1969 in spaceflight with Apollo 12 also landing on the surface. The success of the Apollo program was a testament to the efforts of over 500,000 American engineers, scientists and technicians. In 1969, the Soviet Union's space program had success with the docking of two manned spacecraft as well as the success of their Venus and Lunar probes. The Soviets, however, suffered severe blows to their manned Lunar aspirations when their N1 rocket failed twice during two 1969 launches. <br> 1969 in spaceflight 1969 saw humanity step onto another world for the first time. On 21 July 1969, the Apollo 11 Lunar Module,
History of spaceflight History of spaceflight Spaceflight began in the 20th century following theoretical and practical breakthroughs by Konstantin Tsiolkovsky and Robert H. Goddard. The Soviet Union took the lead in the post-war Space Race, launching the first satellite, the first man and the first woman into orbit. The United States caught up with, and then passed, their Soviet rivals during the mid-1960s, landing the first man on the Moon in 1969. In the same period, France, the United Kingdom, Japan and China were concurrently developing more limited launch capabilities. Following the end of the Space Race, spaceflight has been characterised by greater