Echoes Among the Stars: The Original Website
The First Era in Space, 1957-1975
Significant Events in Space and on Earth
1957
Soviet Union launches Sputnik 1 satellite, the first human-made object to orbit the earth, on October 4. The American public and Congress react with great concern, fearing the military implications of the Soviet space achievement.
Soviet Union launches Sputnik 2 satellite, with the Siberian husky dog “Laika” on board, on November 3.
1958
U.S. launches Explorer 1 satellite, its first, on January 31.
Sputnik 3 satellite launched by Soviet Union, May 15.
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is formed on October 1. T. Keith Glennan is names as the agency’s first Administrator.
1959
NASA introduces the “Mercury Seven” astronauts -- America’s first --to the public on April 9.
Luna 3 probe, which transmits the first photos of the far side of the moon, is launched by the Soviets on October 7.
1960
John F. Kennedy wins 1960 U.S. presidential election over incumbent Vice President Richard M. Nixon, November 8.
1961
Soviet Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin becomes the first human being in space, April 12.
Abortive Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba, April 16.
Mercury “Freedom 7” mission, May 5, 1961. => SEE PHOTOS
President Kennedy makes famous speech calling for an American moon landing by the end of the 1960s, May 25.
Mercury “Liberty Bell 7” mission, July 21, 1961. => SEE PHOTOS
Cosmonaut Gherman Titov spends a full day in space aboard the Soviet Vostok 2 spacecraft, August 6.
At the behest of the Soviet Union, East German troops begin construction of the Berlin Wall, August 13.
Soviets conduct massive atmospheric tests of nuclear weapons, August 30.
1962
Mercury “Friendship 7: mission, February 20, 1962. => SEE PHOTOS
Mercury “Aurora 7” mission, May 24, 1962. => SEE PHOTOS
Soviets launch Vostok 3 on August 11, followed by Vostok 4 the following day, in apparent mission to test rendezvous of vehicles in space.
Mercury “Sigma 7” mission, October 3, 1962. => SEE PHOTOS
Cuban Missile Crisis brings U.S. and Soviet Union to the brink of nuclear war before President Kennedy and Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev negotiate a solution, October 16-29.
1963
Cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova becomes the first woman in space on June 16 when she is launched aboard the Soviet Vostok 6 spacecraft. Her mission begins two days after the launch of Vostok 5, with Cosmonaut Valery Bykovsky, who stays in space for five days, the longest one person mission.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. makes his landmark “I Have a Dream” speech to a crowd of more than 250,000 civil rights activists at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., August 28.
President Kennedy is assassinated in Dallas, Texas, November 22.
1964
President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act of 1964, July 2.
Tonkin Gulf incident, August 2, brings U.S. into expanded role in the Vietnam War.
Warren Commission is appointed by President Johnson on September 27, to investigate the assassination of President Kennedy.
China conducts its first nuclear weapons test, October.
Soviet Union launched first three man crew -- cosmonauts Vladimir Komarov, Konstantin Feoktistov, and Boris Yegorov -- aboard Voskhod 1, October 12 Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev is removed from office during their one day mission, replaced by new leaders Leonid Brezhnev and Aleksei Kosygin.
President Johnson defeats Senator Barry Goldwater in the 1964 U.S. Presidential election, November 3.
1965
Cosmonaut Alexei Leonov becomes the first human being to spacewalk, March 18, as part of his Voskhod 2 mission with Pavel Belyayev.
Gemini 5 mission, August 21-29, 1965. => SEE PHOTOS
Gemini 7 mission, December 4-18, 1965. => SEE PHOTOS
Gemini 6 mission, December 15-16, 1965. => SEE PHOTOS
U.S. troops in Vietnam number more than 200,000 by end of December.
1966
Chief Designer of the Soviet Space program, Sergei Korolev, dies on January 14. He is replaced by Vasily Mishin, who is charged with developing spacecraft for a Soviet lunar landing.
Gemini 8 mission, March 16, 1966. => SEE PHOTOS
Gemini 9 mission, June 3-6, 1966. => SEE PHOTOS
Gemini 10 mission, July 18-21, 1966. => SEE PHOTOS
Gemini 11 mission, September 12-15, 1966. => SEE PHOTOS
Gemini 12 mission, November 11-15, 1966. => SEE PHOTOS
More than 400,000 U.S. troops are involved in the Vietnam War by year’s end.
1967
Soviets launch Soyuz 1 on April 23; in an eerie parallel to the American Apollo 1 tragedy, the Soyuz spacecraft suffers a major systems failure and is forced to make an emergency return to earth, resulting in a violent crash that kills Cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov upon impact.
