-
Sputnik I
The Soviet Union launched Sputnik 1, which was the first human-made satellite to orbit the Earth. -
Laika
Laika the dog was the first animal to travel to space. Her trip was on Sputnik 2. Within 1 week of her launch, Laika died due to lack of oxygen. -
Vanguard 1
NASA launched the first solar-powered satellite, Vanguard 1, into orbit and it was a major victory for the United States in the space race. Nikita Khrushchev, the prime minister of the Soviet Union, despised him. In contrast, the Sputnik satellites fell out of orbit and would return to Earth in 1958, while Vanguard 1 remains the oldest artificial satellite in space. -
Score
NASA launched the first telecommunications satellite, the Score, into orbit. It was launched on the Atlas B type missile. -
Luna 2
The USSR launched Luna 2, which became the first terrestrial object to hit the Moon. Luna 1 became the first to approach the Lunar surroundings. -
Luna 3
The Soviet Union sent a new satellite, Luna 3, which took the first images of the far side of the Moon. -
Ham the chimpanzee
The first hominid to travel to space was Ham the chimpanzee, his flight lasted 16 minutes and 39 seconds and he was rescued in the Atlantic Ocean with a bruised nose. -
Vostok 1
The first man to go into space was Yuri Alekséyevich Gagarin, who traveled on Vostok 1. -
Vostok 6
On Vostok 6, Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman to travel to space on a mission that would last for 3 days and during which she completed 48 laps around the Earth. -
Voskhod 2
Alexei Arkhipovich Leonov was the first human to perform a spacewalk by staying outside the ship he shared with cosmonaut Pavel Belyayev for 12 minutes. -
Apolo 8
The first human-manned spaceflight to the Moon. It is also the first human spaceflight to enter the gravitational influence of another celestial body. This crew has been the first to see the dark side of the Moon, in addition to the Earth. -
Apolo 11
The arrival of the first man on the Moon was thanks to Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin aboard the Lunar Eagle module of the Apollo 11 mission. -
Pioneer 10
NASA's Pioneer 10 becomes the first space probe to reach Jupiter's orbit. -
Mariner 10
NASA sent the Mariner 10 probe, which was the first to fly over the planet Mercury. -
The end of the Cold War
The Soyuz and Apollo 18 spacecraft docked in Earth orbit. It was the first joint mission of the space agencies of the two countries.