NASA History

Before Neil Armstrong could take his historic first steps on the Moon, NASA first had to master the techniques that would let an astronaut safely exit a spacecraft in space.

On this day in 1965, Gemini IV pilot Ed White made that first step with the first American spacewalk.

After a number of setbacks, astronauts Tom Stafford (left) and Gene Cernan strapped into their Gemini spacecraft for the third time OTD 60 years ago, ready to begin the Gemini IX-A mission.

In this photo, they are seen in the two-person Gemini spacecraft as technicians prepare to close the hatches before launch.

The Gemini IX backup crew, Jim Lovell and Buzz Aldrin, left a poem taped on their spacecraft (seen in the foreground) with a little extra incentive to successfully launch.

The mission lifted off at 8:39 am on June 3, 1966. Their next task: rendezvous with an "angry alligator."

60 years ago today, Surveyor I made a three-point soft landing on the Moon—the first soft landing for America's space program—AND accomplished on its first try. Over the next 6 weeks it returned more than 11,000 images of the lunar surface including this one featuring its shadow.

The mission was one of the great successes of NASA's early lunar program.

The crew of STS-134 celebrated with their ride OTD 15 years ago after landing at NASA's Kennedy Space Center.

With this 25th night landing of the Shuttle Program, Endeavour had completed its final mission.

In this photo from left to right are ESA astronaut Roberto Vittori, mission specialist; NASA astronauts Greg H. Johnson, pilot; Mark Kelly, commander; Michael Fincke, Greg Chamitoff and Andrew Feustel, all mission specialists.

On May 30, 1971, Mariner 9—the first spacecraft to enter into orbit around another planet—launched to Mars.

Mariner 9 mapped 85% of the Martian surface and sent back more than 7,000 images, including our first clear images of Olympus Mons and the Valles Marineris canyon system.

📷 Full scale model of the Mariner 9 spacecraft

Let's fix that up

Hours after Skylab 2 launched on May 25, 1973, the crew got its first view of the damage Skylab had sustained during launch.

As shown here, the Orbital Workshop (OWS) was missing one of the shiny shields designed to protect it from micrometeoroids and the sun's harsh rays. Additionally, one of the solar arrays was gone, and the other only partially deployed. The following day, the crew moved into the OWS, where temperatures had soared to about 55°C (130°F). It took hours to assemble and deploy a parasol through the scientific airlock: the small white square visible on the right. Once deployed, the OWS's temperature began to drop.

The next problem to be solved was Skylab's limited power.

On her 75th birthday, we remember Dr. Sally Ride, the first American woman in space!

At the age of 32, this physicist and astronaut launched aboard Challenger in June 1983 for her first of two space missions. Her example inspired generations to reach for the stars. ✨

"I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth."

65 years ago today President John F. Kennedy addressed a joint session of Congress. Among his "Urgent National Needs"— achievement in space.

With the Space Race in full swing, he said, "while we cannot guarantee that we shall one day be first, we can guarantee that any failure to make this effort will make us last."

A rare sight!

15 years ago today was the first and only time a Soyuz spacecraft departed from the International Space Station while a space shuttle was docked.

Russian cosmonaut Dmitry Kondratyev, NASA's Cady Coleman, and ESA astronaut Paolo Nespoli were on their way back home after 159 days in space. As they set off, Nespoli captured a series of photos of Endeavour docked to the space station.

STS-134 was Endeavour's last mission and the penultimate mission of the space shuttle program.

So close

Astronauts Tom Stafford and Gene Cernan flew the Apollo 10 Lunar Module "Snoopy" to within 9 miles (14.4 km) of the lunar surface OTD in 1969, completing a critical test of all the systems and procedures needed for the Apollo 11 lunar landing. In this photo we see Maskelyne crater, located 250 km away from "Tranquility Base," the Apollo 11 landing site.

After maneuvering to the lower altitude and returning to dock with the "Charlie Brown" Command Module, Snoopy was jettisoned into an orbit around the Sun, unlike the other Apollo lunar module ascent stages. In 2019, a team of astronomers who analyzed terabytes of radar data reported they were 98% certain they found Snoopy.