An automatic sequence camera captures it's pilot onboard Freedom
7. The Mercury 3 mission made Alan Shepard the first American in space.
1958-
January- the first American satellite, Explorer 1 is launched.
October- the National Aeronautics & Space Administration is formed.
1959-
April- Group 1 Astronaut Selection (The Mercury 7):
Scott Carpenter, Gordon Cooper, John Glenn, Gus Grissom, Wally Schirra, Alan
Shepard, Deke Slayton.
1961-
January- "Ham" the chimpanzee makes last test of the Mercury capsule.
Certified for manned flight.
January- the "Golden Three" are named to fly the first Mercury
missions: Glenn, Grissom, and Shepard.
April- NASA selects Alan Shepard to be the first man in space.
April- Gagarin's flight catches the world by storm
May 5, 1961- Mercury 3- Alan Shepard
July 21, 1961- Mercury 4- Gus Grissom
1962-
February 20, 1962- Mercury 6- John Glenn
March- NASA Announces that Deke Slayton has been removed
from flight status due to an irregular heart beat. M.S. Carpenter will take
his seat on Mercury 7.
May 24, 1962- Mercury 7- Scott Carpenter
Wally Schirra will fly the Mercury 8 mission.
September- Group 2 Astronaut Selection (The Next Nine):
Neil Armstrong, Frank Borman, Pete Conrad, Jim Lovell, Jim McDivitt, Elliot
See, Tom Stafford, Ed White, John Young.
October 30,1962- Mercury 8- Wally Schirra
Gordon Cooper is selected to fly Mercury 9. Mercury
10 will follow as a three day mission flown by Alan Shepard.
1963-
May 15, 1963- Mercury 9- Gordon Cooper
June- Mercury 10 is cancelled.
June- Project Mercury Space Program ends.
October- Group 3 Astronaut Selection (The Fourteen):
Buzz Aldrin, Bill Anders, Charles Bassett, Alan Bean, Gene Cernan, Roger Chaffee,
Mike Collins, Walt Cunningham, Don Eisele, Ted Freeman, Dick Gordon, Rusty
Schweickart, Dave Scott, C.C. Williams.
October- Alan Shepard is selected to command the first
Gemini mission, will be accompanied by rookie Tom Stafford.
October- NASA Announces that Alan Shepard has been
removed from flight status due to Meniere's Disorder.
1964-
January- John Glenn retires.
April- Gus Grissom is selected to command the first
Gemini flight in place of Al Shepard. Will be accompanied by rookie John Young.
July- Scott Carpenter is removed from flight status
due to injuries.
July- Gemini 4 crew selected as rookies Jim McDivitt
and Ed White.
October- Ted Freeman is killed in a plane crash.
1965-
February- Gordon Cooper is selected to command Gemini
5 along with rookie Pete Conrad.
March 23, 1965- Gemini 3-
Gus Grissom, Commander
John Young, Pilot
April- Wally Schirra is selected to command Gemini
6 with rookie Tom Stafford.
June 3, 1965- Gemini 4-
Jim McDivitt, Commander
Ed White, Pilot
June- Group 4 Astronaut Selection: Owen Garriott,
Edward Gibson, Duane Graveline, Joe Kerwin, Frank Michel, Jack Schmitt.
July- Gemini 7 crew announced as rookies Frank Borman
and Jim Lovell.
August 21, 1965- Gemini 5-
Gordo Cooper, Commander
Pete Conrad, Pilot
September- Gemini 8 crew announced as rookies Neil
Armstrong and Dave Scott.
November- Gemini 9 crew announced as rookies Elliot
See and Charles Bassett.
December 4, 1965- Gemini 7-
Frank Borman, Commander
Jim Lovell, Pilot
December 15, 1965- Gemini 6-
Wally Schirra, Commander
Tom Stafford, Pilot
1966-
January- NASA announces that Gus Grissom has been selected to command the
first Apollo mission. Will be accompanied by Ed White and rookie Roger Chaffee.
January- John Young is selected to command Gemini 10, along with rookie
Mike Collins.
February- Elliot See and Charles Bassett are killed
in a plane crash. Tom Stafford & Gene Cernan will replace them on Gemini
9.
March 16, 1966- Gemini 8-
Neil Armstrong, Commander
Dave Scott, Pilot
March- Pete Conrad is selected to command Gemini 11 with rookie Dick Gordon.
April- Group 5 Astronaut Selection: Vance Brand, John
Bull, Gerald Carr, Charlie Duke, Joe Engle, Ron Evans, Edward Givens, Fred
Haise, Joe Irwin, Don Lind, Jack Lousma, Bruce McCandless, Ken Mattingly,
William Pogue, Stu Roosa, Jack Swigert, Paul Weitz, Al Worden.
