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The Soviet Union launched the first satellite, Sputnik, into space.
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The Soviet spacecraft Sputnik 2 was launched with a dog named Laika on board. Laika did not survive the voyage.
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Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first human in space.
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Valentina Nikolayeva Tereshkova became the first woman in space.
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July 20 - Neil Armstrong and "Buzz" Aldrin became the first men on the moon.
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First moon sample brought to Earth
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The U.S. launched its first space station, Skylab.
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First Venus Samples
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The Space Shuttle Discovery deployed the Hubble Space Telescope.
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First mission to jupiter
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First landing on an astroid.
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NASA launched the largest-diameter infrared telescope ever in space, the Spitzer Space Telescope.
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The first orbit of Mercury was made.
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First manmade probe to land on a comet
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First spacecraft to pass beyond all Solar System planets