July 20, 1945
A classified U.S. program initiated in 1945 to recruit top German scientists and engineers after World War II, significantly contributing to America's space program and technological advancement during the Cold War era.
October 14, 1947
On October 14, 1947, Chuck Yeager became the first person to break the sound barrier, piloting the Bell X-1 'Glamorous Glennis' to a speed of Mach 1.07 (700 mph) at 45,000 feet over the Mojave Desert.
January 1, 1961
The Apollo program began in 1961 when President John F. Kennedy declared America's intention to land humans on the Moon before the decade's end. This ambitious $28 billion initiative involved over 400,000 people and led to numerous technological breakthroughs.
January 5, 1972
President Richard Nixon officially authorized NASA's Space Shuttle program, marking the beginning of reusable spacecraft era with a $5.5 billion development plan aimed at revolutionizing space transportation.
September 6, 1976
Soviet pilot Lieutenant Viktor Belenko defected to the West by flying a top-secret MiG-25 Foxbat interceptor to Japan's Hakodate Airport, providing NATO and the United States with unprecedented access to Soviet military technology.
January 1, 1995
NASA formalized a groundbreaking $750 million contract with Boeing Defense & Space Group to construct the Unity Module, the first U.S. component of the International Space Station. This crucial agreement marked a significant milestone in space exploration history.
February 1, 2003
The Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during re-entry into Earth's atmosphere on February 1, 2003, killing all seven crew members. The disaster was caused by damage to the shuttle's thermal protection system during launch and led to a 29-month suspension of NASA's Space Shuttle program.
September 28, 2008
SpaceX made history when its Falcon 1 became the first privately developed liquid-fuel rocket to reach Earth's orbit from Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands, marking a revolutionary moment in commercial spaceflight.
December 21, 2015
SpaceX achieved a historic milestone by successfully landing its Falcon 9 rocket's first stage booster at Cape Canaveral, marking the first-ever vertical landing of an orbital-class rocket while delivering 11 Orbcomm-2 satellites to orbit.
February 6, 2018
SpaceX made history with the successful launch of Falcon Heavy, the world's most powerful operational rocket, carrying Elon Musk's Tesla Roadster with 'Starman' mannequin into space orbit beyond Mars.
May 11, 2018
SpaceX achieved a historic milestone with the inaugural launch of Falcon 9 Block 5, their most advanced reusable rocket. The mission successfully deployed Bangladesh's first geostationary communications satellite while demonstrating revolutionary reusability features.
November 23, 2020
China's Chang'e 5 spacecraft launched on a historic lunar sample-return mission, marking the country's first attempt to bring moon rocks back to Earth since the 1970s. The mission successfully collected and returned approximately 2 kg of lunar samples.
