Manned

In 1981, the United States launched the Space Shuttle Columbia, the first reusable manned spacecraft. It was piloted by Robert Crippen and commanded by John Young.

During a Congressional address on May 25, 1961, President John F. Kennedy proposed that the United States accelerate its space program and set as a national goal a manned lunar landing and safe return by the end of the decade.

In July of 1969, Neil Armstrong was the commander of Apollo 11, America's first attempt to land a manned vehicle on the Moon.

A manned expedition to Mars within the next year? That's completely implausible.

Apollo 8, the first manned mission to the moon, entered lunar orbit on Christmas Eve, Dec. 24, 1968.

With the emergence of manned space flight in the 1960s, Earth-orbiting cosmonauts and astronauts acted much like tourists by taking photos from the windows of their spacecraft.

Last month, Japanese firm SkyDrive showed its eight-propeller, manned compact vehicle flying around a test field.

Between 1969 and 1972, the U.S. brought back a total of 382 kilograms of lunar soil through seven Apollo manned spacecraft missions, six of which succeeded.

Manned deep space missions are still a long way off, but space agencies are already testing procedures, equipment and human stamina for operations in extreme environment conditions.

Apollo 11 astronauts set up the first reflector when they made the first manned flight to the moon nearly 40 years ago.