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On January 31, 1958, Explorer 1 was the first satellite launched by the United States. https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/explorer/explorer-overview.html -
On October 4, 1957, Sputnik 1 was successfully launched and entered Earth's orbit. This launch shocked the world. 'Sputnik' originally meant 'fellow traveler', but has become synonymous with 'satellite' in modern Russian. https://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/image_feature_924.html -
The Soviet Union shocked the world on November 3, 1957 with their launch of Sputnik 2. Laika, a little dog, was the first animal to orbit around Earth. https://www.space.com/17764-laika-first-animals-in-space.html -
Yuri Gagarin was the first person to fly in space. His flight happened on April 12, 1961. He circled Earth for 108 minutes in the Soviet Union's Vostok spacecraft. https://www.space.com/16159-first-man-in-space.html -
Alan Shepard is the first American to be in space. He went into space on May 5, 1961. He was in a capsule that he named Freedom 7. For this flight, he didn't orbit the Earth, he flew for 116 miles. The flight lasted for only 15 and a half minutes. https://www.nasa.gov/audience/forstudents/k-4/stories/nasa-knows/who-was-alan-shepard-k4.html -
Gemini 1 was an uncrewed orbital test of the Titan 2 launch vehicle, the Gemini spacecraft structural integrity, and the launch vehicle-spacecraft compatibility. It was launched on April 8, 1964. https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1964-018A -
On January 27, 1967, an unfortunate tragedy happened when a flash fire started and killed 3 astronauts. These 3 were Virgil Grissom, Edward White and Roger Chaffee. https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/apollo/missions/apollo1.html -
Apollo 11 launched on July 16, 1969 and it launched from Cape Kennedy. This spacecraft was the first one to land on the moon. It carried Commander Neil Armstrong, Command Module Pilot Michael Collins, and Lunar Module Pilot Edward "Buzz" Aldrin. It was broadcasted to an estimated 650 million people. https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/apollo/missions/apollo11.html
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