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Sputnik I
The launching of Sputnik I by the Soviet Union began the "space war" with the United States. It was the first artifial satellite that was put in to the Earth's orbit. It helped with research of the atmosphere and travels at 18,000 mi per hour and completing an orbit in 96.2 minutes.
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Period: to
Space Race
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Explorer I
Explorer 1 was the first Amercian satellite put into earth's orbit. It was launched after the Soviet's Sputnik 1 and 2. The satellite remained in orbit until 1970 and was the first to record the Van Allen radiation belt. It was the first of the 90 Explorer spacecraft series.
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NASA replaces NACA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is formed, it replaces the National Advisory Committee on Aeronautics (NACA).
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First man in space
Yuri Gagarin orbits the Earth once and becomes the first man in space.
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Last American alone in Space
L. Gordon Cooper spends 34 hours in space. He is the last American to fly in space alone.
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First woman in space
Cosmonaut Valentia Tereshkova becomes the first woman in space.
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First walk in space
Alexei Leonov spends 12 minutes outside of his Voskhod spacecraft performing the first spacewalk.
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Gemini 6
Walter Schirra and Thomas Stafford, in their Gemini 6 spacecraft, make the first space rendezvous with Gemini 7.
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Last Gemini flight
Gemini 12, the last flight of the Gemini Program, launches with James Lovell and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin aboard.
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Apollo 1
During a preflight test for what was to be the first manned Apollo mission, a fire claimed the lives of three U.S. astronauts; Gus Grissom, Ed White and Roger Chaffee. After the disaster, the mission was officially designated Apollo 1.
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Turtles around the moon
Zond 5 is launched. It carried a biological payload (including two turtles) around the Moon and returned to Earth six days later.
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First men on the moon
Neil Armstrong and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin become the first men to walk on the Moon while crewmate Michael Collins orbits around the Moon alone.
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A lunar landing
Pete Conrad and Alan Bean perform the first precision lunar landing, touching down just 600 feet from the Surveyor 3 probe that arrived two years earlier.
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Apollo 13
Apollo 13 was to be the third mission to land on the Moon. An explosion in one of the oxygen tanks crippled the spacecraft during flight and the crew were forced to orbit the Moon and return to the Earth without landing.
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Apollo 17
Apollo 17 was the last Apollo mission to land men on the Moon. It carried the only trained geologist to walk on the lunar surface, lunar module pilot Harrison Schmitt. Compared to previous Apollo missions, Apollo 17 astronauts traversed the greatest distance using the Lunar Roving Vehicle and returned the greatest amount of rock and soil samples. Eugene Cernan, commander of Apollo 17, still holds the distinction of being the last man to walk on the Moon,
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