the Moon
and then got entered into an orbit around the Sun. |
First American Lunar Flyby |
Last known to be in a
Solar orbit in 1969. |
| 12th September 1959 |
Luna 2 |
Moon |
USSR
|
This was the first
man-made object to land on the Moon. The spacecraft crashed into the
Moon's surface and suddenly stopped communicating, confirming the impact.
The spacecraft was sterilized to prevent any bacterial contamination on
the Moon, and contained pendants with symbols of the USSR. |
First Lunar Impact |
Mission ended on Lunar
impact at 22:02:24 UTC. |
| 4th October 1959 |
Luna 3 |
Moon |
USSR
|
Successful flyby mission
of the Moon. This mission also sent back the very first images of the far
side of the Moon, a side of the Moon that up to that point, had never been
seen by people on Earth. It photographed 70% of the Moon's far side. |
First pictures of far side
of Moon. |
Re-entered Earth's
atmosphere and burned up, probably 29th April 1960. |
| 26th November 1959 |
Pioneer P-3 |
Moon |
USA
|
Should have gone into
orbit around the Moon, but failed shortly after launch. |
. |
Launch failure |
