US Mariner 2, the first successful planetary spacecraft, flies past Venus. She orbits the earth 48 times. It lasts 12 minutes. Launch of Soviet Venus 3. Four months later, it becomes the first craft to hit Venus.
American astronauts make the first space rendezvous with another craft.
Soviet Luna 9 is the first spacecraft to soft-land on the moon. Soviet Luna 10 is the first spacecraft to orbit the moon. Surveyor 1 is the first US spacecraft to soft-land on the moon. Vladimir Komarov is the first person to die in space. Launch of Soviet Zond 5, the first spacecraft to orbit the moon and return.