June 3, 1966- Gemini 9-
Tom Stafford, Commander
Gene Cernan, Pilot
June- Jim Lovell is selected to command Gemini 12,
along with rookie Buzz Aldrin.
July 18, 1966- Gemini 10-
John Young, Commander
Mike Collins, Pilot
September 12, 1966- Gemini 11-
Pete Conrad, Commander
Dick Gordon, Pilot
September- NASA selects Wally Schirra to command the second Apollo mission,
with rookies Donn Eisele and Walt Cunningham.
November 11, 1966- Gemini 12-
Jim Lovell, Commander
Buzz Aldrin, Pilot
November- Gemini Space Program ends.
1967-
January 27- Electrical wires ignite a flash fire onboard
the Apollo 1 capsule during a pre launch test at the Kennedy Space Center.
Astronauts Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee are killed.
April- Vladimir Komarov is killed during the Soyuz
1 mission.
May- Wally Schirra's crew is redisignated Apollo 7,
and will make the first Apollo flight.
June- Edward Givens is killed in a car accident.
August- Scott Carpenter retires.
August- Group 6 Astronaut Selection: Joe Allen, Philip
Chapman, Tony England, Karl Heinze, Donald Holmquest, Bill Lenoir, Tony Llewellyn,
Story Musgrave, Brian O'Leary, Bob Parker, William Thornton.
October- C.C. Williams is killed in a plane crash.
1968-
March 27- Yuri A. Gagarin is killed in a jet fighter
crash in the Soviet Union
July- John Bull retires.
August- Frank Borman is selected to command Apollo
8 with Jim Lovell, and rookie Bill Anders.
August- Jim McDivitt is selected to command Apollo
9 with Dave Scott and rookie Rusty Schweickart.
October 11, 1968- Apollo 7-
Wally Schirra, Commander
Donn Eisele, CM Pilot
Walt Cunningham, LM Pilot
November- NASA announces that Apollo 8 will orbit the moon.
November- Tom Stafford is selected to command Apollo 10 with veterans John
Young & Gene Cernan.
December 21, 1968- Apollo 8-
Frank Borman, Commander
Jim Lovell, CM Pilot
Bill Anders, LM Pilot
1969-
January- Neil Armstrong is selected to command Apollo 11 along with veterans
Mike Collins & Buzz Aldrin.
March 3, 1969- Apollo 9-
Jim McDivitt, Commander
Dave Scott, CM Pilot
Rusty Schweickart, LM Pilot
April- Pete Conrad is selected to command Apollo 12 with Dick Gordon, and
rookie Alan Bean.
May- NASA Announces that Alan Shepard has returned
to flight status.
May 18, 1969- Apollo 10-
Tom Stafford, Commander John Young, CM Pilot
Gene Cernan, LM Pilot
July- Wally Schirra retires.
July 16, 1969- Apollo 11-
Neil Armstrong, Commander Mike Collins, CM Pilot
Buzz Aldrin, LM Pilot
July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong becomes the first human
to walk on the moon.
Slayton's decisions:
Gordon Cooper had been selected to command the Apollo 13 mission with Donn
Eisele and rookie Edgar Mitchell. Jim Lovell had been selected to command
Apollo 14 along with rookies Ken Mattingly and Fred Haise. When Captain Alan
Shepard returned to flight status, Gordon Cooper was bumped out of his command
and it was given to Shepard. Shepard, who had not flown on a space mission
in eight years, was deemed as unfit to command Apollo 13. Slayton talked Jim
Lovell into exchanging missions with with Al Shepard so that he would get
command of Apollo 14, and Lovell to get Apollo 13. Al Shepard rejects Donn
Eisele from his crew, and Slayton replaces him with Stu Roosa.
August- Jim Lovell is selected to command the Apollo 13 mission along with
rookies Ken Mattingly and Fred Haise.
August- Alan Shepard is selected to command the Apollo 14 mission with rookies
Stu Roosa & Edgar Mitchell.
August- Group 7 Astronaut Selection: Karol Bobko,
Bob Crippen, Gordon Fullerton, Henry Hartsfield, Robert Overmyer, Don Peterson,
Dick Truly.
November 14, 1969- Apollo 12-
Pete Conrad, Commander
Dick Gordon, CM Pilot Alan Bean, LM Pilot
1970-
Apollo 20 mission is cancelled.
March- Dave Scott is selected to command the Apollo 15 mission along with
rookies Al Worden & Jim Irwin.
April- Ken Mattingly is removed from flight status
due to exposure to measles. Replaced on Apollo 13 by Jack Swigert.
April 11, 1970- Apollo 13-
Jim Lovell, Commander Jack Swigert, CM Pilot
Fred Haise, LM Pilot
July- Gordon Cooper retires.
