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1st Soviet Satellite
Sputnik 1 was the first ever man made satellite to orbit Earth. It stayed within transmission for 21 days, then it's power died and silently orbited for the next 2 months, then fell to the Earth. -
1st Soviet Satellite
Sputnik 1 was the first ever man made satellite to orbit the Earth. It made 21 orbits around the planet then lost connection. It continued it's orbit for 2 more months before falling back to Earth. -
1st Soviet Animal in Orbit
Laika the stray dog was sent up in Sputnik 2, the second ever satellite sent to space. She survived her trip around Earth but her heatshield failed on re-entry and Sputnik 2 sadly burned up with her inside. -
1st American Satellite
The Explorer 1 was the first satellite to orbit the Earth from the USA. It was a response to the two previous Sputnik satellites which started the Cold War Space Race. -
Period: to
Creation - Opening of NASA
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1st American Animal in Space
Gordo the Squirrel Monkey was the first monkey to go to space. He survived his mission into orbit but his chute failed on landing and he sadly didn't make it. -
1st Soviet Man in Space / First Soviet Orbit
Yuri Gagarin was the first man in space. He flew in the Vostok 1 and accomplished reaching space first, a huge milestone in the Space Race, and being the first man to orbit the planet Earth. -
First American in Space
Alan B. Shepard was the first American to reach space. He was launched in his capsule, Freedom 7. -
1st American in Orbit
John Glenn was the first American to orbit the planet. He flew his capsule, Friendship 7, around the Earth 3 times before coming back home. -
JFK's Speech
President John F. Kennedy gave the famous speech that gave NASA and Americans the mission to reach the moon by the end of the decade. -
1st Soviet EVA
Alexi Leonov made history while on his flight in the Voskhod 2 by being the first person to ever exit a spacecraft in space and perform an EVA (extravehicular activity). -
Gemini 3 | First Crewed NASA Mission
John Young and Gus Grissom were the pilots of the first ever crewed mission to space. They orbited the Earth 3 times and successfully returned home. -
First American EVA
During the mission of Gemini 4 Ed White was the first American to walk in space. -
Gemini 7 | Testing 0g Effects
frank Borman and Jim Lovell launched and stayed in Earth's orbit for 13 days, 18 hours, and 35 minutes to test the long term effects of 0g's on the human body. They were also assigned the mission of testing a missile tracking system from space. -
Gemini 6 | Rendezvous in Space
Thomas Stafford and Walter Shirra's mission on Gemini 6 was to launch soon after Gemini 7, rendezvous and dock with it in orbit, then come home safely as a practice run for doing rendezvous in the Moon's orbit. -
Astronauts that Never Made it to Space
Elliot See and Charles Basset were 2 Gemini pilots that died in a fatal plane crash due to their own pilot error when flying the NASA 901. -
The Tragedy of Apollo 1
The untimely death of Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Rodger Chaffe was caused by a stray wire sparking in the pure oxygen environment of the Apollo 1 capsule. A flash fire broke out as a reaction and the three astronauts were killed. -
Apollo 7
The first crewed Apollo mission and carried on the mission plan from Apollo 1. -
Apollo 8
The first ever spacecraft to leave low Earth orbit and orbit around the moon. It was also the first time anyone had seen an "earthrise" -
Apollo 9
The first time a Lunar Landing Training Vehicle was flown in orbit and not on Earth. -
Apollo 10
The first time a LLTV was tested and flown in the moon's orbit. However, it never landed. -
Apollo 11
Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin become the first ever humans to step on the moon. This reached JFK's goal of reaching the moon by the end of the decade.
