A look at key moments from six decades of NASA leading the peaceful exploration of space, making discoveries about our planet, our solar system, and the universe.
July 29 1958: President Eisenhower signed the act creating NASA. We opened for business on Oct. 1, 1958
Oct 11, 1958: Pioneer 1 launches as our first spacecraft. It sent 43 mins of data before a mechanical problem ended it
April 9 ,1959: We introduce the first American astronauts, the Mercury 7, who were all experienced military test pilots
April 1, 1960: We launch TIROS 1, the first weather satellite & the first TV image from space. It operated for 78 days
Aug. 12, 1960: ECHO 1 launches as the first communications satellite, reflecting radio signals sent to it back at Earth
May 25, 1961: President Kennedy announces the audacious goal of landing a man on the Moon before the end of the decade
Feb 20, 1962: Astronaut John Glenn was the first American to orbit Earth, making three laps in just under five hours
July 10, 1962: We launch the first active communications satellite Telstar I, also the first launched for a private company
Dec 14, 1962: Mariner 2 flies past the planet Venus in the first space mission to study another planet at close range
April 6, 1965: We launch Intelsat 1 for COMSAT, the first communications satellite placed in a geosynchronous orbit
Jan 27, 1967: A fire on the launch pad tragically kills the first Apollo crew: Gus Grissom, Ed White and Roger Chaffee
Oct 24, 1968: Last flight of the X-15, which set speed and altitude records of 4,520 mph (Mach 6.7) and 354,200 feet
Dec 24, 1968: The crew of Apollo 8 are the first humans to see the Earth from lunar orbit & capture the Earthrise photo
July 20, 1969: Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin become the first humans to walk on another celestial body -- the Moon
April 13, 1970: Apollo 13's "successful failure" begins with an explosion in the service module of the spacecraft
Mar 9, 1971: First flight test of the supercritical wing designed to allow planes smoother travel close to speed of sound
May 25, 1972: First flight of Digital-Fly-By-Wire aircraft, which controlled flight surfaces by computer instead by cables
July 23, 1972: Landsat 1 launched, starting 40+ years of continuous observations of Earth's land, oceans & atmosphere
Dec 7, 1972: The Apollo 17 crew takes a picture of the Earth on their way to the Moon: the "Blue Marble"
July 17, 1975: Docking of the U.S. Apollo & Soviet Soyuz capsules, the first joint mission between Americans & Russians
Jan 16, 1978: We announce the selection of 35 new astronauts, including the first women and African-Americans
April 12, 1981: Liftoff of STS-1, the first orbital flight of the Space Shuttle, our reusable space vehicle
June 13, 1983: Pioneer 10 becomes the first spacecraft to travel beyond the orbits of the known planets
April 6, 1984: The crew of space shuttle mission STS-41-C makes the first on-orbit satellite repair, fixing Solar Max
Jan 28, 1986: The crew of the space shuttle Challenger, including teacher Christa McAuliffe, is lost shortly after launch
Nov 18, 1989: Launch of the Cosmic Background Explorer, which measured the background radiation of the universe
April 25, 1990: The Hubble Space Telescope is deployed, fundamentally changing how we view the cosmos
Nov 17, 1993: The U.S., Russia, Japan, Europe and Canada announce they'll build the International Space Station
May 29, 1999: The space shuttle docks to the International Space Station for the first time during the STS-96 mission
July 23, 1999: Eileen Collins launches on STS-93 as the first woman to command a space shuttle flight
Nov 2, 2000: The permanent presence of humanity in space aboard the International Space Station with the Expedition 1 crew
Feb 11, 2003: "WMAP" baby picture of the universe is released that revolutionizes our understanding of the universe
Jan 14, 2005: ESA's Huygens probe, which traveled to Saturn with our Cassini spacecraft, lands on Titan
Jan 22, 2010: Aboard the International Space Station, astronaut T.J. Creamer sends the first unassisted Tweet from space
July 9, 2015: Four astronauts named to the first commercial crew flights launching on American rockets from American soil
July 14, 2015: New Horizons flies by Pluto, sending back the first close up views of the dwarf planet
Nov 24, 2015: Katherine Johnson presented Presidential Medal of Freedom for the work of she and other female "computers"
Aug 21, 2017: A total solar eclipse is visible across the United States, becoming the biggest online event in our history