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First Satellite to Orbit Earth
Sputnik I was the first artificial satellite sent by the Soviet Union. It was the size of a beach ball and weighed 183.9 pounds. The satellite took 98 minutes to orbit the Earth. -
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Space Timeline
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First Animal in Space
On this day, the Soviet Union sends a female dog into space on Sputnik 2. The female dog’s name was Laika. Unfortunately, Laika died in space. -
First Human in Space
Yuri Gagarin became the first man to reach into space. This mission took 108 minutes because Gagarin was thrown out from the spacecraft and he parachuted to the Earth. -
Mariner 2
Mariner 2 was the first space probe to get to a planet other than our planet Earth. It was sent to get some info about Venus. The result of going by Venus was that Venus had a super-hot surface with cool clouds. -
First Woman in Space
The first woman to enter space was Valentina Tereshkova. She was in space for 3 days by herself. -
Alexei Leonov
Alexei Leonov becomes the first man to spacewalk. He was out there for more than 12 minutes. -
Vladimir Komarov
Vladimir Komarov was on the Soyuz 1 on this day. He became the first person to die during the flight when the parachute lines of Soyuz 1 got tangled and it crashed to the Earth. -
1st Man On Moon
The first man to walk on the moon was Neil Armstrong. This was during the flight of Apollo 11. -
First Space Rescue
An oxygen tank explodes on Apollo 13. Thanks to the Mission Control, the three men that were on it were rescued and back to Earth. This marks as the first space rescue. -
Pioneer 10
Pioneer 10 was sent on March 2, 1972, becomes the first spacecraft to leave the solar system. It had also become the first spacecraft to cross the asteroid belt and reach Jupiter. -
Viking Lander 1
Viking Lander 1 was the first U.S. space probe to reach down on a different planet other than Earth. This space probe gathered information about Mars. -
Svetlana Savitskaya
Svetlana Savitskaya becomes the first woman to do a space walk. With the help of her partner, Vladimir Dzhanibekov, she runs welding experiments for more than 3 hours outside the Soviet space station Salyut 7. -
Challenger
A space shuttle, named Challenger explodes killing seven people. The people that died were Christa McAuliffe, Francis Scobee, Michael Smith, Judy Resnik, Ron McNair, Ellison Onizuka, and Gregory Jarvis. -
Hubble Space Telescope
The Hubble Space Telescope was the first space telescope that was sent. This telescope was named after an American astronomer named Edwin P. Hubble. -
Shannon Lucid
Shannon Lucid marks a record time in space for both a woman and an American to spend in space. Her total time in space was 223 days. -
Sojouner
The robot Sojourner was the first thing to touch a surface of another planet. This robot got a lot pictures and information. -
John Glenn
John Glenn, a 77-year-old went on the Space Shuttle Discovery and became the oldest person to go to space. He was a member of the NASA’s Mercury program. -
Dennis Tito
Dennis Tito, a Californian Billionare became the first paying person to go to space. Dennis has dreamed of going into space for over 40 years and he paid $20 million to complete his dream. -
Yang Liwei
The country China sent its first astronaut into space. His name is Yang Liwei. He stayed up there for 21 hours and went back to Earth safely. -
Cassini-Huygens
Cassini-Huygens was the 1st spacecraft to go around Saturn. Somewhere during that year, the spacecraft flew within 800 miles of Saturn’s largest moon, Titan.
