Soviet cosmonaut Aleksei Leonov is the first to walk in space, moving round outside the Voshkod 2 spacecraft for more than ten minutes

The Soviet spacecraft Luna 9 is the first to achieve a soft-landing on the moon and to send back photographic data from the surface

The Soviet spacecraft Luna 10 orbits the moon and broadcasts the Internationale to the 23rd Congress of the Communist Party

British research student Jocelyn Bell and her Cambridge supervisor Antony Hewish identify the first known pulsar

Three US astronauts become the first humans to leave the earth's orbit, reaching the moon and going into its orbit in Apollo 8

The US astronauts in Apollo 8 are the first humans to see (and photograph) the sight of the earth rising above the moon's horizon

Neil Armstrong, commander of the US space mission Apollo 11, sets foot on the moon and says: 'That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.'

The Soviets put into orbit the first space station, Salyut 1, but the crew of three die on returning to earth

In the Apollo 15 mission US astronauts David Scott and James Irwin drive the vehicle Rover-1 on the surface of the moon

Astronauts Tom Stafford and Aleksei Leonov shake hands when their Apollo and Soyuz craft successfully dock in space

The landing section of the US spacecraft Viking 1 detaches from the orbiter and makes a successful landing on Mars

333 days after leaving Earth, the landing section of the US spacecraft Viking 2 touches down on Mars and begins sending back photographs

The US Space shuttle Challenger explodes with seven on board less than two minutes after lift-off

The Soviets launch the first module (the living quarters) of their Mir Space Station

The US unmanned spacecraft Galileo is launched from a space shuttle on a six-year voyage to Jupiter

The Hubble Space Telescope is launched from a space shuttle and goes into orbit 370 miles (600 km) above the earth

The US spacecraft Galileo provides scientists with close-up photographs of two asteroids, Gaspra and Ida

An atmospheric probe, released from the US spacecraft Galileo, enters the atmosphere of the planet Jupiter

Sojourner, a robot roving vehicle, detaches from Mars Pathfinder to analyse the surface of the planet

The first module is launched of the International Space Station, a cooperative venture by five space agencies (USA, Russia, Japan, Canada, Europe)

The US space shuttle Columbia disintegrates, with seven on board, when re-entering the earth's atmosphere

The International Astronomical Union demotes Pluto to the new category of 'dwarf planet'