OrbitingTruths Archive
Every mission in the archive, laid out in the order it happened — from 1961 to the missions still ahead.
54
Total events
6
Programs
67+
Years spanned
Freedom 7 made Alan Shepard the first American in space, a 15-minute suborbital flight that came just three weeks after the Soviet Union launched the first human into orbit and helped set the stage for President Kennedy's challenge to land astronauts on the Moon.
Liberty Bell 7 made Gus Grissom the second American in space on a suborbital flight nearly identical to Freedom 7, but the mission became famous for a dramatic near-disaster after splashdown when the capsule's hatch blew open prematurely and the spacecraft sank.
Friendship 7 made John Glenn the first American to orbit Earth, completing three orbits in under five hours despite a tense reentry caused by a false sensor warning about the spacecraft's heat shield.
Aurora 7 repeated John Glenn's three-orbit flight with Scott Carpenter at the controls, but a late and off-angle retrofire caused the capsule to splash down roughly 250 miles off target, leaving Carpenter adrift and out of contact for nearly forty minutes.
Sigma 7 was a near-flawless six-orbit engineering test flight in which Wally Schirra deliberately conserved fuel and flew a highly disciplined mission, splashing down within a few miles of his target in the Pacific Ocean.
Gemini 3 was the first crewed flight of Project Gemini, carrying Gus Grissom and John Young on three orbits and demonstrating, for the first time, that a crewed spacecraft could actively change its own orbit.
Gemini 4 sent James McDivitt and Ed White on a four-day flight remembered above all for White's spacewalk, the first time an American ventured outside a spacecraft in orbit.
Gemini 5 set a new spaceflight endurance record of nearly eight days, proving astronauts could survive a mission as long as a round trip to the Moon, despite a fuel cell problem that threatened to cut the flight short.
Gemini 7 sent Frank Borman and Jim Lovell on a grueling fourteen-day flight, the longest crewed spaceflight of its era, while also serving as the target for history's first space rendezvous with Gemini 6A.
Gemini 6A achieved history's first rendezvous between two crewed spacecraft, closing to within a foot of Gemini 7 in orbit after its original Agena docking target was lost in a launch failure.
Gemini 8 achieved the first docking between two spacecraft in orbit, but a stuck thruster sent the combined vehicles into a violent spin minutes later, forcing Neil Armstrong to abort the mission in one of the most dangerous emergencies of the space program.
Gemini 9A attempted three different rendezvous techniques and a docking with a backup target vehicle whose stuck shroud made docking impossible, while Gene Cernan endured one of the most physically punishing spacewalks of the program.
Gemini 10 docked with its own Agena target vehicle and used its engine to reach a new altitude record, then rendezvoused with a second, dormant Agena left over from Gemini 8 while Michael Collins performed two spacewalks.
Gemini 11 docked with its Agena target vehicle in the first orbit, used its engine to set a new altitude record of roughly 850 miles, and conducted the first artificial-gravity experiment by spinning the two spacecraft on a tether.
Gemini 12 closed out Project Gemini with a hand-flown rendezvous after a radar failure and three spacewalks by Buzz Aldrin that finally solved the exhausting EVA workload problem that had plagued earlier missions.
Apollo 1 was intended to become the first crewed flight of NASA's Apollo spacecraft. The mission never launched. During a launch rehearsal on January 27, 1967, a cabin fire claimed the lives of astronauts Virgil I. Grissom, Edward H. White II, and Roger B. Chaffee. The tragedy forced NASA to confront serious spacecraft, testing, and safety failures before continuing toward the Moon.
Apollo 4 was the first flight of the Saturn V, the enormous rocket built to carry astronauts to the Moon. The uncrewed mission tested all three rocket stages together, restarted the third stage in space, fired the Apollo spacecraft's main engine, and sent the Command Module back through Earth's atmosphere at nearly the speed of a spacecraft returning from the Moon.
Apollo 5 was the first flight of NASA's Lunar Module, the extraordinary spacecraft designed exclusively to land astronauts on the Moon. The uncrewed mission tested both the descent and ascent engines, validated the Lunar Module's guidance systems, and proved that the vehicle could perform the complex maneuvers required for future lunar landings.
