History of famous firsts in space
Unknown // Wikimedia Commons
History of famous firsts in space
Star-Film
1902: First space movie
NASA // Flickr
1947: First insects in space
NASA/Marshall Space Flight Center // Wikimedia Commons
1948: First monkey sent to space
NASA
1958: First American man-in-space program
NASA
1959: America’s first astronauts
Arto Jousi // Wikimedia Commons
1961: First person in space
NASA // Flickr
1961: First American in space
Keystone/Hulton Archive // Getty Images
1961: First lengthy space flight
NASA // Getty Images
1962: First American orbits the Earth
Central Press // Getty Images
1963: First woman in space
AFP // Getty Images
1963: First cat in space
Andrew Gray // Wikimedia Commons
1964: First flight without space suits
Central Press // Getty Images
1965: First spacewalk
NASA // Wikimedia Commons
1965: First American space walk
NASA // Flickr
1966: First manned docking in space
NASA // Wikimedia Commons
1966: First full-Earth photo from the moon’s orbit
NASA // Wikimedia Commons
1968: First view of the far side of the moon
Central Press/Hulton Archive // Getty Images
1969: First multi-craft, multi-manned week
NASA/AFP // Getty Images
1969: First man on the moon
Neil Armstrong/NASA // Getty Images
1969: First man pees on the moon
Keystone/Hulton Archive // Getty Images
1971: First deaths in space
STF/AFP // Getty Images
1971: First moon golf
Keystone/Hulton Archive // Getty Images
1971: First spacecraft links to space station
NASA // Flickr
1973: First skylab
AFP // Getty Images
1975: First international manned spaceflight
Lucasfilm
1977: First ‘Star Wars’ film
Michalis Famelis // Flickr
1980: First Black astronaut in space
NASA // Flickr
1981: First space shuttle reaches orbit
Unknown // Wikimedia Commons
1983: First American woman in space
NASA // Flickr
1983: First African American in space
AFP // Getty Images
1984: First Soviet woman walks in space
NASA // Wikimedia Commons
1984: First untethered spacewalk
Subhav Sharma // Wikimedia Commons
1984: First Indian in space
Spocksmind // Wikimedia Commons
1985: First royal in space
NASA
1985: First Atlantis shuttle flight
NASA // Flickr
1988: First space shuttle flight since Challenger disaster
NASA // Wikimedia Commons
1989: First probe launched from a shuttle
Jack Taylor // Getty Images
1991: First British astronaut visits space
NASA // Wikimedia Commons
1992: First satellite captured with bare hands
NASA // Getty Images
1995: First woman commands space shuttle mission
NASA // Flickr
1995: First American aboard Soviet spaceship
NASA // Flickr
1995: First meetup between Atlantis and Mir
NASA // Flickr
1996: First American woman serves on Mir
NASA // Flickr
2000: First International Space Station crew
NASA // Wikimedia Commons
2001: World’s first space tourist
NASA
2002: First space railway
NASA // Flickr
2003: First man marries in space
NASA // Flickr
2007: First space marathon
NASA // Flickr
2012: First commercial space mission
NASA // Flickr
2015: First successful Pluto mission
NASA
2021: First helicopter on Mars
PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images
