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Sputnik 1 was the first artificial satellite put into the earth's orbit. It began the "space race" between America and the Soviet Union.
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The first animal in space was put there by the Russians. Her name was Laika. Laika died shortly after being in space from overheating and stress. The Russians knew there wasn't a way to get Laika back, but they just wanted to beat the US so they did it quickly.
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Explorer 1 was the first American satellite put into the earth's orbit. It was the first of 90 Explorer spacecrafts. It was the first to record the Van Allen radiation belt.
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The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) was formed by the US to control space missions and launches.
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The first man in space was Yurgi Gagarin. He orbited the earth for 108 minutes. He was raised from a Senior Lieutenant to a Major during his flight.
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The first American in space was Alan Shepard. He traveled for 15 minutes and didn't even orbit. He was taken out of the game when he got an ear problem, but then had surgery and went back in for Apollo 14 where he hit a golf ball.
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The first woman in space was Valentina Tereshkova. She was chosen out of 400 people to fly in the Vostok 6 spacecraft for the Soviet Union.
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The first man to walk in space was Aleksei Leonov. He only had 45 minutes of oxygen and walked for 12 minutes.
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The first American to walk in space was Ed White. He was in space for 23 minutes on the Gemini 4 spacecraft.
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Sent by the Russians, Luna 9 was the first spacecraft to have a soft luna landing. It took pictures of the moon.
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Apollo 1 was the first manned Apollo flight. Sadly, during a routine test run, all three pilots were killed by a fire in the capsule. They burned for 17 seconds and died from suffocation.
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First manned launch to use the Saturn V Rocket. It went to within 70 miles of the lunar surface, orbited for a while and then returned.
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The crew was Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins, and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin. Neil and Buzz were the first American men to step foot on the moon's surface. They took very famous pictures, and Neil's famous quote was, "One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."
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The crew was James Lovell, Ken Mattingly, and Fred Haise. This mission was a fail. The men barely made it back after an oxygen tank exploded. Apollo 13 was intended to land on the moon.
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Apollo 17 was the 11th and final manned Apollo mission to the moon. Its crew was Eugene Cernan, Ronald Evavns, and Harrison Schmitt.
