Timeline of space exploration

Table columns:
Date
Event leading to space exploration
Country
Researcher(s)

Table rows:
cells: 1610
First telescopic observation of the night sky: discovery of Jupiter's moons, lunar craters and the phases of Venus.
Republic of Venice
Galileo Galilei
cells: 1687
Publication of the Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica
England
Sir Isaac Newton
cells: 1813
First exposition of the rocket equation based on Newton's third law of motion: Treatise on the Motion of Rockets
UK
William Moore
cells: 1840
First clear telescopic photograph of another world: the Moon.
United States
John William Draper
cells: 1865
From the Earth to the Moon published.
France
Jules Verne
cells: 1898
The War of the Worlds published. This inspired Robert Goddard to investigate rocketry.
UK
H. G. Wells
cells: 1903
Inspired by the writings of Jules Verne, first serious work published that showed physical space exploration was theoretically possible: Исследование мировых пространств реактивными приборами (The Exploration of Cosmic Space by Means of Reaction Devices)
Russia
Konstantin Tsiolkovsky
cells: 1914
Goddard files for and is subsequently awarded U.S. patents on multistage and liquid-fueled rockets
United States
Robert H. Goddard
cells: 1919
Goddard's widely influential paper "A Method of Reaching Extreme Altitudes" discussed solid- and liquid-fueled rocketry
United States
Robert H. Goddard
cells: 000000001923-12-15-000015 December 1923
Die Rakete zu den Planetenräumen ("By Rocket into Planetary Space") self-published after its rejection as a doctoral thesis.
Germany
Hermann Oberth
cells: 1924
Society for Studies of Interplanetary Travel founded
USSR
Members include Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, Friedrich Zander, Yuri Kondratyuk
cells: 000000001926-03-16-000016 March 1926
Goddard launches the first liquid-fueled rocket
United States
Robert H. Goddard
cells: 1927
Verein für Raumschiffahrt (Society for Space Travel) formed; it includes many top European rocket scientists.
Germany
cells: 1927
Завоевание межпланетных пространств (The Conquest of Interplanetary Space) discusses rocket mechanics and orbital effects including the gravitational slingshot
USSR
Yuri Kondratyuk
cells: 1928
Das Problem der Befahrung des Weltraums – der Raketen-Motor (The Problem of Space Travel – The Rocket Motor) discusses space travel and its potential uses for scientific experiments.
Germany
Herman Potočnik
cells: 1929
Oberth, with students including Wernher von Braun, launches his first liquid-fueled rocket
Germany
Hermann Oberth
cells: 1931
First German military liquid-fueled rocket engines developed
Germany
Walter Riedel
cells: 1933
Work begins on the Aggregate series of rockets which leads to the V-2 rocket.
Germany
Wernher von Braun
cells: Group for the Study of Reactive Motion (GIRD) launches the first Soviet liquid-fueled rocket
USSR
Sergey Korolev (group leader), Friedrich Zander (designer)
cells: 1935
Graduate student Frank Malina under his professor Theodore von Kármán begins work on a sounding rocket
United States
Frank Malina
cells: 000000001935-11-11-000011 November 1935
The Explorer II balloon takes two people to 22,066 metres (72,395 ft), where they observe and photograph the curvature of the Earth.
United States
Albert W. Stevens and Orvil A. Anderson
cells: 000000001944-06-20-000020 June 1944
V-2 Rocket (MW 18014): First man-made object to cross what would later be defined as the Kármán line and hence first spaceflight in history.
Germany
Wehrmacht
cells: 000000001946-05-10-000010 May 1946
First space research flight (cosmic radiation experiments)
United States
captured and improved V-2 rocket
cells: 000000001946-05-22-000022 May 1946
First U.S.-designed rocket to reach edge of space (80 km (49 mi))
United States
WAC Corporal
cells: 000000001946-10-24-000024 October 1946
First pictures of Earth from 105 km (65 mi) [1][2]
United States
V-2
cells: 20 February 1947
First animals in space (fruit flies) [1][3]
United States
V-2
cells: 22 July 1951
First dogs in space (Dezik and Tsygan) [4]
USSR
R-1

Questions about this table:
originalText: when did space exploration began in the us
answer: answerTexts: 1840