First Spacecraft in Space

1. Luna 2---Luna 2 was first spacecraft to make a landing on the moon. Launched by the USSR on 12 Sep 1959 it impacted the surface of the moon on 14.09.1959

2. Luna 3---Luna 3 was first space probe to photograph the far side or the dark side of the moon. It was launched by the USSR on 04 Oct 1959

3. Apollo 11---Apollo 11 was first spacecraft which landed the first humans, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on the moon.

4. Mariner 4---Mariner 4 was the first spacecraft to flyby Mars and also the first to return images of another planet. It was launched by the USA on 28.11.1964

5. Mariner 9 It was the first spacecraft to orbit another planet - Mars. It was launched by the USA on 30.05.1971

6. Pioneer 10---Pioneer 10 was the first spacecraft to reach the planet Jupiter. It was launched by the USA on 02.03.1972 and reached closest to Jupiter on 04.12.1973. In 1983, Pioneer 10 became the first spacecraft to travel past the orbit of the most distant planet, Neptune.

7. Galileo---Galileo launched by the USA on 18.10.1989 was the first spacecraft to flyby an asteroid, 951 Gaspra. It also discovered Dactyl, a moon of the asteroid Ida. The spacecraft was the first to orbit Jupiter in December 1995.

8. Mariner 10--- Launched on 03.11.1973, Mariner 10 was the first spacecraft to flyby Mercury.

9. Messenger---Messenger was the first spacecraft to orbit Mercury. It was launched by the USA on 03.08.2004, it entered the orbit of Mercury on 18.03.2011

10. Helios 2---Helios 2 launched on 15.01.1976 was a joint venture of the United States and West Germany. It set the record for being closest spacecraft to the Sun, at a distance of 43.432 million kilometers on 17 April 1976.

11. Voyager 1---Voyager 1 launched on 05.09.1977 by NASA, to study solar system and interstellar medium, became the first man-made object to enter the interstellar space on 25 August 2012. (This was confirmed by NASA in Sep 2013).

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