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Sputnik 1 Was Launched.
On October 4, 1957 Sputnik 1 was launched from the Soviate Union. It was the first official satalite, Sputnik 1 was about the size of a beach ball (58 cm in diameter). It weighed only 83.6 kg and took 98 minutes to orbit around the earth on it's elliticle path. -
First Dog in Space
The first dog is space was a mixed breed dog named Laika. She was sent from Soviate to go into space where she died. She died of heat overpstration. -
Explorer 1 Lanched
In response to the Soviate Union's Sputnik 1 America launched the Explorer 1. The Explorer 1 weighed 30.66 pounds and took 114.9 minutes to orbit around 1,575 miles! -
Soviate Lanches Luna 2.
The Soviate saw that America had launched a satalite to space as well then they had made a plan to "one up" them again. So on September 12, 1959 the Soviate Union launched Luna 2 as the first space probe to hit the moon. -
Chimpanzee Lanched into Space.
On January 31, 1961 a "Ham The Chimp" or "The Astrochimp" was launched into space by America. The first chimpanzee sent to space. His name, Ham, is actually and acronym the lab had given to him that means "the Holloman Aerospace Medical Center. When Ham was sent up to space he did not surive, but that did not make the NASA give up! -
Vostok 1 and the First Man in Space.
On April 12, 1961 Yuri Gagarin was the first human being to orbit around earth. In just 108 minutes he had traveled around the earth in a his own spacecraft called the Vostok 1. -
First American In Space.
On May 5th of the year 1961 the first American went to space. His name was John Glenn. He was the first American to orbit the earth. In just 4 hours 55 minutes and 23 seconds he had orbited around the entire earth. -
First Man to Step Foot On the Moon
"One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." Neil Armstrong says as he steps onto the moon. The first man to step foot on the moon was Neil Armstrong on July 20, 1969. Before becoming an astronaught he was an officer in the U.S. Navy in the Korean War. -
First Space Station
The first space station was a russian space station called the Salyut 1. It was launched April 19, 1971. This was launched by the Soviate Union. America was not done and soon later made a Space Staion of their own. -
First Satalite to Orbit Another Planet.
The first satalite to orbit another planet was from the US. It was called the Mariner 9. It was the very first in respomse to the Soviate Unions space shuttle.