U.S. launches unmanned Apollo 4 spacecraft, the first since the Apollo 1 fire and first live test of the Saturn V rocket, November 9.
1968
Vietnam War Tet Offensive begins, January 30.
President Johnson announces decision to not seek reelection, January 31.
First human being in space Yuri Gagarin is killed in airplane crash, March 27.
Dr. Martin Luther King is assassinated, April 4.
Senator Robert F. Kennedy is assassinated, June 6.
Violence erupts at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, August.
Soviet Union invades Czechoslavakia, August 21.
Apollo 7 mission, October 11-22, 1968. => SEE PHOTOS
Richard Nixon wins 1968 U.S. presidential election over incumbent Vice President Hubert Humphrey, November 5.
U.S. involvement in Vietnam War reaches its highest point, with 540,000 troops involved by December.
Apollo 8 mission, December 21-27, 1968. => SEE PHOTOS
1969
Soviets launch Soyuz 4, January 14, and Soyuz 5 the following day. The two spacecraft dock and exchange crews in what the Soviet government calls the “First Experimental Space Station.”
Soviets attempt launch of N-1 rocket necessary to lunar landing program, February 21; rocket explodes 70 seconds after launch.
Apollo 9 mission, March 3-13, 1969. => SEE PHOTOS
Apollo 10 mission, May 18-26, 1969. => SEE PHOTOS
Soviet N-1 rocket launch fails, July 3.
Soviets launch Luna 15 moon probe, July 13; probe crashes into moon on July 21, while Apollo 11 astronauts Armstrong and Aldrin are in Eagle lunar module on lunar surface.
Apollo 11 mission, July 16-24, 1969. => SEE PHOTOS
Woodstock Music and Arts Festival, August 15-18.
Soviet Union announces that it has dropped its plans for manned flights to the moon, October. Development, testing, and test flights related to the lunar program continue through 1973.
Apollo 12 mission, November 14-24, 1969. => SEE PHOTOS
Nearly 250,000 protestors attend Vietnam War demonstration in Washington, D.C., November 15.
American public learns of Vietnam War My Lai massacre, November 16.
1970
Four students killed during antiwar demonstration at Kent State Unviersity, Kent, Ohio, May 4, touching off further massive demonstrations at colleges throughout the U.S.
President Nixon’s “Vietnamization” policy reduces the number of U.S. troops in Vietnam to 280,000 by year’s end.
1971
New York Times begins publication of the Pentagon Papers, June 13.
Apollo 15 mission, July 26 - August 7, 1971. => SEE PHOTOS
U.S. troops in Vietnam reduced to 140,000 by December.
1972
President Nixon makes historic diplomatic visit to China, February 21-27.
Apollo 16 mission, April 16-27, 1972. => SEE PHOTOS
President Nixon orders the mining of North Vietnamese ports, May 8.
Alabama Governor George C. Wallace is shot while campaigning for the presidency, May 15, 1972.
President Nixon visits the Soviet Union, May 22-29, and signs the Salt I nuclear arms treaty.
A break-in occurs at the Democratic National Headquarters, located at the Watergate hotel in Washington, D.C., June 17.
Eleven Israeli athletes are killed by terrorists at the 1972 Olympic games in Munich, West Germany, September 5.
President Nixon defeats Senator George McGovern in the 1972 U.S. Presidential election, November 7.
Apollo 17 mission, December 7-19, 1972. => SEE PHOTOS
1973
Vietnam War peace accord is signed in Paris, January 27, ending American involvement in the Vietnam War.
The final American troops leave Vietnam, March 29.
High ranking aides to President Nixon resign in the face of obstruction of justice charges, April 30.
Skylab 1 mission May 14, 1973 - July 12, 1979. => SEE PHOTOS
Skylab 2 mission, May 25 - June 22, 1973. => SEE PHOTOS
Skylab 3 mission, July 28 - September 25, 1973. => SEE PHOTOS
U.S. Vice President Spiro T. Agnew resigns, October 10.
U.S. Supreme Court rules that President Nixon must provide tape recordings that may implicate him in crimes related to the Watergate burglary and coverup, October 12.
1974
U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee begins hearings to consider the impeachment of President Nixon, May 9.
President Nixon resigns, August 9.
President Gerald R. Ford pardons former President Nixon for any crimes he may have committed while in office, September 8.
1975
Cosmonauts Vasili Lazarev and Oleg Makarov survive the first manned launch abort, April 5.
Saigon falls to the Communist Vietcong, ending the Vietnam War, April 30.
Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (ASTP) mission, July 15 - July 24, 1975. => SEE PHOTOS
