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First artifical satilite
Their spaceship, Apollo 11 worked perfectly, flying them 250,000 miles to the moon, and bringing them all the way back safely to earth. -
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Space exploration
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first animal in orbit
Having stunned the world with the first orbital space launch, Sputnik 1, less than a month before, the Soviet Union tries for a second coup by launching a dog named Laika on a one-way journey on a hastily completed follow-up mission, Sputnik 2. -
First sucseful american satilite
Launched less than two months after Vanguard 1A, the first American attempt to compete with Sputnik, blows up on the launchpad. -
NASA signed into law
Fearful that Soviet successes in space mean the U.S. is losing the Cold War, congressional leaders, including future President Lyndon B. Johnson, quickly write the National Aeronautics and Space Act. -
First American in Orbit
After several unsuccessful (and apparently fatal) attempts at manned flight, the Soviet Union launches cosmonaut Yuri A. Gagarin on a 108-minute flight. -
First space walk
Determined to keep up with the Russians, the U.S. launches astronaut Alan Shepard on a 15-minute suborbital flight. -
First U.S. space tradgey
As the U.S. is gearing up for its three-man Apollo moon missions, a fire breaks out in a routine ground test. -
First manned apollo mission
With time running out on President John F. Kennedy's pledge to put a man on the moon by the end of the decade, U.S. confidence is boosted by Apollo 7, the first Apollo mission to get astronauts off the ground. -
First manned moon orbital launch
In a six-day flight culminating with a televised Christmas Eve reading from the Book of Genesis, Apollo 8 astronauts Frank Borman, James Lovell, Jr., and William Anders become the first to leave the gravitational influence of the Earth. -
First manned moon landing
The lunar module of Apollo 11, nicknamed the Eagle, touches down on the moon, with 30 seconds' worth of fuel to spare
