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first applications satellite launched
The satellite was launched and named sputnik -
First human to orbit Earth
When Yuri Gagarin orbited the Earth on April 12, 1961, the plan had never been for him to land inside his Vostok spacecraft. -
first recovery of a payload from Earth orbit
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First data returned from another planet (Venus)
Unlike its partner, Venera 7 did successfully fire its escape-stage rocket engine to begin the nearly four month cruise to Venus. The probe reached Venus in December of 1970 and made its historic landing on the planet on Dec. -
First woman in space
made history as the first woman in space aboard the then-Soviet Union's Vostok 6 spacecraft in 1963 -
first satellite to operate in geostationary
above Earth's Equator in which a satellite's orbital period is equal to Earth's rotation period of 23 hours and 56 minutes. -
First space walk
Ed White spent roughly 20 minutes floating in space attached by only a 23 foot tether and 25 foot umbilical, with the world far below him.