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USSR launches Sputnik 1.
"The first ever space satellite is launched into space". -
Period: to
Duration of the space race
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Explorer 1 is launched
First US satellite is sent into orbit, and "It carried scientific equipment that leads to the discovery of the Van Allen radiation belt." -
NASA is formed
"The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is formed, it replaces the National Advisory Committee on Aeronautics (NACA)." -
USSR launches Luna 1
"It is the first man-made object to orbit the Sun" -
USSR puts first man in space
"Yuri Gagarin orbits the Earth once and becomes the first man in space." -
Vostok 2
Gherman Titov spends a whole entire day in space aboard Vostok 2. -
USSR's first woman in space
"Cosmonaut Valentia Tereshkova becomes the first woman in space". -
USSR Luna 9
Becomes the first spacecraft to soft-land on the Moon -
Apollo 1
Two astronauts tragically died in a flash fire on the spaceship while doing the pre-flight tests, leading NASA to being more cautious and strict. -
Apollo 7
First manned mission to space, by the US and it entered an Earth orbit for a few rotations before landing back. -
Apollo 8
The first manned spacecraft to enter lunar orbit is launched. -
Apollo 9
The lunar module itself was tested in space for the very first time. -
Apollo 10
Tested all the systems and the procedures necessary for a lunar landing, but it didn’t actually, land on the moon -
Apollo 11
This was the first time that man had ever set foot on the moon and marked the American victory over the Soviets in the Space Race.
