Space Exploration Timeline 1981 - 1990

1981 April 12, 1981 First Space Shuttle Launch The first manned mission of the Space Transportation System (STS-1), Columbia, is launched. This mission, as well as the next three, will be a test flight to try out the spacecraft's systems. August 25, 1981 Voyager 2 Arrives at Saturn The Voyager 2 spacecraft arrives at Saturn and begins sending back images of the planet and its moons. 1982 March 1, 1982 First Venus Soil Samples The Soviet Venera 13 lands on Venus and provides the first Venusian soil analysis. May 13, 1982 New Space Endurance Record Soviet cosmonauts Anatoli N. Berezovoi and Valentin V. Lebedev are launched in Soyuz T-5 to rendezvous with Salyut 7 and become the first team to inhabit the space station. They return to Earth in Soyuz T-7, setting a new duration record of 211 days. November 11, 1982 First Operational Space Shuttle Mission The Space Shuttle Columbia begins its fifth mission, the first operational Space Shuttle mission. Two satellites are deployed. 1983 April 4, 1983 Maiden Voyage of Challenger America's second Space Shuttle, Challenger, embarks on its first mission into space. The mission includes America's first space walk in nine years. June 19, 1983 First American Woman in Space Sally K. Ride becomes the first American woman to travel in space on Challenger mission STS-7. 1984 February 3, 1984 First Untethered Spacewalk Astronaut Bruce McCandless takes the first untethered space walk using the new Manned maneuvering Unit (MMU). August 30, 1984 Maiden Voyage of Discovery The third orbiter of the American Space Shuttle fleet, Discovery, lifts off for its maiden voyage into space. 1985 October 3, 1985 Maiden Voyage of Atlantis Atlantis, the forth orbiter in America's Space Shuttle fleet, begins its first mission in space. 1986 January 24, 1986 Voyager 2 Encounters Uranus The Voyager 2 spacecraft arrives at Uranus, giving us our first close-up views of the blue planet and its moons. January 28, 1986 Challenger Tragedy The space shuttle Challenger explodes shortly after liftoff of mission STS-51L, resulting in the loss of the spacecraft and her crew. February 20, 1986 Mir Station Launched The first phase of the Mir space station is successfully launched and placed into Earth orbit.  1987 December, 1987 New Space Endurance Record Cosmonaut Yuri V. Romanenko returns from space station Mir after setting a new space endurance record of 326 days. 1989 August 25, 1989 Voyager 2 Arrives at Neptune The Voyager 2 spacecraft arrives at Neptune, giving us our first close-up views of the blue planet and its moons. 1990 April 24, 1990 Launch of Hubble Space Telescope Space Shuttle Discovery lifts off for mission STS-31, carrying the Edwin P. Hubble Space Telescope (HST). The telescope is successfully deployed, but is found to contain a seriously flawed primary mirror resulting in fuzzy images. August 10, 1990 Magellan Arrives at Venus U.S. spacecraft Magellan arrives at Venus where is begins mapping the planet's cloud-covered surface using radar.

1600 - 1960 1961 - 1970 1971 - 1980 1981 - 1990 1991 - 2000 2001 - Present Credits & Sources