The document outlines major events in the history of space exploration from 1957 to 2001, including the first satellite launch by the Soviet Union, first American weather satellite, first spacewalk, first manned moon landing, launches of space stations Skylab and Mir, first American woman in space, and launch of the Cassini-Huygens mission to Saturn.

1. Space Exploration By: Lawrence Lingner

2. October 4, 1957 Sputnik 1 is the first man-made object to orbit the Earth, launched by the U.S.S.R. is remains in orbit until January 4, 1958

3. April 1, 1960 Tiros 1 is the first successful weather satellite launched by the U.S.

4. March 18, 1965 The first space walk is made from soviet Voskhod 2 by Cosmonaut Alexei A. Lenov. Duration is 12 mintues.

5. July 20, 1969 Neil Armsrong and Edwin Aldrin Jr make the first manned soft landing on the Moon and the first moonwalk using Apollo 11.

6. May 14, 1973 Skylab Worshop is launched by the U.S., and maintained by 3 crews.

7. April 12, 1981 The first manned mission of the Space Transportaion System (STS-1), Columbia, is launched.

8. June 19, 1983 Sally K. Ride is the first U.S. woman to travel in space, on Challenger mission STS-7.

9. January 28, 1986 The space shuttle Challenger explodes shortly after liftoff of mission STS-51L

10. May 2, 1992 Space Shuttle Endeavour lifts off on its first mission (STS-49), repairing the Intelsat VI satellite. Crew Daniel C. Brandenstein, Kevin P. Chilton, Richard J. Hieb, Bruce E. Melnick, Pierre J. Thout, Kathryn C. Thornton, and Thomas D. Akers

11. October 15, 1997 launch of the double probe Cassini/Huygens , aimed at Saturn.Costing more than $2.5 billion and involving 17 nations and hundreds of scientists from the U.S. and Europe. It carries a sophisticated camera package and 11 other instruments aimed at performing 19 experiments on the ringed planet. It will arrive at Saturn in 2004, will orbit Saturn up to 60 times sending back close-up photographs of Saturn's rings and its 18 moons. Cassini also carries a separate probe, Huygens . This probe will be dropped through the atmosphere of Saturn's largest moon, Titan.

12. March 23, 2001 Fifteen years after its first launch, and after nearly 10 years of continuous occupation by astronauts, the Mir space station is de-orbited, breaking up in the atmosphere and impacting in the Pacific Ocean.