HOME WORLD TRAVELLER'S TALES FINAL FRONTIER SKY PLACES ASTRONOMY TREKIAN UNIVERSE SPACE & SCIENCE SPACE GALLERY

AUSTRALIAN EVENTS		INTERNATIONAL EVENTS
	1926	Robert Goddard launches first liquid-propelled rocket
	1933-45	Wernher von Braun develops new rocket program in Germany
Britain & Australia agree to develop a rocket testing range	1945	End of World War 2 Wernher von Braun & his team of rocket experts surrender to American forces
Overseas Telecommunications Commission created Anglo-australian Joint Project inaugurated.	1946	USA and USSR begin rocket tests with modified V2s
Long Range Weapons Establishment created	1947
MINITRACK & SAO Tracing stations established. Sounding rocket launches & hypersonic research begin at Woomera	1957	International Geophysical Year commences First satallite, SPUTNIK-1, launched USSR launches Laika, the dog, into space
	1958	US launches first satellite, EXPLORER-1 NASA inaugurated
Australia Assumes Chair of UNCOPUOS technical & Scientific sub-committee	1959	First USSR space probes to the Moon
	1960	TIROS-1, first weather satellite, launched First experimental navigation & Surveillance satellites launched
	1961	Yuri Gagarin (USSR) first person in space Alan Shepard First American in space
ELDO established	1962	TELSTAR-1, first commercial communications satellite
North West Cape US military tracking station established	1963	Valentine Tereshkova (USSR) first woman in space
First ELDO launch Australi becomes founding memeber of INTELSAT Regular reception of satellite weather images begins	1964	INTELSAT established
	1965	US & USSR achieve first spacewalks INTELSAT-1, first commercial geostationary communications satellite launched First French Satellite launched Mariner IV Mars Flyby - First glimpse of Mars at close range
Direct satellite link Australia & UK	1966	Automated spacecraft lands on Moon US astronauts, Neil Armstrong & David Scott, make first space docking in Gemini 8
First Australian Satellite, WRESAT, launched	1967	USSR cosmonaut, Vladimir Komarov, is killed when his parachute fails to open
	1968	USA's APOLLO-8 , first crewed spacecraft to orbit the Moon
Australia recieves first pictures from APOLLO-11	1969	Neil Armstrong & Edwin Aldrin, in APOLLO-11, first men to walk on the moon Mariner VI & VII Mars flybys
AUSTRALIS-OSCAR-5 satellite launched Pin Gap US military tracking station established Last ELDO Europa launch	1970	Japan & China launch their first satellites VENERA-7 probe makes first landing on Venus
ELDO withdraws from Australia Nurrungar US military tracking station established PROSPERO satellite launched from Woomera	1971	First Space Station, SALYUT-1, is launched by USSR Mariner IX First Space Craft to orbit another planet
	1972	first remote sensing satellite, LANDSAT-1, launched APOLLO-17, the last crewed Moon landing
	1973	USA launches SKYLAB Space Station
Australia declines ESA membership	1974
Australia sounding rocket program ends	1975	First joint USA & USSR spaceflight, APOLLO-SOYUZ NASA launches Viking l & Viking ll The European Space Agency is formed
	1976	Viking l & Viking ll, first landings on Mars
	1977	First GMS weather satellite USA launches VOYAGER-1 & VOYAGER-2 to the outer-solar system
	1978	Czechoslavokia launches first cosmonaut
UK sounding rocket program ends at Woomera Australia joins INMARSAT	1979	INMARSAT established SKYLAB returns to Earth scarttering debris over the Indian Ocean & Western Australia
Anglo-Australian Joint Project officially ends STARLAB project commences Australia Landsat Station, ACRES, starts operation	1980	India Launches first satellite VOYAGER-1 explores Saturn
AUSSAT established	1981	COLUMBIA, first USA Space Shuttle, launched
Australia accepts NASA invitation to fly national payload specialist	1982	US NAVSTAR-GPS navigation system commences COSPAS-SARSAT begins operation
	1983	USA President, Ronald Reagan proposes Strategic Defence Initiative (Star Wars) Sally Ride becomes first USA woman in space
STARLAB cancelled COSSA formed Australian born astronaut, Dr Paul Desmond Scully-Power, flies aboard Space Shuttle CHALLANGER	1984	USA President Reagan proposes Space Station FREEDOM
Madigan report on Australian Space Policy AUSSAT-1 & 2 launched	1985
Australian Space Board & National Space Program established Cape York Spaceport proposed	1986	VOYAGER-2, first space probe to Uranus US Space Shuttle, CHALLENGER, destroyed with loss of seven crew MIR Space Station launched First aerospace planes proposed
Australian Space Office established	1987
First Ausroc amateur rocket launch	1988	US Space Shuttle flights recommence after CHALLENGER disaster Cosmonauts spend full year in space Israel launches first satellite
Australia joins COSPAS-SARSAT network Cole report on australian space science	1989	VOYAGER-2, first space probe to Neptune NASA's GALILEO space craft is launched, destination Jupiter & its moons
	1990	HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE launched MAGELLAN space probe begins radar exploration of Venus ESA's probeUlysses is launched from Space Shuttle Discovery to study the poles of the Sun
ERS-1 launched	1991
ENDEAVOUR payload flies on Space Shuttle OPTUS B1 launched Expert panel & BIE Australian space policy reviews North West Cape military tracking station reverts to Australian control	1992	International Space Year NASA begins SETI search
Australian Space Council formed First successful test of Australian SCRAMJET engine	1993	HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE repaired while still in orbit
	1995	ESA & NASA combined project, launches SOHO, to study the Sun. NASA's Space Probe GALILEO begins its study of Jupiter & its moons
	1996	NASA launches MARS GLOBAL SURVEYOR
	1997	NASA lands PATHFINDER on Mars (4/7/97) & Sojourner begins historic exploration of Mars watched by millions on Earth NASA - MARS GLOBAL SURVEYOR arrives in Mars orbit (11/9/97) The CASSINI mission to Saturn & its moon Titan is launched with the ESA's HUYGENS TITAN probe aboard. GALILEO probe is given a 2 year extension to its mission to explore Jupiter & its moons
Astronaut, Andy Thomas spends 141 days in space, 130 aboard the Russian Mir Space Station	1998	Assembly begun on INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION
	1999	NASA losesMars Polar Lander (24/9/99) & Mars Orbiter (3/12/99) GALILEO is given yet another 2 year extension to its mission to explore Jupiter & its moons
	2000	First permanent crew due to arrive at INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION in November
Refs: 'Space Australia' by Kerrie Dougherty & Matthew L. James N.A.S.A. The European Space Agency