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USSR's First Satellite in Space
Sputnik 1 was the first artificial Earth satellite. It launched into an elliptical low earth orbit, orbiting for 3 weeks before batteries died, silently continuing for 2 more months before falling back into the atmosphere. -
USSR's First Animal in Space
Laika was a Soviet space dog who became one of the first animals in space, and the first animal to orbit the Earth. -
First satellite in space by USA
The first successful U.S. satellite, Explorer I, launched into Earth's orbit by the Army, at Cape Canaveral, Florida, four months after Russia orbited Sputnik. -
Creation of NASA
Eisenhower signed the National Aeronautics and Space Act, establishing NASA. -
First animal in space by USA
Ham was a chimpanzee and the first hominid launched into space, as part of the U.S. space program's Project Mercury. -
First man in space/First man to orbit Earth by USSR
Yuri Gagarin was the first person to fly in space. His flight, on April lasted 108 minutes as he circled the Earth for a little more than one orbit in the Soviet Union's Vostok spacecraft.
He also became the first man to orbit the planet, a feat accomplished by his space capsule in 89 minutes. -
First man in space by USA
NASA astronaut Alan Shepard blasted off in a Freedom 7 capsule atop a Mercury-Redstone rocket to become the first American in space. -
JFK's Commitment to getting to the Moon
Kennedy began a dramatic expansion of the U.S. space program and committed the nation to the ambitious goal of landing a man on the Moon by the end of the decade. -
First man to orbit Earth by USA
Glenn flew the Friendship 7 mission, becoming the first American to orbit the Earth -
First man to do an EVA by USSR
The first EVA was performed by Soviet cosmonaut Alexei Leonov, who spent 12 minutes and 9 seconds outside the Voskhod 2 spacecraft. -
First man to do an EVA by USA
Ed White became the first American astronaut to walk in space during his Gemini IV spacewalk, AKA extravehicular activity (EVA).
