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Monkey in Space!
A monkey named Yorick was launched in to space on this date. His predecessors had died during launch, so this made Yorick the first living monkey in space. When this monkey survived the flight into space, it gave people hope. Because the monkey survived, it proved that a living thing could survive at least a short time in space. -
Sputnik 1 launch
Sputnik was launched by the Russians in order to say "Haha, we're better than you!" to the Americans. Sputnik constantly beeped (annoying!) and traveled extremley fast. Sputnik was the first satellite to ever be launched, and it was very advanced. -
First Pooch in Space
The first dog that went into space was from Russia. Her name was Laika, and she died during flight because of stress and fright. -
First Successfuly Launched U.S. Satellite
This satellite was called Explorer 1, and was launched by the U.S. Army. It was launched about four months after the Russians launched their satellite, Sputnik 1. This event was very signifigant because it meant that the U.S. could send messages to other countries through their satellite in space. I t also meant that the U.S. was catching up to the Russians in the space race. -
NASA is founded
When NASA was founded, it was a large leap for the U.S. because it mean that the U.S. could start space travel and space studies. When NASA was founded, it gave people hope that they could be greater space engineers than Russia. -
First Man to Orbit Earth
The first man to orbit the Earth was a Russian man named Yuri Gagarin. He flew aboard the Vostok. After months and months of studying space, this event proved that humans can travel to space. Even though the Russians were the first ones to do this, it was a good time for the U.S. because this meant that it is possible for them to go into space too. -
First U.S. Man in Space
The first U.S. man in space flew aboard the Mercury 7. His name was Alan Shepard. When he was in space, he hit a few golf balls to experiment, because he was a golf player. This event meant that the U.S. was finally getting somewhere. Finally they had sent a human into space, and they were catching up to the Russians in the Space Race. -
First U.S. Man to Orbit Earth
The first U.S. man to orbit the Earth was John Glenn. He flew aboard the Friendship 7. This event meant that the U.S. was caught up with the Russians in the Space Race. -
First Woman in Space
This woman flew into space aboard the Vostok 6. Her name was Valentina Tereshkova. She was Russian. After going into space, Valentina married another astronaut who had been into space. In the past, women were not treated as men were. They were not paid the same amount, and were not able to vote. Women gained there rights around the 1920's, but even then they were still not treated equally. This event proved that women were just as good as men, and were able to do great things. -
First Space Walk
This Russian man did the first space walk when aboard the Voskhod 2. His name was Aleksei Leonov. This event proved that humans do not need a surface or any gravity to go into space. A space walk is going into mid-space and floating around. -
First U.S. Space Walk
About three months after the Russians had their first space walk, the U.S. sent Gemini 4 into space, holding Ed White. He was the first American man to do a space walk. This event proved that the U.S. was improving in their space studies. -
Gemini 7
The Gemini 7 was launched to conduct experiments in space. The trip lasted for 2 weeks, and the astronauts came back safely. This was a signifigant event in space history because it provided alot of information about space from the experiments conducted up there. -
Apollo 8
Apollo 8 was a spacecraft which orbited the mon. The people onboard were able to see the far side of the moon. But when returning to earth, the spacecraft had a splashdown, meaning it crashed into the ocean. All of the passengers onboard died in th incident. This event was a very tragic one, but much information was gained from it. The astronauts orbited the moon, so they were able to see all of the moon's surface, which gave much information about Earth's natural satellite. -
First Man on the Moon!
The first man to set foot on the moon was Neil Armstrong, who was closley followed by Buzz Aldrin. When Neil stepped onto the moon, he said "Thats one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." Just as Neil had said, this was a huge leap for mankind. The trip was very risky, for fear that the astronauts would be killed during the long flight.
