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Launch of Sputnik I
It was the first artificial satellite to be put into Earth's orbit. It was launched into Earth's orbit by the Soviet Union, and was the first in a series of satellites collectively known as the Sputnik program. -
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Space Race
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Sputnik II Launches First Animal In Space
Aboard the Soviet's Sputnik 2 a dog named Laika became the first living creature to enter orbit. However, since the Soviets did not create a re-entry plan, Laika died in space. Laika's death cause many debates for animal rights around the world. -
Explorer I
It becmae 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. -
Luna 3
The Soviet space probe Luna 3 in 1959 was the third space probe to be sent to the Moon. Even though the pictures sent back were not of the best quality never-before-seen views of the far side of the Moon caused excitement and interest when they were published around the world. -
Vostok I
It was the first spaceflight in the Vostok program and the first human spaceflight in history. The Vostok 3KA spacecraft was launched on April 12, 1961. 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, as well as the first orbital flight of a manned vehicle. -
Mercury Freedom 7
This was an early manned space mission, part of NASA's Mercury program. Astronaut Alan Shepard piloted a fifteen-minute suborbital flight in the Freedom 7 spacecraft and became the first American in space. -
Mercury Friendship 7
John H. Glenn was selected as prime pilot for the first mission (Mercury 6), with M. Scott Carpenter as his backup. Donald K. Slayton and Walter M. Schirra were pilot and backup, respectively, for the second mission, Mercury 7. -
U.S. Ranger 7
Ranger 7 was the first US space probe to successfully transmit close images of the lunar surface back to Earth. It was also the first completely successful flight of the Ranger program. -
First Space Walk
Voshkod 2 was a Soviet manned space mission in March 1965. The spacecraft with two crew members on board, Pavel Belyaev and Alexei Leonov, Allowed Alexei Leonov to become the first person to leave the spacecraft in a specialized spacesuit to conduct a 12 minute "spacewalk". -
Soviet Luna 9 is the first spacecraft to soft-land on the moon
It was an unmanned space mission of the Soviet Union's Luna program. Luna 9 spacecraft was the first spacecraft to achieve a soft landing on any planet other than Earth and to transmit photographic data to Earth. -
Surveyor 1
Surveyor 1 was the first lunar soft-lander in the unmanned Surveyor program of NASA. This lunar soft-lander gathered data about the lunar surface that would be needed for the manned Apollo Moon landings that began in 1969. -
Apollo 7
It was the first manned mission in the American Apollo space program, and the first manned US space flight after a cabin fire killed the crew of what was to have been the first manned mission, later renamed Apollo 1, during a launch pad test in 1967. -
Apollo 8
Apollo 8 was the second manned mission in the Apollo program, and the first to leave Earth's orbit. The three man crew consisted of Commander Frank Borman, Command Module Pilot James Lovell, and Lunar Module Pilot William Anders and they became the first people to travel beyond Earth's low orbit. -
Venera 7
A Soviet spacecraft that was sent to Venus, when it landed on Venus it became the first spacecraft to land on another planet and to transmit information back to Earth. The signal to Venera 7 lasted 35 minutes. -
Return of Apollo 17
Apollo 17 was the eleventh and final manned mission in the American Apollo space program. Launched 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.
