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First artificial Earth satellite
On this day in history, the first ever satellite was launched into space by the Soviet Union. This is what sparked the space race to happen and why we invested into space travel and exploration. -
The first spacecraft to land on the moon
Though the spacecraft known as the Luna 2 did not contain any humans, it did serve a purpose. The Soviets launched in to both one up America but also to detect if there was a magnetic field around the moon. -
First applications satellite launched
America finally something in the space race and they launched a satellite into space for the sole purpose of being a weather observation called TIROS 1 -
First human to orbit Earth
The Soviet Union was the first country to launch a human into space and have them orbit the Earth, however they simply orbited instead of going to another planet. The mans name was Yuri Gagarin, he was the first human to ever be in space. -
First woman in space
Valentina Tereshkova was the first woman in space on the Vostok 6. The Soviet Union had one again successfully launched a human being into space. -
First death during a space mission
Though the Soviet Union had successfully launched two people into space as well as a dog, there was bound to be an accident eventually. Vladimir Komarov died during his mission with the Soyuz 1. -
First humans to orbit the moon
Frank Borman, James Lovell, and William Anders were the first humans to orbit the moon on Apollo 8. It was here that they took loads of pictures of the moon and its craters as well as the famous "Earthrise" photo. -
Earthrise picture
The crew on the Apollo 8 took the picture that is famously known as, "The Earthrise" -
First human to walk on the moon
Neil Armstrong was the first man to walk on the moon. This meant the end of the space race with the Soviet Union and achieving something you can only do once in your lifetime. -
First space station launched
The Soviets weren't done with space after losing the space race. The Soviets launched the first space station into orbit, the stations name was Salyut 1. -
First spacecraft to land on Mars
The Soviets were actually the first to land something on mars, the Mars 3. The primary purpose of the spacecraft was to take pictures of its surface and return meteorlogical data to Earth.