September- Dick Gordon is selected to command the
Apollo 18 mission with rookies Vance Brand & Jack Schmitt.
September- Fred Haise is selected to command the Apollo
19 mission with rookies William Pogue & Gerald Carr.
September- Apollo 18 & 19 are cancelled.
1971-
January 31, 1971- Apollo 14-
Alan Shepard, Commander
Stu Roosa, CM Pilot
Edgar Mitchell, LM Pilot
March- John Young is selected to command the Apollo
16 mission with rookies Ken Mattingly & Charlie Duke.
July 26, 1971- Apollo 15-
Dave Scott, Commander Al Worden, CM Pilot Jim Irwin, LM Pilot
August- Joe Engle is rejected by NASA as Apollo 17
LM Pilot, to allow for geologist Jack Schmitt to fly on the last moon mission.
August- Gene Cernan is selected to command the Apollo
17 mission along with rookies Ron Evans & Jack Schmitt.
1972-
March- NASA Announces that Deke Slayton has returned
to flight status after 10 years.
March- Initial crew for the Apollo Soyuz Test Project
(ASTP) selected: Jack Swigert, Deke Slayton, Vance Brand.
April 16, 1972- Apollo 16-
John Young, Commander
Ken Mattingly, CM Pilot Charlie Duke, LM Pilot
December 7, 1972- Apollo 17-
Gene Cernan, Commander Ron Evans, CM Pilot Jack Schmitt, LM Pilot
December 14, 1972- Gene Cernan leaves the last human
footprints on the moon.
Interesting Fact:
In 1967 Air Force Major Robert Henry Lawrence Jr. became
the world's first black astronaut. He was appointed to the U.S. Air Force manned
orbiting laboratory program. Six months later he was killed in the crash of
his F-104 Starfighter at Edwards AFB, before he could make a flight into space.
1978-
First selection of space shuttle astronauts (pilots
& mission specialists). Of this group, Guion Bluford would become the
first black American in space. Sally Ride would become the first American
woman in space. Fred Gregory would become the first black space mission commander.
Ron McNair, Ellison Onizuka, Judy Resnik, and Dick Scobee would die in the
Challenger accident. Shannon Lucid's record stay on Mir would make her the
most experienced female astronaut in the world. Kathryn Sullivan would become
the first American woman to walk in space.
January- Group 8 Astronaut Selection: Guion Bluford,
Daniel Brandstein, James Buchli, Michael Coats, Richard Covey, John Creighton,
John Fabian, Anna Fisher, Dale Gardner, Robert Gibson, Frederick Gregory,
David Griggs, Terry Hart, Frederick Hauck, Steven Hawley, Jeffrey Hoffman,
Shannon Lucid, Jon McBride, Ronald McNair, Richard Mullane, Steven Nagel,
George Nelson, Ellison Onizuka, Judy Resnik, Sally Ride, Francis Scobee, Margaret
Seddon, Brewster Shaw, Loren Shriver, Robert Stewart, Kathryn Sullivan, Norman
Thagard, James van Hoften, David Walker, Donald Williams.
1980-
May- Group 9 Astronaut Selection: James Bagain, John
Blaha, Charles Bolden, Roy Bridges, Franklin Chang-Diaz, Mary Cleave, Bonnie
Dunbar, William Fisher, Ronald Grabe, David Hilmers, David Leestma, John Lounge,
Bryan O'Connor, Richard Richards, Jerry Ross, Michael Smith, Sherwood Spring,
Robert Springer.
1984-
May- Group 10 Astronaut Selection: James Adamson,
Ellen Baker, Mark Brown, Kenneth Cameron, Sonny Carter, John Casper, Frank
Culbertson, Sidney Gutierrez, Blaine Hammond, Marsha Ivins, Mark Lee, David
Low, Michael McCulley, Bill Shepherd, Kathryn Thornton, Charles Veach, James
Wetherbee.
1985-
June- Group 11 Astronaut Selection: Jerome Apt, Michael
Baker, Robert Cabana, Brian Duffy, Charles Gemar, Linda Godwin, Terence Henricks,
Richard Hieb, Tamara Jernigan, Carl Meade, Stephen Oswald, Stephen Thorne,
Pierre Thout.
1986-
January 28- STS-51L Space Shuttle Challenger explodes
73 seconds after liftoff killing all seven crew members.
1987-
August- Group 12 Astronaut Selection: Thomas Akers,
Andrew Allen, Kenneth Bowersox, Curt Brown, Kevin Chilton, Jan Davis, Michael
Foale, Gregory Harbaugh, Mae Jemison, Donald McMonagle, Bruce Melnick, William
Readdy, Kenneth Reightler, Mario Runco, James Voss.
