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Sputnik 1
The USSR beat the United States into space by launching Sputnik 1. It was the world's first artificial satellite. -
First live animal in Space
Following the success of Sputnik 1, the Soviets launched Sputnik 2. The spacecraft contained a pressurized container which housed a dog named Laika. -
First Orbit around the Sun with a man-made object
The Russian satellite Luna 1 is launched in an attempt to hit the Moon. The spacecraft misses the Moon and was flung out into space by the Moon's gravity. It became the first man-made object to achieve an orbit around the Sun. -
First Man in Space
Russian Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first human to venture into space. -
First Space Walk
Alexei Leonov performed the first, Tethered space walk outside of his spacecraft while in Earth’s orbit -
First Spacecraft to Land on the Moon
The Russian spacecraft Luna 9 completed a 250,000 mile trip and successfully became the first spacecraft to soft-land on the moon. -
First Manned Moon Landing
Apollo 11 makes the first successful soft landing on the moon. Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin, Jr. became the first human beings to set foot on another world -
First U.S. Space Station
The United States launches Skylab, the first U.S. space station. It will be occupied by three crews and be an important arena for a number of scientific experiments. -
Discovery of Water Frost On Mars
Viking 2 lands on Mars on the Plain of Utopia, where it discovered water frost. -
Voyager 2 Arrives at Neptune
The Voyager 2 spacecraft arrives
at Neptune, giving us our first
close-up views of the blue planet
and its moons.
