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First telescopic observation of the night sky
Discovery of Jupiter's moons, Luar craters, and phases of Venus. -
First clear telescopic photograph of the Moon
-
Proof that space exploration was possible
Inspirede by the writings of Jules Verne, work was published showing that physical space exploration was theoretically possible. -
Society for Studies of Interplanetary Travel founded
Society for Studies of Interplanetary Travel was founded by the Soviet Union. -
First rocket launched
Goddard launches the first liquid-filled rocket. -
First vehicle to enter outer space
First vehicle to cross the Karman line (62 miles above Earth's surface therfore entering outer space. -
First pictures of Earth
Pictures taken from 65 miles above Earth -
First animals in space
Fruit Flies -
First satellite in space
The Soviet Union launched their first satellite, Sputnik 1, into space. -
First artificial satellite
First signals from space -
First animal in orbit around Earth
The dog Laika -
First US satellite
The first US satellite, Explorer 1, went into orbit around the Earth in January of 1958. -
FIrst photos of another world in space
Photos of the far side of the moon -
First life to return alive from Earth's orbit
Sputnik 5 returned living animals and plants to Earth. -
First man in space/first orbit around Earth
Russian Lt. Yuri Gargaein orbited Earth in Vostok 1; his flight lasted 108 minutes, and he reached an altitude of 327 kilometers (about 202 miles). -
First Hominidae in Space
A chimpanzee performed first tasks in space. -
Frist American to fly into space
John Glenn's historic flight made him the first American to orbit Earth. -
First man on the moon
Neil Armstrong stepped onto the moon, making him the first man to walk on the moon. -
First Space Station
The stations was named Salyut 1 -
First soft Mars landing
This also included the first signals from the surface of Mars. -
First photos and soil sampels from the surface of Mars
Samples and photos taken from the Viking Lander. -
First Venus soil samples and sound recording of another world.
Samples aquired by the Venera 13. -
First Uranus flyby
Closest approach-81,500 kilometers -
First Neptune flyby
Closest approach-29,240 kilometers. -
First photograph of the whole Solar System
Taken by the Hubble Space Telescope. -
Firs tpolar orbit around the Sun
Oribited by Ulysses. -
First mission into the atmosphere of a gas giant (Jupiter)
Galileo's atmospheric entry probe achieved this mission. The Galileo also orbited Jupiter for the first time. -
First orbiting of an asteroid
orbited by NEAR shoemaker. -
First orbit around Saturn
Orbited by Cassini-Huygens. -
First man-made probe to make a planned and soft landing on a comet
Probe's name was Rosetta -
First food eaten that was grown in space
The food grown in space was lettuce. -
Citation
"Timeline of Space Exploration." - Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Oct. 2015.