The Space Race: A Battle for Supremacy

The Soviet Union launched Sputnik 1, the first artificial satellite, into orbit on October 4, 1957.

Yuri Gagarin, a Soviet cosmonaut, became the first person to travel into space on April 12, 1961.

The United States sent Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin to the moon on July 20, 1969, as part of the Apollo 11 mission.

Salyut 1, launched by the Soviet Union in 1971, was the first space station.

The United States launched the Space Shuttle Columbia, the first reusable spacecraft, in 1981.

The Hubble Space Telescope, launched by NASA in 1990, was the first space telescope.

The Soviet Union sent the Mars 2 and Mars 3 probes to Mars in 1971.

Sojourner, part of the Mars Pathfinder mission, was the first rover to explore Mars in 1997.

The United States sent the Pioneer 10 probe to Jupiter in 1973.

Cassini-Huygens, a joint mission between NASA and the European Space Agency, entered orbit around Saturn in 2004.

The United States sent the New Horizons probe to Pluto in 2015.

Philae, part of the Rosetta mission, was the first spacecraft to land on a comet in 2014.

Japan sent the Hayabusa probe to the asteroid Itokawa in 2005.

Hayabusa, a Japanese spacecraft, returned samples from the asteroid Itokawa in 2010.

The United States sent the Parker Solar Probe to the sun in 2018.