GIVEN THIS IS ABOUT THE “SPACE RACE” I THOUGHT TO POST IT UNDER “RACE RESULTS” BUT . . . ANYWAY, IF YOU’RE INTERESTED IN THIS STUFF, YOU MAY LIKE THIS
March 3, 1959: Pioneer 4 is the first U.S. probe to fly by the moon.
May 25, 1961: I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the Earth.'' -President Kennedy in a special message to Congress on urgent national needs 1961-65: Ranger program sends nine missions to the moon. It is the first U.S. attempt to get close-up images of the moon's surface. July 14, 1965: Mariner 4 is the first successful flyby of Mars, returning the first pictures of the planet's surface. Feb. 3, 1966: Russia's Luna 9 is the first spacecraft to land on the moon and send photos back to Earth. 1966-68: On June 2, 1966, Surveyor 1 has the first U.S. soft landing on the moon. Surveyor series sends seven spacecraft to the moon to evaluate and photograph the moon's surface. The later Surveyor missions looked for possible Apollo landing sites. Dec. 21, 1968: Apollo 8 is the first manned spacecraft to leave Earth's gravity and circle the moon. July 20, 1969: Apollo 11 is the first mission in which humans walk on the moon, in one giant leap for mankind.’’
April 17, 1970: Apollo 13, intended to be the third mission in which humans walk on the moon, is aborted after an oxygen tank explodes.
Dec. 7, 1972: Apollo 17 is the final manned lunar mission.
July 20, 1976, Sept. 3, 1976: Viking 1 and Viking 2 land to transmit photos and take surface samples on Mars.
June 7 and 10, 2003: Mars rovers Opportunity and Spirit are launched to evaluate the Martian surface and help prepare for human exploration of the planet.
Jan. 14, 2004: ``We will build new ships to carry man forward into the universe, to gain a new foothold on the moon, and to prepare for new journeys to worlds beyond our own.’’ -President Bush in a speech on new space-exploration initiatives
Late 2007: NASA plans to launch Phoenix, a Mars lander, to take high-resolution surface photos.
October 2008: NASA plans the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter to look for future landing sites on the moon.
SOURCES: NASA, National Space Science Data Center