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Sputnig Launches by Russia
First artifal salalite put in space by the USSR. Because the USA feared USSR had technology to deliver a nuclear weapons via to R7 rocket. ~Space Exploration Packet -
Space Race Begins
Three months into the International Geophysical Year (IGY), the National Academy of Sciences in Washington, DC, held a conference to coordinate IGY nations taking part in rocket and satellite launchings and tracking.
http://celebrating200years.noaa.gov/magazine/igy/space_race.html -
USA Launches Explorer 1
Explorer 1 was the first satellite launched by the United States when it was sent into space on January 31, 1958. The U.S. Army Ballistic Missile Agency was directed to launch a satellite using its Jupiter C rocket developed under the direction of Dr. Wernher von Braun.
https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/explorer/explorer-overview.html -
First Human in Orbit
Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin was a Russian Soviet pilot and cosmonaut. He was the first human to journey into outer space.
https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&rlz=1CAHPZY_enUS658US658&ion=1&espv=2&es_th=1&ie=UTF-8#q=first%20human%20in%20space&es_th=1 -
USSR Launches first Person in Space
On April 12, 1961, aboard the spacecraft Vostok 1, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin becomes the first human being to travel into space. During the flight, the 27-year-old test pilot and industrial technician also became the first man to orbit the planet, a feat accomplished by his space capsule in 89 minutes. Vostok 1 orbited Earth at a maximum altitude of 187 miles and was guided entirely by an automatic control system.
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/first-man-in-space -
President Kennedy make the BOLD anouncement
On May 25, 1961, President John F. Kennedy announced before a special joint session of Congress the dramatic and ambitious goal of sending an American safely to the Moon before the end of the decade.
http://history.nasa.gov/moondec.html -
John Glenn Orbits Earth
On February 20, 1962, NASA launched one of the most important flights in American history. The mission? Send a man to orbit Earth, observe his reactions and return him home safely. The pilot of this historic flight, John Glenn, became a national hero and a symbol of American ambition.
https://www.nasa.gov/centers/glenn/about/bios/mercury_mission.html -
Apollo Launch
The first three humans to touch the moon.Apollo 11 was the spaceflight that landed the first humans on the Moon, Americans Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin. https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&rlz=1CAHPZY_enUS658US658&ion=1&espv=2&es_th=1&ie=UTF-8#q=Apollo+launch&es_th=1 -
Luna 15 Crashes
While Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin were concluding humanity's first Moonwalk, the Soviets made an oopsie: their Luna 15 probe crashed into the Moon. The crash site was about 530 miles from the Sea of Tranquility. http://mentalfloss.com/article/54028/during-first-us-lunar-landing-soviets-crashed-moon -
Cassini sent photos of Saturns moons
Cassini's mission will conclude in 2017, sending itself into Saturn's atmosphere where it will be destroyed. But before it meets its fateful end, it will go through a series of maneuvers through and between Saturn's rings -- so we should have plenty more incredible photos to look forward to.
http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/photos/