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Period: to
1961-1962
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First Man in Space
Russian Cosmonaut Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin became the first human in space. The Vostok 1 spacecraft made one complete orbit around Earth in 108 minutes, and reached altitudes of 112 to 203 miles. The flight lasted for only one hour and 48 minutes. -
First American in Space
Mercury Freedom 7 takes Alan B. Shepard,Jr.in a suborbital flight. He becomes the first person from the U.S. in space. -
First Day-Long Soviet Space Flight
Vostok 2 is launched by theSoviet Union, carrying Cosmonaut Gherman Titov, the first day-long Soviet space flight. -
First American in Orbit
Mercury Friendship 7 takes off with John H. Glenn, Jr., the first American in orbit, and orbits the Earth three times. -
First Live Satellite Tranatlantic Telecast
Telstar 1, U.S. satellite, beams the first live transatlantic telecast. -
First Successful Planetary Spacecraft
U.S. Mariner 2 is the first successful planetary spacecraft.It flies past Venus, and enters a solar orbit.