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USSR Launches Sputnik
The world's first artificial satellite was about the size of a beach ball. Took about 98 minutes to orbit the Earth on its elliptical path. -
USA Launches Explorer 1
First U.S. satellite and the first satellite to carry science instruments. Followed a looping flight path that orbited Earth once every 114 minutes. -
USA Launches Ham- A Chimpanzee on Mercury 2
HAM was the first chimp in space. Blasted off to an altitude of 157 miles during the Mercury-Redstone 2 mission. -
USSR Launches Yuri Gagarin- First human in space
His flight lasted just 108 minutes and he completed a single orbit around the planet. Marked a significant milestone in the Space Race with the United States and solidifying the USSR's lead in space exploration. -
USA Launches Alan Sheperd- First American in space
He piloted the Mercury spacecraft Freedom 7 on a 490-kilometer (300-mile), 15-minute suborbital flight. Second man in space. -
USSR Performs The First Spacewalk
Cosmonaut Aleksey Leonov rocketed into Earth orbit and exited his spacecraft. -
USA Performs the First American Spacewalk
The spacewalk started at 3:45 p.m. EDT on the third orbit when White opened the hatch and used the hand-held manuevering oxygen-jet gun to push himself out of the capsule. -
USSR Has the First Death During a Space Flight
Cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov was killed due to a parachute failure on his Soyuz 1 spacecraft during re-entry to Earth, making him the first person to die in spaceflight. -
USA Has the First Men to Walk on the Moon
American astronaut Neil Armstrong became the first person to walk on the Moon. He stepped out of the Apollo 11 lunar module and onto the Moon's surface, in an area called the 'Sea of Tranquility. ' -
USSR Launches Luna 3
The third spacecraft successfully launched to the Moon and the first to return images of the lunar far side.