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The Space Race begins
After WII there was a race to see who could get to space first. It was a battle between capitalist United States and the communist Soviet Union to prove to one another that the one was better than the other by showing off their technology, political/economic, and military firepower. -
The first satellite was launched
The Soviet Union launched the first satellite labeled Sputnik 1 -
Sputnik 2
In less than a month, the Soviet Union launched Sputnik 2 which contained Laika, a stray dog providing the Soviet Union with important biological data -
Explorer 1
Shortly after the launch of Sputnik 2, the US launched Explorer 1 it provides key discoveries for many things including the Van Allen radiation belt. -
Vostok 1
When the Vostok took off it carried Yuri Gagarin, the first man to ever orbit the Earth and was a huge success for the Soviet Union. -
Mercury-Redstone 3
The United States trailing the Soviet Union with launching its own man, Alan Shepard into space, though he didn't enter Earth's orbit he was still the first American to be successful in spaceflight -
Apollo 11 Moon Landing.
The US were the first to reach the moon that included Michael Collins, who remained in the Commander Module, while Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong were the first two men on the moon.