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Launching of Sputnik 1
Sputnik I launched into space by the USSR, becoming the first artificial satellite in space. The satellite, a steel sphere, weighed 184 pounds, was 23 inches in diameter. -
Period: to
Space Race
Space Race -
Launching of Sputnik 2
Sputnik 2 launched into space, carrying the first living creature into space: a dog named Laika. -
Explorer I launch
Explorer I is launched into space, becoming the first satellite launched by the USA. The launch of Explorer I marks the physical beginning of the race to space between the USSR and USA. -
NASA formed by USA
NASA was established by the National Aeronautics and Space Act on July 29, 1958, replacing its predecessor, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA). The agency became operational on October 1, 1958. -
The "Mercury 7" astronauts selected by NASA
Mercury Seven was the group of seven Mercury astronauts selected by NASA on April 9, 1959. They are also referred to as the Original Seven and Astronaut Group 1. This was the only astronaut group with members that flew on all classes of NASA manned orbital spacecraft of the 20th century: Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, and ending with John Glenn's flight on the STS-95 Space Shuttle mission. -
Luna 2 - Soviet Union launch
Luna 2 was the second of a series of spacecraft launched in the direction of the Moon. The first spacecraft to land on the Moon, it impacted the lunar surface east of Mare Serenitatis near the Aristides, Archimedes, and Autolycus craters. -
Yuri Gagarin, USSR, becomes the first man in space.
Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin, Hero of the Soviet Union, was a Soviet cosmonaut. On 12 April 1961, he became the first human in outer space and the first to orbit the Earth. He received medals from around the world for his pioneering tour in space. -
First American in Space
Alan Shepard was the first american in space. Then 10 years later he was the fifth person to land on the mood in applo 14. -
First Woman in Space
Vostok 6, of the Soviet Union, was the first human space craft to carry a woman,Valentina Tereshkova, into space. It also was the first to have the first civilian in space. -
First Spacewalk - Soviet Union
Alexei Leonov spends 12 minutes outside of his Voskhod spacecraft performing the first spacewalk. -
Luna 9 - Soviet Union spacecraft
Luna 9 was the first spacecraft to achieve a lunar soft landing and to transmit photographic data from the Moon's surface to Earth, preceding the U.S. Surveyor 1 soft lander by about 4 months. -
Luna 10, USSR, first spacecraft to orbit the Moon.
Luna 10 was a Luna program, robotic spacecraft mission, also called Lunik 10. The Luna 10 spacecraft was launched towards the Moon from an Earth orbiting platform on March 31, 1966. It was the first artificial satellite of the Moon (or another heavenly body, for that matter). -
Apollo 8 - First manned flight to the moon by the USA
Frank Borman, James Lovell, and William Anders begin the first manned journey from the Earth to the Moon. On Christmas Eve they take turns reading Genesis in a broadcast heard around the world. -
Apollo 11 - first men to walk on the Moon, USA
Neil Armstrong and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin become the first men to walk on the Moon while crewmate Michael Collins orbits around the Moon alone. -
Apollo 17's return from the moon
Apollo 17 was the eleventh and final manned mission in the American Apollo space program. Launched at 12:33 a.m. EST on December 7, 1972, with a crew of Commander Eugene Cernan, Command Module Pilot Ronald Evans, and Lunar Module Pilot Harrison Schmitt, Apollo 17 remains the most recent manned Moon landing and the most recent manned flight beyond low Earth orbit.