Apollo 6 was the second and final uncrewed test flight of the Saturn V rocket. Although the mission experienced severe engine failures and dangerous pogo oscillations, NASA successfully demonstrated the Apollo spacecraft's ability to return safely from a simulated lunar mission and gathered critical engineering data that paved the way for the first crewed Saturn V flight.
Apollo 7 was the first crewed Apollo mission and NASA's first human spaceflight after the Apollo 1 tragedy. During an eleven-day Earth-orbit mission, the crew thoroughly tested the redesigned Apollo Command and Service Module, proving it was safe for future missions to the Moon and restoring confidence in the Apollo Program.
Apollo 8 became the first crewed mission to leave Earth orbit, travel to the Moon, enter lunar orbit, and safely return home. During ten revolutions around the Moon, the crew photographed the now-famous Earthrise image and broadcast a Christmas Eve message watched by hundreds of millions of people around the world.
Apollo 9 was the first crewed flight of the Apollo Lunar Module. During ten days in Earth orbit, astronauts tested every major maneuver required for a Moon landing, including docking, undocking, independent Lunar Module flight, spacewalks, and rendezvous, proving the complete Apollo landing system before committing crews to lunar orbit.
Apollo 10 was NASA's complete dress rehearsal for the first Moon landing. Every phase of a lunar landing mission was performed except the final descent to the surface. The Lunar Module descended to within about 9 miles (15 km) of the Moon before returning safely to lunar orbit.
Apollo 11 fulfilled President John F. Kennedy's challenge by becoming the first mission to land humans on the Moon. Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin spent over twenty-one hours on the lunar surface while Michael Collins remained in lunar orbit aboard the Command Module Columbia.
Apollo 12 demonstrated that NASA could land on the Moon with pinpoint accuracy. Despite being struck by lightning twice during launch, the mission successfully landed beside the Surveyor 3 spacecraft, performed two lunar EVAs, deployed advanced scientific experiments, and returned pieces of Surveyor 3 to Earth for analysis.
Apollo 14 returned astronauts to the Moon after the Apollo 13 accident. Despite a critical Lunar Module abort-switch malfunction just before landing, the crew safely reached the Fra Mauro Highlands, completed two successful moonwalks, deployed scientific experiments, and restored confidence in NASA's ability to conduct lunar exploration.
Apollo 15 was the first of NASA's extended J-missions, introducing the Lunar Roving Vehicle and dramatically expanding the scientific exploration of the Moon. The mission returned a record collection of lunar samples, deployed advanced experiments, and discovered the famous Genesis Rock.
Apollo 16 became NASA's fifth successful lunar landing mission and the only Apollo mission to explore the ancient lunar highlands. Despite a mission-threatening delay caused by concerns with the Command Module's main engine, the crew completed three moonwalks, deployed advanced scientific experiments, and returned more than 95 kilograms of lunar samples.
Apollo 17 was the sixth and final crewed lunar landing mission of the Apollo Program. Carrying the only professional geologist to walk on the Moon, the crew completed the longest surface stay, drove the Lunar Roving Vehicle farther than any previous mission, returned the largest collection of lunar samples, and concluded humanity's first era of lunar exploration.
Zarya, a Russian-built, American-funded module, became the first component of the International Space Station launched into orbit, providing the new station's initial power, propulsion, and storage capability.
STS-88 carried the American-built Unity module aboard Endeavour and joined it to the already-orbiting Zarya, the first assembly operation in the construction of the International Space Station.
Zvezda, launched in July 2000, provided the International Space Station's early living quarters, life support systems, and propulsion, finally enabling the station to support a permanent resident crew.
Expedition 1 sent the International Space Station's first resident crew, American astronaut William Shepherd and Russian cosmonauts Yuri Gidzenko and Sergei Krikalev, beginning what has become more than two decades of continuous human presence in orbit.
NASA's first planned Artemis crewed lunar landing, targeting the Moon's south polar region in early 2028.
A planned late-2028 lunar surface mission intended to expand sustained exploration and begin construction of NASA's Moon base infrastructure.
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