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Sputnik 1
Sputnik 1 was the first artificial astellite that the Soviet Union launched. Sputnik weighed about 184 pounds and circled the earth beeping radio signals. The Soviets launching Sputnik 1 started the Space Race between the United States and the Soviet Union.
teacher.scholastic.com
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Period: to
1957 - 1967
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Explorer 1
The U.S. launched the first satellite with an onboard telementry system, Explorer 1, into orbit aboard a Juno rocket and later reurned data from space. Before launching Explorer 1, the U.S. had two failed launch attempts while the Soviets launched Sputnik 2 with the first animal, a dog, into orbit.
www.pbs.org
www.pbs.org -
NASA
The U.S. created NASA which replaced the National Advisory Commitee for Aeronautics (NACA). President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed an act that created NASA in 1958. The signing was referred to as a [sic] history step, according to the president at that time, and further epuipped the U.S. for leadership in the space age.
www.history.com
www.history.com -
Luna 3
Luna 3 was launched exactly 2 years after Stutnik. It performed a flyby and photographed most of the moon's far side. 29 images total were taken by Luna 3 capturing the first ever shots of the far side of the moon.
www.pbs.org -
Vostok 1
On Vostok 1 Yuri Gargarin became the first man in space making the Soviet Union ahead in the Space Race. The craft's controls were locked in case space flight made Gargarin begave strangely. Toward the end of its orbit, Gargarin's craft started spinning out of control. Gargarin later confirmed the near- accident which was hidden from the world for decades.
teacher.scholastic.com
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President John F. Kennedy
President John F. Kennedy publicly announced and vowed before congress that before the decade was out an American will be landed on the moon and we will return him safely to Earth.
www.space.com -
Friendship 7
John Glenn, aboard Friendship 7, was the first American to orbit the Earth. John Glenn orbited the Earth three times in only 4 hours and 56 minutes. In 1998 John Glenn became the oldest person to fly in space, at the age of seventy- seven.
www.airspacemag.com
www.pbs.org -
Vostok 6
The Soviets launched Valentina Tereshkova aboard Vostok 6 on June 16, 1963. She spent three days alone in space. Three miles was how close Valentina's spacecraft came to Valeri Bykovskyy in Vostok 5. That was the first time two spacecrafts have passed that closed together while in orbit.
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Voskhod 2
Alexey Leonoov, a Soviet cosmonaut, made the first spacewalk from the Voskhod 2 orbiter. He took a ten-minute tethered exercise outside of Voskhod 2. Alexey beat out American rival, Ed White on Gemini 4, by almost 3 months in making the spacewalk history.
www.airspacemag.com
www.pbs.org -
Venera 4
Venera 4 transmitted data about the atmosphere of Venus. It was the first probe to transmit data from the atmosphere of another planet. Designed to withstand high tempatures, pressures, and acccelerations, the probe studied the atmosphere of Venus even down to the surface.
nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov
