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Soviet Union launched the first artificial satellite, Sputnik I, into space. This event marked the beginning of the "Space Race" between the United States and the Soviet Union.
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This was the first American satellite to reach orbit. Explorer 1 had specific equipment on it that was used to discover the Van Allen radiation belt.
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President Eisenhower signed the National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958. This established the NASA program in the United States.
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Luna 1 was launched on this date. It became the first man made object to orbit the sun.
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John F. Kennedy is elected as the 35th president of U.S.
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Yuri Gagarin, of Soviet Union, becomes the first man in space and to orbit the earth once.
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Allan Shepard became the first American in space on this date.
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President Kennedy informs the country of the goal to reach the moon before the end of the decade.
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On this date american astronaut, John Glenn, was sent into space and orbited the earth 3 times.
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Valentina Tereshkova, of the Soviet Union, became the first woman in space. NASA did not employ any female astronauts at this time.
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Ed White performs the first spacewalk while astronaut Jim McDivitt remained in the ship.
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On this day Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee were killed when a fire ignited in their capsule while performing a test.
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Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin become the first men to walk on the moon. Astronaut Michael Collins orbited the moon alone while this took place.
