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USSR launches Sputnik-1. The first man-made object to orbit the Earth.
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Soviets sent the first man into space, Yuri Gagarin.
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John Glenn was the first man to orbit the Earth in space - Friendship 7.
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Americans Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin, the first men to walk on the moon.
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US Apollo 15 and Skylab, first missions to use moon rovers to drive across the moons surface.
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US launches Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 to explore the outer solar system. It transmitted data back to the Deep Space Network.
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The US launch the first space shuttle Columbia.
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Sally Ride was the first American woman to take part in a orbital mission.
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Christa McAuliffe was the First Educator involved in a orbital mission. She was taking part in the NASA Teacher in Space Project and was to be the first teacher in space. The Challenger broke apart 73 seconds after launch, all seven crew members died.
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Soviet Union launches space station, Mir, where astronauts spend living in tight quarters and conducting research. It was the first modular space station.
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The Hubble Space telescope is launched by the US to record information about our solar system and the universe.
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Spirit Rover lands and explores the surface of Mars. Three weeks later it's twin, Opportunity, lands on the other side of the planet.
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Voyager 1 reaches the edge of the solar system. It took 33 years going 38,000 mph. It will most likely be the first probe to leave the solar system.