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Launching of Sputnik I
First of anything man-made to go into outer space. First satellite that was put into Earth's orbit. It was the first in a series of four satellites as part part of the Sputnik program of the former Soviet Union. -
Sputnik 2
Sputnik 2 carrying the first living earth passenger to space. A dog named Laika. Laika died while in orbit becoming the first space casualty. -
Explorer I
First American satellite put into Earth's orbit. Launched after Soviet Union's Sputnik 1 & 2. Remained in orbit until 1970 and was the first to record the Van Allen radiation belt. First in the 90 explorer spacecraft series -
NASA formed
NASA stands for "The National Aeronautics and Space Administration." It controls all missions and launches to space. NASA was formed by the United States governent. After Sputnik was formed the government's eye was was turn towards its own space efforts. NASA was formerly known as NACA which stands for "National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics" -
Sputnik 5
Carrying 40 mice, 2 rats, dogs Belka and Strelka and plants. Everything survived and returned to earth the next day. -
First man in space (Russian)
Yuri Gagarin was the first man in space. Gagarin was the first human in space making a 108- minute orbital flight in his Vostok 1 spacecraft. -
First American man in space
Alan Shepard was the first man in space on the spaceship Freedom 7. Unlike Gagarin, whose flight was strictly automatic, Shepard had some control of Freedom 7, spacecraft attitude in particular. A 15-minute suborbital flight which carried him to an altitude of 116 statute miles -
First woman in space (Russian)
Valentina Tereshkova was the first woman in space sent by the Soviets on the Vostok 6 spacecraft. On this mission, lasting almost three days in space, she performed various tests on herself to collect data on the female body's reaction to spaceflight. She was chosen out of 400 applicants and 5 finalist. -
First American Spacewalk
Ed White 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. -
Soyuz (rocket family)
Started by the Soviet Union in 1966. Soyuz launch vehicle is the most frequently used and most reliable launch vehicle in the world. Were the first reliable means to transport objects into Earth's orbit. -
Apollo 8
Apollo 8 was the first manned spacecraft to orbit the moon.The mission took three days. -
Apollo 11
Apollo 11 was the first flight that took men to the moon and was a project of the United States. This was the first man on the moon ever. They landed on July 20th, This was considered a great accomplishment in the history of exploration. -
Apollo 17's return from the moon
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. Apollo 17 transversed the greatest distance using the "Lunar Roving Vehicle" and returned the greatest amount of rock and soil samples. -
Hubble Telescope
The telescope is successful in being launched. But as soon as the telescope get's up and images of space come back, all the photos are fuzzy. This is not the first telescope in space, however it is the largest. -
First man on the moon
Neil Armstrong is famously known for being the first man on the moon. His famous line is "That's one small step for man, on giant leap for mankind."
