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Sputnik
The first manmade satellite sent by Russia to orbit Earth. -
Period: to
The Space Race
This string of events leading from the first man made satellite to the first footstep on the moon. -
Foundation of NASA
The evolution from NACA (The National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics) to NASA (The National Aeronautics and Space Administration) led to many technological and scientific benchmarks. Building sophisticated and dependable spacecraft, capable of taking men to the moon and returning to Earth was only one of their many achievements. -
TIROS- 1
This was the first weather satellite to orbit Earth and was made by the U.S. -
Vostok 1
This Russian spacecraft took the first man into space (Yuri Gagarin), orbited the earth once, and landed. -
Freedom 7
The first Americans went to space in this craft. -
Friendship 7
John Glenn became the first American to orbit Earth. -
Gemini 3
"Gus" Grissom was on the first manned flight of the Gemini Project. -
Gemini 4
Edward White did the first EVA /spacewalk by an American. -
Gemini 8
Neil Armstrong and David Scott performed the first orbital docking of a spacecraft to a target vehicle. -
Apollo 1
"Gus" Grissom, Edward White, and Roger Chaffee were killed during a launch simulation in the spacecraft, on the launch pad. -
Apollo 7
This spacecraft, sent by the U.S., was meant to carry out the requirements Apollo 1 was intended to accomplish. The mission was an 11- day Earth- orbital test flight, using a new crew. -
Apollo 11
This craft landed Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin on the moon. This was the first landing on the moon. Micheal Collins orbited in Command Module (CM). -
Apollo 13
The U.S. sent out a third spacecraft to attept a lunar landing. This event had the first American emergency during a flight. Luckily, no astronauts were harmed. -
Apollo 15
The U.S. put the first lunar rover on the moon. -
Apollo 17
This was the final Apollo mission (Apollos 18,19, & 20 were reassigned to Skylab missions). -
Columbia
Columbia was the first space shuttle launched. -
First American Woman in Space
Sally Ride was the first American woman in space. -
First Woman to Walk in Space
Kathryn Sullivan was the first American woman to walk in space. -
The Challenger Disaster
The Challenger exploded in midair, killing all seven people of the crew. -
The Hubble Telescope
The Hubble Space Telescope was deployed in space by the U.S. space shuttle "Discovery." -
The Hubble Repair
The space shuttle, Atlantis, and seven astronauts took off to fix the Hubble telescope. -
The End of Discovery
Discovery landed at the Kennedy Space Center, completing its 39th and last trip. In 2012, Discovery was ferried to its resting place of the Washington D.C. Smithsonian Institution. -
Atlantis brings NASA's Shuttle Program to an End
The space shuttle, Atlantis, came back home from a 13- day cargo run to the International Space Station (ISS) and ended NASA's shuttle program.
