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The Soviet Satellite "Sputnik 1" is the first object sent into space and to successfully orbit the Earth.
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The first United States satellite to orbit the Earth - Explorer 1 - is launched.
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NASA (Nation Aeronautics and Space Administration) is formed.
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Russian citizen, Yuri Gagarin, is the first human in space. (he orbits the Earth)
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Alan Shepard is the first United States citizen to go into space.
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The first American space shuttle in launched. This marks the use of the first "re-usable" space craft.
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John Glenn is the first United States citizen to orbit the Earth.
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Apollo 11 crew member Neil Armstrong is the first man to walk on the moon. His fellow Apollo astronaut crew member Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin is right behinde him , becoming the second man to walk on the moon.
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The space suttle Challenger explodes shortly after take-off.
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Human habitation in the International Space Station begins.