Sunday, 1 November 2026 New DelhiLondonNew YorkDubaiTokyo
INDEPENDENT THINKING.
SHARED UNDERSTANDING.International edition · Correspondents across India and around the world
RationalTimes●
A little less noise.
A little more perspective. Subscribe
BREAKING
TechBinance hack: about $6.4bn stolen and $2.7bn frozen, analysts say MarketsChristine Lagarde to step down as ECB president on 7 February 2027 EuropeSpain observes three days of mourning after the Toledo high-speed train crash UNUN Security Council holds its seventh straw poll for the next Secretary-General IsraelIsrael: near-final count gives Netanyahu’s bloc 53 seats and Eisenkot’s 48; official results on 4 November ClimateCOP31 climate talks open in Antalya, Türkiye, on 9 November USAmericans vote in the midterm elections on 3 November TechnologyNorth Korea-linked hackers steal about $6.4 billion from Binance in the biggest crypto theft on record, analysts say WorldSpain mourns after a high-speed train ploughs into a stationary train near Toledo, killing at least 68 WorldIsrael’s election ends without a clear winner as exit polls leave both blocs short of a majority WorldSaudi Arabia intercepts Houthi missiles and drones as Egypt’s parliament backs military support PoliticsLula wins Brazil’s presidential runoff as Flávio Bolsonaro concedes
Timeline · 14 events

Humans in space: from Sputnik to Artemis II

The milestones of the space age, including the first crewed flight around the Moon in more than half a century.

  1. 4 Oct 1957
    Sputnik 1

    The first artificial satellite.

    Reference ↗
  2. 12 Apr 1961
    Yuri Gagarin

    The first human in space.

    Reference ↗
  3. 16 Jun 1963
    Valentina Tereshkova

    The first woman in space.

    Reference ↗
  4. 20 Jul 1969
    Apollo 11 lands on the MoonReference ↗
  5. Dec 1972
    Apollo 17

    The last crew to leave the Moon — until Artemis.

    Reference ↗
  6. 12 Apr 1981
    The Space Shuttle fliesReference ↗
  7. 24 Apr 1990
    Hubble is launchedReference ↗
  8. 2 Nov 2000
    The ISS is crewed

    People have lived aboard the International Space Station continuously ever since.

    Reference ↗
  9. 15 Oct 2003
    China’s first astronaut

    Yang Liwei flies on Shenzhou 5.

    Reference ↗
  10. 30 May 2020
    The first commercial crewed flight

    SpaceX’s Crew Dragon carries NASA astronauts to the ISS.

    Reference ↗
  11. 25 Dec 2021
    The James Webb Space TelescopeReference ↗
  12. 16 Nov 2022
    Artemis I

    An uncrewed Orion capsule flies around the Moon and back.

    Reference ↗
  13. 23 Aug 2023
    India lands near the lunar south poleReference ↗
  14. 1 Apr 2026
    Artemis II

    Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Canada’s Jeremy Hansen launch on a 10-day flight around the Moon; Koch is the first woman and Glover the first person of colour to travel beyond low Earth orbit. They splash down on 10 April.

    Reference ↗

Sources

  1. NASA — History
  2. Science News — Artemis II launches, 1 April 2026
  3. NASA — Artemis II splashdown image, 10 April 2026