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Robert Goddard launches 1st successful liquid fuel rocket
Robert Goddard launched the first ever liquid fueled rocket. It only lasted 2 seconds and it reached an altitude of 41 feet. -
The Soviet Union launched Sputnik
Sputnik was the first artificial satellite. It was launched by the Soviet Union and was about the size of a beach ball. It completed 1440 orbits before falling into the atmosphere. -
Sputnik 2 carried the first living being into space
Sputnik 2 carried the first living being into space. The living being was a dog named Laika. It was launched by the Soviet Union. Unfortunately she died after a few orbits. -
US launches Explorer 1
Explorer 1 was the first satellite that the US launched. It was the first satellite to detect the Van Allen radiation belts. -
First man was launched into space
Yuri Gagarin was the first person to be launched into space. His flight only lasted 108 minutes and he circled the earth. He is viewed as a Russian hero. -
First woman in space
Valentina Tereshkova was the first woman to go to space. She was aboard the Vostok 6. The mission was successful and she made 48 orbits of Earth. -
First man to walk in space
Alexei Leonov was the first man to walk in space. He was aboard the Voskhod 2 mission. He passed away October 11th, 2019. -
Apollo completes 1st manned mission for Apollo program
On 10/11/1968 Apollo 7 was launched and it began a 11 day orbit. It was the first successful manned mission of the Apollo program. -
Neil Armstrong-The first man to walk on the moon
Neil Armstrong was the first man to walk on the moon during the Apollo 11 mission. Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walked around for 3 hours. During that time they did experiments and took rocks and other things they found. Neil famously said "One small step for men, One giant leap for mankind." -
Soviets were the first to put a space station in orbit
Salyut 1 was the first ever space station that the Soviets put into orbit. It was in orbit for 175 days. -
Mariner 9
Mariner 9 was a NASA space probe that was the first orbital mission to mars. The mission lasted 1 year, 4 months, and 27 days. -
Skylab
Skylab was America's first space station. It was operated by 3 different 3 man crews. -
NASA's Viking Project
The viking process was the first American mission to land a spacecraft safely on Mars. -
Voyager 1 and 2 deep space project launched
Voyager 1 and 2 are twin space probes. They were launched in Cape Canaveral, Florida. -
First free fly in space
Bruce McCandless was the first person to ever "free float" in space without being attached to any spacecraft. That allowed him to travel outside of the orbiter for 90 minutes. -
Challenger Incident
The Challenger Space Mission was a mission apart of a project to send a teacher to space. Unfortunately it went horribly wrong. 73 seconds into it's flight it exploded and killed all 7 people on board. It was live on TV and people from all over watched as it happened. -
Mars Pathfinder and the Sojourner Rover
Mars Pathfinder was a 23 pound rover that explored the surface of Mars. It took pictures and analyzed Mars surface. The Pathfinder and Sojourner Rovers were crucial for Mars exploration. -
International Space Station is launched
The International Space Station (or ISS) is a space station in low Earth orbit. It is split into two sections. The ROS (Russian Orbital Segment) section which is owned and run by Russia. And the USOS (United States Orbital Segment) which is shared by many countries. -
First space tourist
Dennis Tito, an American businessman payed for his own trip to space. Dennis payed reportedly 20 million dollars to pay for his trip to the International Space Station. He spent about 8 days on board the space station. -
Columbia Incident
The Columbia Incident was the second space disaster, after Challenger. The launch went smoothly except for one thing, a piece of foam fell from the spacecraft. There's even video evidence of the foam falling. The spacecraft spent 16 days in space and then they decided to land it, However it went terribly wrong. The spacecraft broke during the landing and all 7 crew members died. It was all due to the foam and the hole in it's left wing it caused. -
The Parker Solar Probe
The Parker Solar Probe is a NASA robot that will explore the outer corona of the sun. It is currently (as of 11/12/19 10:42 pm) 139,514,292 km from the sun. -
First picture of a black hole
On April 10th, 2019 the first ever picture of a black hole was taken. The black hole captured was a super massive black hole in the center of Virgo A.