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Soviets launch Sputnik 1
The Soviet Union launched a satellite into space starting the space race where America wanted to be the first to put a man in space. -
NASA is created
NASA, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration was created to control and organize space operations -
Best boy Ham
America launched its first live creature into space, a small monkey named Ham. Unlike Latika, the soviet dog, Ham came back alive and lived the rest of his days an American hero -
First man into space
Yuri Gagarin was the first man launched into space by the soviets. He orbited the earth on April 12 of 1961. This changed the United States goal to land a man on the moon. -
Mariner 4
The Mariner 4 mission, the second of two Mars flyby attempts launched in 1964 by NASA, was one of the great early successes of the agency, and indeed the Space Age, returning the very first photos of another planet from deep space -
Americans land on the moon
Neil Armstrong's first step onto the Moon on July 20, 1969, the space flight, the lunar landing, and the crew's safe return to earth were seen as epochal events, worthy of intense media coverage, international celebration, and careful social analysis. -
Soviets put a space station in space
On April 19, 1971, the Soviet Union launched the world's first space station, Salyut (“Salute”). Six improved Salyuts were launched during the next ten years. The Salyuts were designed to make human presence in space routine and continuous -
Americans and Commies work together??
The U.S. spacecraft Apollo 18 and the Soviet spacecraft Soyuz 19 rendezvous and dock in space. As the hatch was opened between the two vessels, commanders Thomas P. Stafford and Aleksei Leonov shook hands and exchanged gifts in celebration of the first such meeting between the two Cold War adversaries in space.