Timeline of the Space Race

This is a timeline of achievements in Soviet and United States spaceflight, spanning the Cold War era of nationalistic competition known as the Space Race.

This list is limited to first achievements by the USSR and USA which were important during the Space Race in terms of public perception and/or technical innovation.

This excludes first uses of specific on-board equipment and new scientific discoveries, or achievements by other countries.

First spaceplane (suborbital) First docking of two manned spacecraft Soyuz 5 First rover on another celestial body (the Moon) On 1991 December 31, the United Nations accepted the dissolution of the USSR, which meant the end of the space race.

First artificial satellite, Sputnik 1 (replica)
First photograph of far side of the Moon, Luna 3
First human in space, Yuri Gagarin
First humans on the Moon, Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong (behind camera)
First lunar rover, Lunokhod 1
First spacecraft on an escape trajectory away from the Sun, Pioneer 10
First view and clear photograph taken of and from the surface of Venus, Venera 9
First Space Shuttle