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On October 4, 1957, the U.S.S.R. launched the very first satellite, Sputnik 1 into orbit. This marked the start of the space race between the U.S.A. and U.S.S.R. -
On July 29, 1958, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the National Aeronautics and space act. This act established N.A.S.A. -
On January 31, 1961, Ham the space chimp was launched into space at Cape Canaveral, his flight lasted around 16 mins before returning to earth safely, this marked the first animal in space. -
On July 12, 1961, Yuri Gagarin of the soviet union was launched into space in the Vostok 1 spacecraft, this marked the first time that a human was launched in space, this was a huge point in the space race. -
On July 14-15, 1965, The Mariner 4 spacecraft with U.S.A. and U.S.S.R. completed the first flyby of mars after 228 days away from earth. -
On July 20, 1969, The Apollo 11 space mission landed on the moon and the first steps on the moon were made by Neil Armstrong, This was a huge turning point in the space race. -
On April 19, 1971, The U.S.S.R. launched the first ever space station Salyut. It was designed for a 6 month orbit, and held 3 astronauts. after this launch 6 more Salyut stations in coming years would be launched. -
On July 15, 1975, An Apollo spacecraft launched a crew of 3 into orbit 2 days later they docked with the Soyuz spaceship crew of 2 soviets. This was named the Apollo-Soyuz Test project