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First Satellite in Space by USSR
The first satellite in space was the Soviet satellite, Sputnik. -
First Animal in Space by USSR
The first animal in space was a stray dog from Russia, named Laika. She died a few hours after being sent into orbit. -
First Satellite in Space by USA
The Explorer 1 was the first successful American satellite launch. This marked the beginning of the U.S. Space Age. -
Creation of NASA
President Eisenhower signed the National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958 establishing NASA. -
First Animal in Space by USA
Ham the Chimp flew a suborbital flight on the Mercury-Redstone 2 mission, part of the U.S. space program's Project Mercury. -
First Man in Space by USSR
Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin was a Soviet pilot who became the first human to journey into outer space. Travelling in the Vostok 1 capsule, Gagarin completed one orbit of Earth -
First Man in Space by USA
Alan B. Shepard became the first American in space during a suborbital flight aboard his Mercury capsule named Freedom 7. -
First Man to Orbit Earth by USA
John H. Glenn became the first American to orbit the Earth during the three-orbit Mercury-Atlas 6 mission, aboard the spacecraft he named Friendship 7. -
JFK's Speech About Getting to the Moon
Officially titled the Address at Rice University, was a speech by United States President John F. Kennedy to boost public support for his proposal to land a man on the Moon before 1970. -
First Man to do an EVA (USSR)
The first EVA was performed by Soviet cosmonaut Alexei Leonov, who spent 12 minutes and 9 seconds outside the Voskhod 2 spacecraft. -
First Man to do an EVA (USA)
US astronaut Edward White was the first American to perform an “extra-vehicular activity” (EVA), or spacewalk. -
First Rendezvous in Space (Gemini)
Fifty years ago, Gemini VI and VII met for the first rendezvous in space. This was not NASA's original plan. -
Gemini 9A Tragedy
The original crew for Gemini 9, Elliot See and Charles Bassett, were killed in a crash, while flying a T-38 jet trainer to the McDonnell Aircraft plant in Missouri to inspect their spacecraft. -
First Docking of Crewed and Uncrewed Spacecraft
The first docking between two spacecraft occurred when the Gemini VIII capsule, piloted by Neil Armstrong and David Scott, docked with an unmanned spacecraft called the Agena Target Vehicle. -
First Propulsion Maneuver with Docked Agena
Gemini XI: 12-15 September 1966, docking and maneuvering with Agena, setting an altitude record. -
Apollo 1 Tragedy
The Apollo program changed forever, when a flash fire swept through the Apollo 1 command module during a launch rehearsal test. Despite the best efforts of the ground crew, the three men inside died. -
First 3 Person Crew to Launch (USA)
Apollo 7 was the first three-person American crew to launch space and it was the first crewed Apollo mission. All three astronauts caught a cold during the mission. -
First Crewed Spacecraft to Orbit Another Celestial Body
Apollo 8 was the first crewed spacecraft to leave low Earth orbit and the first human spaceflight to reach the Moon. The crew orbited the Moon ten times without landing, and then departed safely back to Earth. -
First Manned Lunar Module to Command Service Module Docking
Apollo 9 crew completes first command and lunar module docking in space. The Apollo 9 command and service module (CSM), along with the lunar module (LM), were on a path to complete the very first lunar module rendezvous and docking in Earth’s orbit. -
First Men on the Moon
Apollo 11, U.S. spaceflight during which commander Neil Armstrong and pilot Edwin (“Buzz”) Aldrin, Jr., became the first people to land on the Moon and walk the lunar surface. -
First Man to Pee on the Moon
Aldrin set foot on the Moon at 03:15:16 on July 21, 1969. Buzz Aldrin was the first man to pee on the moon.
