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launching of sputnick i
the first man-made object to orbit the Earth, is launched by the U.S.S.R., and remains in orbit until January 4, 1958 -
Sputnik 2
USSR launches Sputnik 2 which carried a small dog named Laika into orbit. -
explorer 1
the first U.S. satellite in orbit, lifts off at Cape Canaveral using a modified ABMA-JPL Jupiter-C rocket. It carries a scientific experiment of James A. Van Allen, and discovers the Earth's radiation belt. -
Explorer 2
launched by a Jupiter-C rocket, and fails to reach orbit. -
Sputnik 3
is launched by the U.S.S.R -
Pioneer 4
fourth U.S.-IGY space probe was launched by a Juno II rocket, and achieved an earth-moon trajectory, passing within 37,000 miles of the moon. It then fell into a solar orbit, becoming the first U.S. sun orbiter. -
luna 1
is launched, impacting on the moon on September 13 carrying a copy of the Soviet coat of arms, and becoming the first man-made object to hit the moon. -
luna 2
is launched. It impacts the Moon on September 13, becoming the first man-made object to do so. -
tiros 1
the first successful weather satellite, is launched by the U.S. -
Vostok 1
is launched by the U.S.S.R., carrying Cosmonaut Yuri A. Gargarin, the first man in space. He orbits the Earth once.
May 5, 1961 - Mercury Freedom 7 carries Alan B. Shepard,Jr., the first U.S. Astronaut into space, in a suborbital flight. -
Mercury Freedom 7
carries Alan B. Shepard,Jr., the first U.S. Astronaut into space, in a suborbital flight. -
Vostok 6
carries Soviet Cosmonaut Valentia Tereshkova, the first woman in space and orbits the Earth 48 times.
June, 1963 - Martin Schmidt interprets the behavior of 3C 273 - the first known quasar. -
U.S. Ranger 7
relays the first close-range photographs of the Moon. -
apollo 7
The crew of Apollo 7 begin a 10 day mission to study the new spacecraft -
apollo 17
Apollo 17 was the last Apollo mission to land men on the Moon. It carried the only trained geologist to walk on the lunar surface, lunar module pilot Harrison Schmitt
