June 19, 1963: Valentina Tereshkova, back to camera, with her Vostok 6 capsule. ***** The time:  June 19, 1963.  … Read more Sixty years ago: Twin Vostok flights return to Earth

June 18, 1983: Challenger rides a thin column of solid exhaust above the clouds. ***** It’s June 18, 1983, launch… Read more Forty years ago: STS-7 launches a flight of firsts

Valentina Tereshkova aboard Vostok 6 became the first woman in space on June 16, 1963. ***** When would a second… Read more Sixty years ago: The first woman in space

***** We celebrate their firsts and celebrate them as the first to fly to the outer fringes of the solar… Read more Forty years ago: First beyond the planets

Al Shepard had a capsule, a name for it, and a goal — at least three days in space in… Read more Sixty years ago: Project Mercury’s final moment

Skylab repairs complete: With its three-panel solar wing fully extended after a spacewalk by the first crew, a full scientific… Read more 50 years ago: Skylab II powers ahead

Fifty years ago, May 25, 1973: The first crew inspects the Skylab space station upon arrival. The Apollo Telescope Mount… Read more Saving Skylab: The launch of the first crew

May 16, 1963: Faith 7 (Mercury-Atlas 9) descends towards splashdown in the Pacific after a 34-hour flight. ***** It’s May… Read more Sixty years ago: a dramatic end to the longest Mercury

May 15, 1963: Mercury-Atlas 9 with Gordon Cooper aboard aims at a flight in excess of one day. ***** Ten… Read more Sixty years ago: Project Mercury reaches for its ultimate goal