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The USSR launches the first man-made object to orbit the Earth, Sputnik 1, which orbits the planet until January 4, 1958.
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NASA is founded
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The USSR launches the first man-made satellite to orbit the moon, Luna 1.
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The US launches the first succesful weather satellite, Tiros 1.
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The US Ranger 7 makes the first close-range pictures of the moon.
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Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin, Jr. make the first landing on the moon using Apollo 11.
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Apollo 13 is launched, suffering an explosion of its oxygen tanks. The mission to the moon is aborted, and the crew is returned safely.
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Columbia, the first manned mission of the Space Transportation System, is launched.
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Challenger, the space shuttle, lifts off for its first space mission and has the first American space walk in nine years.
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Atlantis, a space shuttle deploying the spacecraft Magellan, is launched.
