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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.