1990-
January- Group 13 Astronaut Selection: Daniel Bursch,
Leroy Chiao, Michael Clifford, Kenneth Cockrell, Eileen Collins, William Gregory,
James Halsell, Bernard Harris, Susan Helms, Tom Jones, Bill MacArthur, James
Newman, Ellen Ochoa, Charles Precourt, Richard Searfoss, Ronald Sega, Nancy
Sherlock, Donald Thomas, Janice Voss, Carl Waltz, Terrence Wilcutt, Peter
Wisoff, Dave Wolf.
1992-
March- Group 14 Astronaut Selection: Dan Barry, Charles
Brady, Catherine Colman, Michael Gernhardt, John Grunsfield, Scott Horowitz,
Brent Jett, Kevin Kregel, Wendy Lawrence, Jerry Linenger, Richard Linnehan,
Michael Lopez-Alegria, Scott Parazynski, Kent Rominger, Winston Scott, Steven
Smith, Joseph Tanner, Donald Thomas, Mary Weber.
1995-
January- Group 15 Astronaut Selection: Scott Altman,
Michael Anderson, Jeffrey Ashby, Michael Bloomfield, Kalpana Chawla, Bob Curbeam,
Joe Edwards, Dominic Gorie, Kathryn Hire, Rick Husband, Janet Kavandi, Steven
Lindsey, Edward Lu, Pam Melroy, Carlos Noriega, James Reilly, Steven Robinson,
Susan Still, Rick Struckow.
1996-
April- Group 16 Astronaut Selection: David Brown,
Daniel Burbank, Yvonne Cagle, Fernando Caldeiro, Charles Camarda, Duane Carey,
Laurel Clark, Edward Fincke, Patrick Forrester, Stephen Frick, John Herrington,
Joan Higginbotham, Charles Hobaugh, Mark Kelly, Scott Kelly, Paul Lockhart,
Christopher Loria, Sandra Magnus, Michael Massimino, Richard Mastracchio,
Willy McCool, Lee Morin, Lisa Nowak, Donald Petit, John Phillips, Mark Polansky,
Paul Richards, Piers Sellers, Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper, Daniel Tani, Rex
Walheim, Peggy Whitson, Jeffrey Williams, Stephanie Wilson.
1998-
June- Group 17 Astronaut Selection: Clayton Anderson,
Lee Archambault, Tracy Caldwell, Gregory Chamitoff, Timothy Creamer, Christopher
Ferguson, Michael Foreman, Michael Fossum, Kenneth Ham, Patricia Hilliard,
Gregory C. Johnson, Gregory H. Johnson, Stanley Love, Leland Melvin, Barbara
Morgan, Bill Oefelein, John Olivas, Nicholas Patrick, Alan Poindexter, Garrett
Reisman, Steven Swanson, Douglas Wheelock, Suni Williams, Neil Woodward, George
Zamka.
2000-
July- Group 18 Astronaut Selection: Dominic Antonelli,
Michael Barratt, Robert Behnken, Eric Boe, Stephen Bowen, Alvin Drew, Andrew
Feustel, Kevin Ford, Ronald Garan, Michael Good, Douglas Hurley, Timothy Kopra,
Megan McArthur, Karen Nyberg, Nicole Stott, Terry Virts, Barry Wilmore.
2003-
February 1- STS-107 Space Shuttle Orbiter Columbia
breaks apart during reentry killing all seven crew members.
2004-
May- Group 19 Astronaut Selection: Joe Acaba, Ricky
Arnold, Randy Bresnik, Chris Cassidy, Jim Dutton, Jose Hernandez, Shane Kimbrough,
Tom Marshburn, Dottie Metcalf-Lindenburger, Bobby Satcher, Shannon Walker.
December 31- John Young retires.
2006-
October 31- NASA annoucnces that the STS-125 mission
to be launched in May 2009 will be the fifth and final servicing mission
of the Hubble Space Telescope. The mission will be commanded by Scott Altman,
and crewed by: Gregory Johnson, John Grunsfield, Michael Massimino, Meghan
McArthur, Andrew Feustel, and Michael Good. Altman, Grunsfield, & Massimino
have all previously flown missions to Hubble. STS-125 will mark the second
to last flight of the orbiter Atlantis, which made its first spaceflight in
October 1985.
2009-
September 18- NASA announces that the final flight of the space shuttle program, STS-133, will be launched on September 16, 2010. Discovery, NASA's oldest orbiter, will carry an all veteran crew as the space shuttle program is ended after 29 years. The mission will be commanded by Chief Astronaut Steven Lindsey, and crewed by Eric Boe, Alvin Drew, Michael Barratt, Timothy Kopra, & Nicole Stott.
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