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1610- The first spotting of the moon through a telescope by Galileo Galilei
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1929-Hermann Oberth launches first personal rocket with students
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1933-Soviet Union launches first rocket of there own
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1946-First research flight launched by the U.S. captured by the V-2 space rocket
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1947-First animals launched into space (fruit flies) by the U.S.
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1957-First animal launched into orbit, dog named Laika launched by USSR and did not return alive
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October 4, 1957 - Sputnik 1, the first man-made object to orbit the Earth, is launched by the U.S.S.R., and remains in orbit until January 4, 1958.
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January 31, 1958 - Explorer 1, the first U.S. satellite in orbit, lifts off at Cape Canaveral using a modified ABMA-JPL Jupiter-C rocket. It carries a scientific experiment of James A. Van Allen, and discovers the Earth's radiation belt.
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February 3, 1966 - Soviet Luna 9 is the first spacecraft to soft-land on the moon.
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October 18, 1967 - Venera 4 sends a descent capsule into the Venusian atmosphere, returning data about its composition.
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November 17, 1970 - Luna 17 lands on the moon, with the first automatic robot, Lunokhod 1. Driven by a five-man team on earth, traveled over surface for 11 days.
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May 17, 1974 - NASA launches the first Synchronous Meteorological Satellite, SMS-1.
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December, 1978 - Two Pioneer spacecraft reach Venus. One drops four probes into the atmosphere, while the other maps the surface.
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September 1, 1979 - Pioneer 11 reaches Saturn, flying to within 13,000 miles and taking the first close-up photographs.
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August, 1982 - Voyager 2 completes its flyby of Saturn.
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August 30, 1984 - The third space shuttle, Discovery, lifts off on it's maiden voyage (STS-41D). Crew: Henry W. Hartsfield, Michael L. Coats, Richard Mullane, Steven Hawley, Judith A. Resnik, and Charles D. Walker.
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April 29, 1985 - The Challenger carries the ESA Spacelab-3 into orbit (STS-51B)
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March, 1986 - Spacecraft from the U.S.S.R, Japan, and Western Europe fly by Halley's Comet on it's 30th recorded appearance.
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December 5, 2001 - Space Shuttle Endeavour is launched carrying the Raffaello logistics module back to the ISS with new supplies.
