Space milestones

• 1957 - Soviet Union launches the world's first man-made satellite Sputnik

• 1969 - Neil Armstrong becomes the first person on the moon with the words: "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."

• 1976 - Unmanned US Viking probes land on Mars

• 1981 - First space shuttle flies into Earth orbit

• 1986 - First component of Russian Mir space station launched

• 1990 - Nasa's Hubble Telescope gives astronomers a closer look at far reaches of the universe

• 1995 - US Shuttle Atlantis docks at the Russian Space Station Mir

• 1998 - First part of International Space Station launched

• 2001 - After 15 years of service, the abandoned Mir space station burns up in Earth's atmosphere