Space Missions and Achievements

NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) was responsible for the first successful human spaceflight, which was carried out by Alan Shepard on May 5, 1961.

Sputnik 1 was the first artificial satellite to orbit Earth, launched by the Soviet Union on October 4, 1957.

Apollo 11 was the first space mission to land humans on the Moon, with Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin becoming the first humans to walk on the lunar surface on July 20, 1969.

The Hubble Space Telescope was the first space telescope launched into orbit, on April 24, 1990.

Viking 1 was the first space probe to successfully land on Mars, on July 20, 1976.

Columbia was the first space shuttle to be launched, on April 12, 1981.

New Horizons was the first space mission to successfully send a spacecraft to Pluto, which it reached on July 14, 2015.

Hipparcos was the first space telescope to be launched into orbit by the European Space Agency (ESA), on August 8, 1989.

Venera 7 was the first space mission to successfully land a spacecraft on Venus, on December 15, 1970.

Pioneer 10 was the first space probe to successfully orbit Jupiter, which it reached on December 4, 1973.

Cassini-Huygens was the first space mission to successfully land a spacecraft on Saturn, which it reached on July 1, 2004.

Voyager 2 was the first space probe to successfully orbit Uranus, which it reached on January 24, 1986.

Voyager 2 was the first space probe to successfully land a spacecraft on Neptune, which it reached on August 25, 1989.

Akari was the first space telescope to be launched into orbit by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), on February 21, 2006.

Hayabusa was the first space mission to successfully land a spacecraft on an asteroid, which it reached on November 19, 2005.