This site is part of the Science Museum's	STEM Project	and it was completed by a student of North London Collegiate School,	based on a visit to the 'Exploration of Space' Gallery, and called
			The Development of Space Travel and the First Moon Landing.

The main dates of the history of space travel

12th century	Chinese use gunpowder rockets to bombard enemies in battle
13th century	Gunpowder and rockets reach Europe and are used in warfare near Venice
18th century	Bamboo rockets fly more than 2km (1.5 miles) during battles in India
1840s	Englishman William Hales invents spin-stabilised rocket for straighter, more accurate flight
1903	First modern rocket designer, Konstantin Tsiolkovsky (Russian), publishes designs for liquid fuel rockets and says they will work in airless space
1926	Robert Goddard, US rocket designer, launches first liquid-fuel rocket, flies 12.5m (41ft) high
	Robert Goddard
1931	German Johannes Winkler launches a liquid fuel rocket to 600m (2,500ft) high
1933	Soviet rocket designer Friedrich Tsander sends a GIRD X to almost 5km (3 miles) in altitude
1934	German Werner von Braun sends an A-2 rocket to 2.5km (1.5 miles) high
1935	A Goddard rocket flies to 2.3km (1.5 miles)
1944-45	German V-2 rockets bomb Allies in Europe during World War 2, with a range of 300km (200 miles)
1950s	Rockets developed for Inter-Continental Ballistic Missiles with ranges of 8,000km (5,000 miles) or more
1957	First space satellite, Sputnik 1, launches on Soviet A rocket
1961	Yuri Gagarin (USSR) becomes first man in space on Soviet A-1 rocket
	Yuri Gagarin
1962	First US orbital space flight made by John Glenn after launch on Atlas rocket
1964	USSR sends first 3-man capsule into space on Soviet A-2 rocket
1965	USSR introduces Proton family of rockets and boosters to launch satellites, manned capsules and Salyut space stations
1967	Saturn V (USA), the world's biggest rocket, becomes operational
1969	Saturn V boosts three US astronauts out of Earth orbit; Neil Armstrong becomes first man on the Moon
1970	China launches its first Long March rocket
1973	European ministers agree to develop their own launch rocket, Ariane
1975	A US Apollo capsule links with a Soviet Soyuz capsule and the astronauts shake hands ('Handshake in Orbit')
1979	Ariane's first test launch is successful
1981	First flight of Space Shuttle (USA) - the world's first reusable space craft, with the orbiter Columbia
1984	Ariane's first commercial launch, carrying Spacenet 1 satellite for GTE organisation
1985	In the 14th launch of the programme, an Ariane 1 boosts space probe Giotto on its way to meet Haley's comet in 1986
1986	Japan's first launch of its H-1 rocket
1986	Space Shuttle with Challenger orbiter explodes shortly after take-off; 7 crew killed; programme postponed
	Main engine exhaust, solid rocket booster plume and an expanding ball of gas from the external tank are visible seconds after the Space Shuttle Challenger accident.
1987	USSR's Energia, a "heavy lifter", is launched successfully; smaller but more powerful than Saturn V, and capable of putting 100 tonnes into low Earth orbit, it opens a new era in space station technology and deep-space exploration
1988	The first Soviet Shuttle, Buran, makes its first and only flight
1991	First British astronaut Helen Sharman visits the space station MIR

 NB. USSR is now mainly Russia (see Glossary for more details).