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first man-made object goes into space (Sputnik) remains in orbit for a year
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first weather satellite is launched into space by the US (Tiros 1)
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Soviet Luna 9 is the first spacecraft to soft-land on the moon
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Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin, Jr. are the first soft landing on the moon and have the first moon walk
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Apollo 18 & Soviet Soyuz 19 dock, & are the first international spacecraft rendezvous
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First U.S woman in space. Sally Ride, aboard Space shuttle challenger.
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Atlantis lands bringing back Shannon Lucid who became the longest astronaut in space as well as female astronaut in space.
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Lunar Prospector is the first NASA mission to the moon in 25 years since Apollo 14 in 1972
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Space Shuttle Endeavour carries off to Shuttle Radar Topography to get a 3D map of 80% of the world’s mass
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China sends their spacecraft Shenshou into space carrying a monkey, dog, and rabbit