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Sputnik
The USSR launched the first ever man-made satellite to orbit Earth. This event shocked the US which had hoped to be the first to launch a satellite into Earth's orbit. -
The First Animal to Orbit Earth
The first Animal to successfully orbit earth was a dog named Laika on the USSR spacecraft Sputnik 2. -
The First US Satellite
The first satellite the US launched was the Explorer 1. -
Creation of NASA
Dwight D. Eisenhower presented a civilian run agency that would help the USA to catch up with the USSR to Congress. Congress approved of the plan and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) was officially opened for business on October 1st 1958. -
Ham the Chimp
Before the US sent man up into space they first tested their technology on Ham, a chimpanzee. The US wanted to see if their life supporting systems would work and if equipment could be operated during flight. The mission was successful and Ham lived for 22 more years after the mission. -
The First Man in Space
The first Man to ever be in space was Yuri Garnigan. He was sent by the USSR in a Vostok 1 spacecraft. He orbited Earth for an hour and 29 minutes before once again re-entering Earth's atmosphere and parachuting down to the ground. -
The Second Man in Space
Alan Shepard was the first American to be in space and second person to ever be in space.In the Mercury mission in the spacecraft Freedom 7 he completed a 15 minute suborbital flight. -
The Promise to get to the Moon
The then President of the US, John F. Kennedy, gave a speech before Congress with the goal of sending man to the moon and back to Earth alive before the 1970's. -
The First American to Orbit Earth
John Glenn was the first American to Orbit Earth in the Mercury-Atlas 6 mission aboard a spacecraft called Friendship 7. -
The First EVA
The first extra vehicular activity to be performed in space was done by Alexei Leonov. He was the first person to ever do a spacewalk. During the Vokshod 2 mission, he exited the spacecraft for 12 minutes and 9 seconds. -
Gemini III
Gemini three was the first crewed Gemini flight. Two astronauts, Virgil "Gus" Grissom and John Young, flew three orbits around Earth to demonstrate the qualifications needed for the spacecraft. This mission tested maneuvering in space which ended successfully. -
The first US EVA
The first EVA preformed by an American was Ed White on the second manned Gemini flight. On Gemini IV he was tethered to the spacecraft for 21 minutes. -
Gemini VII
Gemini 7 was manned by Frank Borman and James Lovell. The goal of this mission was to show how humans could survive in weightlessness for two weeks. This was a successful mission that wouldn't be surpassed until the 1970's. -
Gemini IX
Gemini 9 was a mission originally meant to rendezvous and dock with another spacecraft. Elliot See and Charles Basset were killed when the Northrop T-38 Talon failed to launch and crashed killing the two men in the process. -
Gemini VIII
Gemini eight, with Neil Armstrong and David Scott onboard, rendezvous (to meet up) and docked (joining) with the Agena Target Vehicle. This was successful but Gemini eight was out of control after undocking causing Armstrong to use Reentry Control System to safely land after 6 orbits of a 3 day mission. -
Apollo 10
The Apollo 10 mission consisted of Eugene Cernan, John Young, and Thomas Stafford and is known for being the "dress rehearsal" of the first moon landing in history as it had all aspects of landing on the moon except for the landing itself. -
Apollo 1
Crew members Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee were killed by a fire during a launch rehearsal. The Apollo 1 was originally meant to demonstrate performance and launch operations. -
Apollo 7
Apollo 7 was the first spacecraft to test the command and service module with a crew onboard (Walter Schirra Jr., Donn Eisele, and Walter Cunningham). The mission lasted 10 days and 20 hours, orbiting Earth 163 times. -
Apollo 8
The Apollo 8 mission was the first to send people to the moon and back. The crew members Frank Borman, Jim Lovell, and Bill Anders. -
Apollo 9
The Apollo 9 mission manned by James A. McDivitt, David R. Scott Russel L. Scheweikart was the first Apollo mission to test lunar hardware. -
Apollo 11
The Apollo 11 mission consisting of Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins, and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin was the first to successfully land on the moon.