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NASA breaks ground on the Aircraft Engine Research Laboratory (AERL).
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The Soviet Union launched the first satellite, Sputnik, into space.
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The Soviet craft Sputnik 5 was launched, carrying the dogs Strelka and Belka. They became the first living beings to survive a trip into space.
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Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first human in space.
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Astronaut John Glenn became the first American in orbit.
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While tethered to his spacecraft, cosmonaut Alexi Leonov became the first man to walk in space.
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The Russian spacecraft Luna 9 became the first spacecraft to land on the moon.
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Astronauts Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee were killed in an accidental fire in a command module on the launch pad.
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The Soviet spacecraft Zond 5 was launched and later became the first spacecraft to orbit the moon and return to Earth.
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Neil Armstrong and "Buzz" Aldrin became the first men on the moon.
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Apollo 13 was launched.
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The Soviet space station Salyut 1 was launched.
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Eugene Cernan and Harrison "Jack" Schmitt became the last men to walk on the moon.
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Explorer 1 was the first satellite launched by the United States when it was sent into orbit on January 31, 1958. It was designed and built by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) of the California Institute of Technology. The satellite was sent aloft from Cape Canaveral in Florida by the Jupiter C rocket that was designed, built, and launched by the Army Ballistic Missile Agency (ABMA) under the direction of Dr. Wernher Von Braun.
