Early and Recent Space Exploration By ak18228 Oct 4, 1957 USSR's first artificial satellite (Sputnik 1) The first satilite to send radio signals form outerspace. Jan 31, 1958 USA's first artifical satellite (Explorer 1) Feb 20, 1962 USA’s first orbital flight with humans (Jhon Glenn) Jhon Glenn Jun 16, 1963 First women in space (USSR, Valentina Tereshkova) Valentina Tereshkova Feb 3, 1966 First soft landing on the moon (USSR, Luna 9) Jun 2, 1966 USA's first soft landing on the moon (Surveyor 1) Jul 21, 1969 First humans on the moon (USA) Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin.