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Lily Sabas - Space Race Timeline

By lsabas0000

  • First Animal in Space by the USA

    First Animal in Space by the USA
    Launching from White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico, the V-2 rocket carried fruit flies. This rocket was part of a research mission. Fruit flies are considered the first animals ever to reach the final frontier.

  • First Satellite in Space by The USSR

    First Satellite in Space by The USSR
    The Soviet Union launched Sputnik I. It was about the size of a beach ball and took about 98 minutes to orbit Earth on its elliptical path.

  • First Animal in Space by the USSR

    First Animal in Space by the USSR
    The Soviet Union launched Laika the dog in Sputnik 2. Animals like Laika were used to test the safety of launching living beings into space. It is believed that Laika lived for either a few hours or a few days before her life support system gave out.

  • First Satellite in Space by the USA

    First Satellite in Space by the USA
    The United States orbited the Explorer 1. This was the start of the Space Race of the Cold War.

  • Creation of NASA

    Creation of NASA
    The National Aeronautics and Space Administration was created in response to the launch of Sputnik I. The U.S. Congress passed legislation for NASA to be a civilian agency responsible for coordinating America's activities in space.

  • First Man in Space and First Man to Orbit Earth by the USSR

    First Man in Space and First Man to Orbit Earth by the USSR
    Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin, a Soviet cosmonaut aboard the Vostok 1 spacecraft, was the first man to orbit the planet. This was a big leap for the Soviet Union and a defeat for the U.S.

  • First Man in Space by the USA

    First Man in Space by the USA
    Alan Shepard, aboard the Freedom 7 capsule, was the first man for the United States to be in space. The flight lasted about 15 minutes with an altitude of 116 miles, and was proof that NASA could send humans in space.

  • First Man to Orbit Earth by the USA

    First Man to Orbit Earth by the USA
    John Glenn, aboard the Friendship 7 capsule, became the first American man to orbit Earth. The flight took 4 hours, 55 minutes, and 23 seconds. This event reestablished the United States in the Space Race.

  • JFK's Moon Speech

    JFK's Moon Speech
    President John F. Kennedy gave a speech at Rice University in Houston, Texas about reaching the moon. He had stated in his speech that the U.S. would land astronauts on the moon by the end of the decade.

  • First Man to Perform an EVA by the USSR

    First Man to Perform an EVA by the USSR
    Alexei Leonov, aboard the Voskhod 2, was the first person the exit his spacecraft to perform a extravehicular activity. The duration of his spacewalk was 12 minutes and 9 seconds.

  • First Man to Perform an EVA by the USA

    First Man to Perform an EVA by the USA
    Ed White was on the Gemini 4 mission when he performed the first EVA for America. The EVA started over the Pacific Ocean near Hawaii and last about 23 minutes.

  • Gemini 6A and 7 World's First Rendezvous

    Gemini 6A and 7 World's First Rendezvous
    Frank Borman and Jim Lovell are aboard Gemini 7, already on the longest mission to study the effects of long term weightlessness. Walter Schirra and Tom Stafford meet Gemini 7 to rendezvous for 270 minutes at 17,000 miles per hour.

  • Gemini 8 Docking in Space

    Gemini 8 Docking in Space
    Aboard the Gemini 8 spacecraft were Neil Armstrong and Dave Scott. They had docked with an unmanned Agena target vehicle.

  • Gemini 9 Attempt at Longest Spacewalk

    Gemini 9 Attempt at Longest Spacewalk
    The Gemini 9 mission with Gene Cernan and Tom Stafford had the objective of attempting the longest spacewalk. This mission failed as Gene Cernan went to test the jetpack and struggled due to the vacuum of space. This caused his visor to fog up which interfered with his vision.

  • Apollo 1 Incident

    Apollo 1 Incident
    During preparations for the Apollo 1 mission, a flash fire had broken out in a simulated launch. Due to asphyxiation, Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee had died.

  • Apollo 7 Launch

    Apollo 7 Launch
    Aboard Apollo 7 were crew members Donn Eisele, Walter Schirra, and Walter Cunningham. Their mission was known for the first crewed Apollo Command and Service Module mission, first live TV downlink, and first three person American crew.

  • Apollo 8 Launch

    Apollo 8 Launch
    Manned by Frank Borman, James Lovell, and William Anders, Apollo 8 launched from Cape Kennedy. The three men were known as the first humans to see the moon's far side.

  • Apollo 9 Launch

    Apollo 9 Launch
    Launching from Kennedy Space Center, James McDivitt, David Scott, and Russell Schweickart manned the Apollo 9 spacecraft. On this mission, they were known for the first crewed throttling of an engine in space which increased the spacecraft's orbit to 130 by 300 miles.

  • Apollo 10

    Apollo 10
    Manned by Thomas Stafford, John Young, and Eugene Cernan, the Apollo 10 mission was known for the first live color TV transmissions to Earth.

  • Apollo 11 Launch

    Apollo 11 Launch
    The Apollo 11 mission is known as the first manned mission to land on the moon. The crew included Neil Armstrong, Edwin Aldrin, and Michael Collins.