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Sputnik I
was the first artificial satellite to be put into Earth's orbit by the USSR. Put them ahead in the space race. -
Period: to
Space Race
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Explorer I
The 1st American satellite to reach orbit, was launched. It carried scientific equipment that lead to the discovery of the Van Allen radiation belt. -
Luna I
Luna 1 was launched by the USSR. It is the first man made object to orbit the Sun. -
first man in space
Yuri Gagarin orbits the Earth once and becomes the first man in space. Was a hero of the Soviets and advanced them forward past the U.S. -
1st American in space
Alan B. Shepard becomes the second person and first American in space. -
Cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova
Cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova becomes the first woman in space. -
first spacewalk
Alexei Leonov spends 12 minutes outside of his Voskhod spacecraft performing the first spacewalk. -
Lunar 10
Becomes the first satellite to orbit the Moon. -
Lunar Orbiter I
Enters orbit around the Moon and takes the first picture of the Earth from that distance. -
Gemini 12
The last flight of the Gemini Program, launches with James Lovell and Buzz Aldrin aboard. -
Soyuz I
Soyuz 1 was manned by Vladimir Komarov. It was the first of the Soyuz series. On its return back to Earth, technical problems caused a crash and the death of Vladimir. -
Apollo 8
Apollo 8 was the first manned spacecraft to orbit the moon. It was a three man crew containing Frank Borman, James Lovell, and William Anders. The mission took three days and took 10 orbits in 20 hours. -
Apollo 10
Was launched, and was the fourth manned mission in the American Apollo space program. Apollo 10 set the record for the highest speed attained by a manned vehicle at 39,897 km/h. -
Apollo 11
Apollo 11 was the first flight that took men to the moon and was accomplished by the United States. The U.S. had beat the Soviets to the moon -
Apollo 17's return
was the eleventh and final manned mission in the American Apollo space program.
