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Sputnik 1 was launched by the USSR into orbit on October 4th, 1957 and was the first man made sattelite to reach space. It made one revolution around Earth every 90 minutes.
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Laika was a female dog and was the first ever animal in space. She was launched into space on Sputnik 2, but was believed to have died after liftoff due to high stress and G-force. It was nicknamed "Muttnik" by the Americans due to the animal onboard.
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Explorer 1 was the first American-made sattelite to reach space and orbit Earth.
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The Vanguard 1 was the USA's first satellite to reach orbit around Earth and continued to function for three years.
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NASA, which stands for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration was founded and replaced NACA, which stands for the National Advisory Comitee on Aeronautics.
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Luna 1 (USSR) was the first man made object to orbit the Sun.
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On November 8th, 1960, president John F. Kennedy was elected for US president. He challenges the USA to beat the USSR in the Space Race.
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The Vostok 1 carried Yuri Gagarin, a soviet astronaut into space. He was the first human ever to reach space.
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John Glenn was the first American to orbit Earth in space. He orbited Earth three times.
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Valentina Tereshkova, USSR, was the first ever woman in space.
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Ranger 7 (USA) got the first close range pictures of Mars.
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Alexei Leonov, USSR, was the first human to perform a spacewalk. He stayed a total of 12 minutes outside of his spacecraft.
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Venus 3 (USSR Spacecraft) is launched. It was the first man made object to reach Venus.
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Luna 9 (USSR) becomes the first spacecraft to soft-land on the Moon.
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Luna 10 becomes the first satellite to orbit the Moon.
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During a test on the launchpad, a fire killed three Apollo astronauts were killed.
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Soyuz 1 was a manned spacecraft holding Vladimir Komarov. It was the first of the Soyuz series. Upon its return to Earth, technical problems caused its crash and the death of Komarov. It was the first fatal space flight.
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Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin of the USA were the first men on the moon.
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The USSR launched Salyut 1, which was the first orbiting space station.
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Skylab was America's first space station. The first three crews arrived 11 days later and stayed 28 days to make some necessary repairs.