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Sputnik 1
The USSR launches Sputnik 1 -
Sputnik 2
USSR launches Sputnik 2 into orbit that carried a small dog named Laika -
Explorer 1
First American satellite to reach orbit -
Explorer 2
Launched but fails to reach orbit -
Sputnik 3
Launched -
NASA
NASA is formed, replacing NACA -
Pioneer 1
Launched to 70,700 miles -
Luna 1
Launched by USSR, first man made object to orbit the sun -
Pioneer 4
launched by USA on a Earth-Moon trajectory. It passed within 37,000 miles of the Moon before falling into a solar orbit. -
Mercury Seven
astronauts are selected by NASA -
First Man in Space
Yuri Gagarin orbits the Earth once and becomes the first man in space. -
First American in Space
Alan B. Shepard becomes the first American in space -
Orbit Earth
John Glenn orbits the Earth three times. -
36 Hours in Space
L. Gordon Cooper spends 34 hours in space. He is the last American to fly in space alone. -
Ranger 7
transmits the first close range images of the Moon. -
First Spacewalk
Alexei Leonov spends 12 minutes outside of his Voskhod spacecraft performing the first spacewalk. -
Luna 9
the first spacecraft to soft-land on the Moon -
Apollo 1 Deaths
Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee are killed when a fire ignites in their Apollo 1 capsule while performing a test on the launch pad. -
Broadcast Heard Around the World
Frank Borman, James Lovell, and William Anders begin the first manned journey from the Earth to the Moon. On Christmas Eve they take turns reading Genesis in a broadcast heard around the world. -
First Man on the Moon
Neil Armstrong and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin become the first men to walk on the Moon while crewmate Michael Collins orbits around the Moon alone
