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The Soviet Union launched Sputnik I into orbit. Sputnik was about 2 feet in diameter and had four radio antennas for radio broadcast pulses. Sputnik lost contact on the 26th of October. It later decayed away on the 4th of January in 1958.
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The United States launches Explorer 1 into orbit. It carried equipment that lead to the discovery of the Van Allen radiation belt. The satellite's last contact date was May 23rd in 1958. It later decayed on March 31st in 1970.
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The United States launches our first satellite with a camera. It was ejected from a space vehicle and recovered in midair.
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The Soviet Union launched Yuri Gagarin in a Vostok spacecraft. His time in space was 1 hour and 48 minutes.
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Sent by the USSR, Alexei becomes the first man to go into actual space itself. He went out and took a 12 minutes spacewalk.
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The United States sent Neil Armstrong, Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin and Michael Collins to land on the moon. Armston and Aldrin walked on the moon while Collins orbited around the moon alone.
