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first man made object to orbit the earth
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First ma made satillite to orbit the moon
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The first U.S astronut in space
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the first woman in space and orbits the Earth 48 times
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The first space walk is made from Soviet Voskhod 2 by Cosmonaut Alexei A. Leonov. Duration is 12 minutes.
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Venera 4 sends a descent capsule into the Venusian atmosphere, returning data about its composition.
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Mariner 6 returns high-resolution images of the Martian surface, concentrating on the equatorial region.
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Salyut 1 space station is launched by the U.S.S.R. It remains in orbit until May 28, 1973.
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American Mariner 10 is launched, on the first dual-planet mission.
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American Apollo (18) and Soviet Soyuz 19 dock, the first international spacecraft rendezvous
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Soviet Salyut 6 space station is launched. Its crews include members from Czechoslovakia, Poland, GDR, Bulgaria, Hungary, Vietnam, Cuba, Mongolia, and Romania.
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Pioneer 11 reaches Saturn, flying to within 13,000 miles and taking the first close-up photographs.
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The ESA launches a fourth Ariane rocket.
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The space shuttle Challenger lifts off for its first mission (STS-6) and has the first American space walk in nine years. Crew: Paul Weitz, Karol Bobko, Donald Peterson, and Story Musgrave.
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The Sakigake probe is launched by Japan's Institute of Space and Aeronautical Science, becoming the first interplanetary probe as it rendezvous with Halley's Comet.
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Supernova 1987A blazes into view.
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Space Shuttle Atlantis is launched (STS-30), deploying the spacecraft Magellan.
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Salyut 7 falls from orbit and burns up over Argentina.
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Space Shuttle Endeavour launches on STS-61, making the first on-orbit service of the Hubble Space Telescope.
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Space Shuttle Atlantis lifts off on mission STS-74, making the second docking with Russian space station Mir. It delivers two solar arrays, and a docking module for future Shuttle dockings.
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After 25 years of operation, routine telemetry and ground control with Pioneer 10 is terminated. The probe at that moment is 6.7 billion miles from Earth, traveling at 28,000 miles per hour. In two million years, it will reach the red giant Aldeberan in the constellation of Taurus.
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Space Shuttle Columbia lifts off, carrying the Chandra X-Ray Observatory into orbit.
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Deep Space 1 successfully completes its flyby of comet 19P/Borrelly.