1957-10-04 : Launch __ of __ Sputnik 1 __ ( October 4th 1957 ) 1957-11-03 : Sputnik 2 __ First dog in space __ ( November 3rd 1957 ) 1958-10-01 : Fundation of NASA ( October 1st 1958 ) 1961-04-12 : First man in space __ Youri Gagarine __ ( April 12th 1961 ) 1969-07-21 : Neil Armstrong walks on the Moon __ ( July 21rst 1969 ) 1971-11-13 : First space station Salyut 1 __ ( November 13th 1971 ) 1975-05-31 : Fundation of the ESA ( May 31rst 1975 ) 1979-12-24 : First Ariane rocket launched ( December 12th 1979 ) 1986-02-20 : Mir space station launched __ ( February 20th 1986 ) 1998-11-20 : First module of ISS space station launched __ ( November 20th 1998 ) 2001-04-28 : First space tourist Dennis Tito __ ( April 28th 2001 )