The History of Rockets
By Marlon Schumacher
November, 2000
The first crew of the International Space Station were delivered by the Russian rocket, Soyuz.
February 1, 2003
The space shuttle Columbia is destroyed as it reenters Earth's atmosphere.
August 25, 2003
A Delta II rocket was launched by NASA. The rocket carried the Spitzer Telescope, which could take images of space using infrared wavelengths.
October 15, 2003
Chinese rocket, Shenzhou 5, carried Yang Liwei into space. This made China the third country to launch a man into space.
May 17, 2004
The GoFast rocket is launched 72 miles into the air by the Civilian Space eXploration Team. This made the GoFast rocket the first Amateur rocket to go past an altitude of 62 miles, with is considered the boundary between Earth and space.
October 4, 2004
SpaceShipOne is launched into the boundary of Earth and space, making it the first private space vehicle to exceed 62 miles/100 kilometers.
January 19, 2006
NASA launches a Atlas V rocket that carried the New Horizons spacecraft, which will travel to the dwarf planet Pluto.
June 19, 2009
An Atlas V rocket is launched with two spacecraft on top. One spacecraft being the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite and the other being the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. This mission was considered the first mission back to the Moon in a decade.
2012
SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket delivers the Dragon spacecraft into Earth's orbit to meet with the International Space Station. SpaceX then became the first commercial company to visit the international space station.