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Launching of Sputnik 1
The lauch of Sputnik 1 began the space Race between the then Soviet Union and United States. Sputnik was the first artificial satellite to be in Earth's orbit. Sputnik traveled for 96 minutes and traveled 29,000 kilometers (18,000 mph). -
Sputnik 2
Sputnik 2 was the second spaceflight to laucnh in Earth's orbit and carried the first animal in space, Laika. -
Laika
Laika was born in 1954. She was a Russian space dog who was the first animal to go in space. Laika did orbit the Earth but soon died on November 3, 1957 because of overheating. -
Vostok 1
Vostok 1 was the very first human spaceflight by the Soviet Union. This is the flight that Yuri Gagarin was on. The flight took 108 minutes from launch to landing. -
Ranger 7
Ranger 7 was the first U.S. space probe to transmit images of the lunar surface back to Earth and the first successful flight of the Ranger program. It carried six television vidicon cameras ( 2 wide angle and 4 narrow angle) to accomplish the objective. -
Alexey Leonov
Alexey Leonov was the first person to conduct a space walk on March 18, 1965. He is a retired Soviet/Russian cosmonaut and Air Force General. He was also the deputy director for Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center. -
Voskhod 2
Voskhod was a Soviet manned mission which Pavel Belyaev and Alevey Leonov were a part of. This was both Belyaev's and Leonov's first flight. -
Luna 9
Luna 9 was an unmanned space mission in the Soviet space program. The spacecraft achieved having a soft landing on another planet other than Earth. The spacecraft weighed 99kg. -
Apollo 1
Apollo 1 was suppose to be the first American lauch to the moon. Unfortunately due to a cabin fire, the three men aboard Command Pilot Virgil Grissom, Seinor Pilot Edward H. White and Pilot Roger B. Chaffee were killed in 17 seconds. -
Yuri Gagarin
Yuri Gagarin was born March 9, 1934. He was the first man ever to go into space on Vostok 1. He was awarded Hero of the Soviet Union. He died when the plane he was piloting crashed. -
Apollo 8
This was the second manned mission in the American Space Program and the first to orbit out of Earth. Commander Frank Borman, Command Module Pilot James Lovell, and Lunar Module Pilot William Anders were on the spaceflight. They are most famous for reading the book of Genesis after landing on the moon. They were sued by an athiest activist Madalyn O'Hiar for the reading, but the case was dismissed. -
Neil Armstrong
Neil Armstrong, along with Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin Jr. and Michael Collins, were the first manned flight to land on the moon. He was a part of the spaceflight Gemini 8 and served in the U.S. Navy before becoming an astronaut. -
Apollo 13
Apollo 13 was the seventh manned mission and third inttended to go to the moon. The flight was by Commander James A. Lovell, Command Module Pilot John L. "Jack" Swigert, and Lnuar Module Pilot Fred W. Haise. During the flight, an oxygen tank malfunctioned and caused the three men to not land on the moon. Days later after figuring out how to get them back to earth, they safely returned on April 17, 1970. -
Alan Shepard
Alan Shepard was the second person and first American in space in 1961. He commanded Apollo 14 on Janary 31, 1971 and was the fifth man to walk on the moon. Not only was he an astronaut, he was an aviator, test pilot, and flag officer. Shepard died on July 21, 1998. -
Apollo 17's return from the Moon
Apollo 17 was the final manned mission in the American Space program. Aboard were Commander Eugene Ceran, Command Module Pilot Ronald Evans, and Lunar Module Pilot Harrison Schmitt. On their return, the command module landed in the Pacific Ocean.
