Photos: Celebrating the beginning of human space flight
From the Space exploration galleries series
A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket lifted off Feb. 6 for a demonstration test flight at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida from the same pad where NASA launched rockets that carried astronauts to the moon. The launch was the first time a rocket this powerful has been sent into space by a private company rather than a government space agency. Here's a look back at early moments in space history.
The right stuff
The Project Mercury astronauts, whose selection was announced on April 9, 1959, only six months after the National Aeronautics and Space Administration was formally established. Front row, left to right: Walter Schirra, Donald Slayton, John Glenn and Scott Carpenter; back row, Alan Shepard, Virgil Grissom and Gordon Cooper.
Early days of the space program
Ham, the first chimpanzee ever to ride into space, is shown off by his animal trainer at Cape Canaveral, Fla., on Jan. 31, 1961. Animals were sent into space because researchers were uncertain how the human body would respond to spaceflight. Many of the animals died. Ham gained instant fame after his successful mission and was featured on magazine covers and on television.
First man in space
An image of Yuri Gagarin shows the Soviet cosmonaut before his space flight on April 12, 1961. During the flight, the 27-year-old test pilot and industrial technician became the first person in space and the first to orbit the planet.
First American in space
Astronaut Alan Shepard is hoisted aboard a U.S. Marine helicopter after splashdown of his Freedom 7 Mercury space capsule on May 5, 1961. Shepard was the first American in space.
Sub-orbital flight
Astronaut Virgil Grissom climbs into Liberty Bell 7 on July 21, 1961. Backup Astronaut John Glenn assists in the operation. It was the second in a series of successful U.S. manned suborbital flights.
Glenn in training
John Glenn, wearing a training version of a Mercury space suit, takes a break from training in 1962. Glenn, who became the first American to orbit the Earth, in 1962, also was the oldest human ever to fly in space when he climbed aboard the space shuttle Discovery in 1998. He was 77.
Orbiting Earth
On Feb. 20, 1962, John Glenn, aboard the Friendship 7 spacecraft lifts off from Cape Canaveral, Fla. Glenn became the first American to orbit the Earth.
The Mercury team
In a 1962 NASA file photo, the original Mercury astronauts are pictured around a table admiring an Atlas model.
Around the world
Astronaut Gordon Cooper is assisted in backing out of his Mercury capsule Faith 7 after a journey around the Earth on May 16, 1963.
Gemini space program
Astronaut Edward White, pilot for NASA's Gemini IV mission, is shown in the ready room before the launch. The Gemini IV flight was launched on June 3, 1965, and was the second crewed mission of the Gemini series. James McDivitt and White conducted a 4-day, 62-orbit flight. The mission included the first American spacewalk and tested flight planning for an extended length of time in space.
Gemini 12 mission
Edwin Aldrin, pilot of the Gemini 12 spacecraft, performs extravehicular activity during the second day of the four-day mission in space in November 1966.
Crew check
The Apollo 11 crew conducts a crew compartment fit and functional check of the equipment and storage locations in their command module in June 1969.
Moon walk
Edwin Aldrin Jr. poses for a photograph beside the U.S. flag on the lunar surface. The Lunar Module Eagle is on the left. The picture was taken by Neil Armstrong. Armstrong and Aldrin landed the lunar module on July 20, 1969, and Armstrong became the first human to step onto the lunar surface.
To the moon
This July 20, 1969, file photo shows the crew of the Apollo 11 lunar landing mission. From left: Commander Neil Armstrong, command module pilot Michael Collins and lunar module pilot Edwin Aldrin.
Astronauts welcomed home
In this August 13, 1969 file photo, New York City welcomes the three Apollo 11 astronauts, Neil A. Armstrong, right, Michael Collins, left, and Buzz Aldrin, Jr., center, in a showering of ticker tape down Broadway and Park Avenue, in a parade termed at the time as the largest in the city's history.
Check out these galleries highlighting moments in the history of space exploration.