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Launching of Sputnik 1
It was the first artificial satellite to be put into Earth's orbit. It was launched into an elliptical low Earth orbit by the Soviet Union, and was the first in a series of satellites collectively known as the Sputnik program. -
Period: to
Space Race
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Sputnik 2
was the second spacecraft launched into Earth orbit, on November 3, 1957, and the first to carry a living animal, a dog named Laika. -
Explorer 1
It was the first Earth satellite of the United States. The mission followed the first two Earth satellites the previous year, the Soviet Union's Sputnik 1 and 2, beginning the Cold War Space Race between the two nations. -
NASA formed
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration or NASA was formed by the United States during the space race for more aeronautics and aerospace research. It controls all missions and launches to space. -
Apollo 1
It was scheduled to be the first manned mission of the Apollo manned lunar landing program, with a target launch date of February 21, 1967. A cabin fire during a launch pad test on January 27 at Launch Pad 34 at Cape Canaveral killed all three crew members -
Yuri Gagarin
It was the first spaceflight in the Vostok program and the first human spaceflight in history The flight took Yuri Gagarin, a cosmonaut from the Soviet Union, into space. The flight marked the first time that a human entered outer space -
Alan Shepard
He became the second person, and the first American, in space. Ten years later, he commanded the Apollo 14 mission, and became the fifth person to walk on the Moon -
First woman in space
Valentina Tereshkova was the first woman in space sent by the Soviets on the Vostok 6 spacecraft. She was choosen to fly the spacecraft out of 400 other applicants. -
First man to "walk" in space
Alexey Leonov was a Soviet/Russian commander. He was the first man to walk in space. He had 45 minutes in space and walked for 12 minutes. -
First American space walk
Ed Whit e was the first American to complete a spacewalk. He was sent on the mission Gemini 4. White was in space for 23 mintues and was over Hawaii and the Gulf of Mexico. -
First orbit around the moon
On April 4, 1966 Luna 10 had compleated the first orbit around the mooon. -
Soyuz 1
Soyuz 1 was a manned spacecraft holding Vladimir Komarov. It was the first of the Soyuz series. On its return back to Earth, technical problems caused a crash and the death of Vladimir. It was the first fatal space flight. -
First landing on the moon
On July, 1969, Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong were the first men to land on the moon. They were passangers from the American Apollo 11. The space craft spend 21 hours and 31 minutes on the moon. -
Apollo 13
It was the seventh manned mission in the American Apollo space program and the third intended to land on the Moon. The craft was successfully launched toward the Moon, but the landing had to be aborted after an oxygen tank exploded, severely damaging the spacecraft's electrical system. -
Apollo 17
It was the eleventh and final manned mission in the American Apollo space program. Apollo 17 was the sixth Apollo lunar landing, the first night launch of a U.S. human spaceflight and the final manned launch of a Saturn V booster.
