NASA HIGHS AND LOWS 1958-2003

A look at NASA's chequered history.

* October 1, 1958: The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is founded.

* May 5, 1961: US launches first American astronaut, Alan Shepard Jr, into space.

* May 25, 1961: President Kennedy announces Project Apollo, which aims to land a man on the moon.

* Jan 27, 1967: Three US astronauts die when a fire sweeps the Apollo I command module during a ground test at Kennedy Space Centre, Florida.

* Dec 21, 1968: First manned spacecraft to orbit moon, Apollo 8, comes within 70 miles of the lunar surface.

* July 20, 1969: Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin of Apollo XI land on the moon for the first time, right.

* May 14, 1973: Skylab I, the first US orbiting laboratory is launched.

* April 12, 1981: Shuttle Columbia becomes first winged spaceship to orbit Earth and return to airport landing.

* Jan 28, 1986: Challenger shuttle explodes 73 seconds after launch from the Kennedy Space Centre, killing a crew of seven.

* June 29, 1995: Atlantis docks with Mir in first shuttle station hook-up, above left.

* May 29, 1999: Discovery becomes first shuttle to dock with the international space station.

* Nov 2, 2000: An American and Russian crew begins living aboard the international space station.

* Feb 1, 2003: Shuttle Columbia breaks apart over Texas, 16 minutes before it was due to land. All seven astronauts on board die.