finley's Timeline

In 1942 the German V2 was the first rocket to reach 100km from the Earth’s surface (the boundary of space).

The rocket was designed by Wernher Von Braun, who later worked with NASA as the creator of the rockets that went to the moon.

In 1947, the first animals were launched into space. Fruit flies were used to study the effects of space travel on animals, and were chosen because they are more similar to humans than you might imagine!

The flies travelled with a supply of corn to eat on the flight.

Albert II, was the first monkey in space. He was a Rhesus monkey, a type of monkey that originally comes from Asia.

Albert went into space on 14th June, 1949 in a specially adapted American V2 rocket, that flew to a height of 83 miles from earth.

On 4th October 1957, Russia launched the first satellite into space; Sputnik 1, and the space age had properly begun!

Sputnik was the first satellite in orbit around the earth. Today there are over 500 working satellites in space. Sputnik means "Satellite" in Russian.

On 20th July 1969, NASA met President Kennedy's challenge, and Neil Armstrong (left) and Buzz Aldrin (right) became the first and second men to walk on the moon.

Around fifty years ago, the United States of America and Russia were competing with each other to prove that they were the most powerful country in the world. Space exploration became a key area in which they could show their superiority.

Russia beat the United States to put the first man in space, when in 1961 Yuri Gagarin flew into space in his rocket, Vostok 1.

Newly elected US President John F Kennedy decided to show America's might by challenging NASA to put a man on the moon, in less than ten years.