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Everett Edward Hale wrote "The Brick Moon"
describing a "Brick Moon" that orbited the earth, used as a navigational guide for ships, inhabited by several people. sent signals by morse code to the earth. -
Soviet Union- First Satellite In Space
Sputnik was launched into space, traveling at 18,000 mph -
Sputnik II Launched
The first animal in space, a dog. the dog did end up dying. -
Explorer I Launched
launched into orbit and succeeded -
Founding of NASA
Eisenhower signed the National Aeronautics and Space Act -
The 7 original Astronauts (Mercury Seven)
7 piolets chosen as USA's first astronauts "project mercury" -
Luna 3 + photo of moon
third soviet satellite took pictures of the far side of the moon -
Tiros-1 (weather satellite)
first weather satellite (worked in low orbit around earth) created by USA -
First Man To Enter Space (Vostok 1)
Yuri Gagarin from the USSR enters space and back, successfully -
First USA Astronaut in Space (Freedom 7)
Alan Shepard was the first american in space -
Apollo Mission Starts
the mission to get tho the moon starts -
First 24hrs in Space (Vostok 2)
Russian astronaut Gherman Titov orbits the earth for 24hrs -
Friendship 7
First American in orbit- John Glenn made three orbits before a successful landing. -
Vostok 3 and Vostok 4
Russian Cosmonaut Andriyan Nikolayev (Vostok 3) and Pavel Popovich (Vostok 4) started flights within a day of each other in the USSR. first to achieve ship to ship radio contact. -
Sigma 7
Mercury flight Sigma 7 with pilot Wally Schirra 6 orbits around earth in the USA -
Faith 7 (last Mercury flight)
American pilot Gordo Cooper makes a successful 22 orbits around the earth, in 1 day, 10hrs, and 19min. -
Vostok 5 and Vostok 6
two flights by the USSR took place at the same time, 2 days apart. piloted by Cosmonaut Valery Bykovsky and (the first female in space) Valentina Tereshkova. -
Voskhod II
Alexei Leonov, aboard the Voskhod II, was the first person in the USSR to do a spacewalk -
First Manned Gemini Flight
for the USA to get to the moon, the gemini test flight series started with Guss Grissom and John Youngin a demonstration of maneuverable space flight with the first onboard computer -
Gemini 4
the first successful USA spacewalk -
Gemini 5
first spacecraft to use fuel cells instead of batteries, went 8 days in orbit and was successfully completed. -
Gemini 6's Target Vehicle Explodes
The USA plan was for Gemini 6 to successfully dock with a target vehicle, but the target "Atlas-Agena" exploded during launch. -
Gemini 7
planned to stay in orbit for 14 days, and to launch Gemini 6 to dock with them. first time using different, more comfortable suits. various types of medical testing was preformed. -
Gemini 6 Docks With Gemini 7
Gemini 6 successfully performed the first ship to ship docking with Gemini 7, but almost failed due to engine problems -
future gemini crew tragedy
The future crew of Gemini 9 (Eliott See and Charlie Bassett) died in a plane crash. they were replaced with Tom Stafford and Gene Cernan -
Gemini 8- attempted space docking failed
a telemetry control error caused the ship to spin out of control. the crew undocked early in an attempt to stop it. The spin got up to 1 revolution per second until the crew activated the nose thrusters, cutting the mission short. -
Gemini 9 "angry alligator" failure
after Gemini 9's Atlas-Agena target rocket exploding, a smaller rocket called the ADTA was used. it also failed as protective cover did not deploy, causing the docking target to look like an "angry alligator". the crew tested a rocket-powered maneuvering device, but it proved to be far too hard to get set up. -
Gemini 10
a successful docking 475mi above the earth. the crew undocked and found the Gemini 8 Agena target, then proceeded to retrieve a micrometorite collecter during another spacewalk. -
Gemini 11
successful rendezvous in just one orbit. attaching a tether to the end of the spacecraft proved to be incredibly difficult.
A new record orbit height of 850mi. -
Gemini 12
NASA tries to solve all the issues with EVA through underwater training to simulate zero-g. developed techniques and methods of working, and equipment to help keep the astronaut in place when doing EVA. -
Apollo 5
The USA lunar module was tested during this unmanned flight -
Pad 34 tragedy
a fire caused by an electrical spark during a countdown test started on board inside the cockpit, leading to the deaths of the whole crew inside. NASA then revamped safety by developing a quick-release hatch, as well as other fire-resistant procedures. -
soviet tragedy Soyuz I
Soyuz I was launched with one crew member, Vladimir Komarov. malfunctions caused the parachute to fail to deploy. he hit the ground at high speed, resulting in death -
Apollo 4
Utilizing the newest Saturn V rocket, the launch pushed its orbit out to 11,000 miles -
Zond Spacecraft
USSR spacecraft designed for a mission to "figure 8" between the moon and the earth. resulted in failure -
Apollo 6
2nd test of the Saturn V rocket, there were some problems -
The Decision
the lunar module is behind schedule, and intel from the CIA suggested the USSR was working on lunar flights, so George Low proposed that if Apollo 7 succeeds, Apollo 8 would be the mission to the moon. -
Apollo 7
A successful launch with a live TV broadcast from space, confirming apollo 8 set for the moon -
Apollo 8
Launched using the Saturn V rocket booster. On the 24th, Apollo 8 made it into lunar orbit and got to see the first "earthrise" over the moon. After the 10th orbit, Apollo 8 launched its final stage rockets to take them back into earth's orbit