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soviet union launches sputnik
worlds first artificial satellite -
luna 2 probe reaches the moon
was the second of the Soviet union's luna programme spacecraft launched to the moon -
first human orbits earth (Yuri Gagarin)
Russian man becomes the first human to orbit the moon -
First woman in space (Valentina Tereshkova)
aboard Vostok 6, Soviet Cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova becomes the first woman to travel into space. After 48 orbits and 71 hours, she returned to earth, having spent more time in space than all U.S. astronauts combined to that date. -
Venera 7 lands on venus
The Venera series space probes were developed by the Soviet Union between 1961 and 1984 -
First manned space station; Mars 3 drops capsule on Mars
soviets build the first manned space station