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First Artificial Satelite
The Soviet Union launches Sputnik 1. It was beach ball size, and weighed 184 pounds. -
First Animal in Orbit
Less than a month later, the Sputnik 1 sent the first animal in space. It was a dog named Laika -
First Successful American Satellite
The Explorer 1, was the first American attempt to compete with the Sputnik 1. It blew up on the launch pad, and orbited 1,560 miles. -
NASA signed into law
President Lyndon B. Johnson, signed for NASA to assume many of the duties of the pre-existing National Advisory Committee on Aeronautics. -
First Human in Space
The Soviet Union launched the first man in space. His name was Yuri A. Garagin. -
First American in Space
Determined to be #1, the US launches astronaut Alan Shepard on a 15- minute subortibal flight. -
First American in orbit
John H. Glenn, an astronaut, orbits the Earth 3 times in nearly 5 hours. -
First Spacewalk
Russian cosmonaut Alexei Leonov exits his Voskhod 2 capsule for a 12-minute spacewalk. -
First US Space Tragedy
As the U.S. is gearing up for its three-man Apollo moon missions, a fire breaks out in a routine ground test. Astronauts Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee are killed, as the blaze, ignited by faulty wiring, spreads with incredible speed in the Apollo 1 module's 100-percent-oxygen atmosphere. -
First Manned Moon landing
The lunar module of Apollo 11, nicknamed the Eagle, touches down on the moon, with 30 seconds' worth of fuel to spare. Neil Armstrong and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin, Jr., descend to the surface.
