-
Sputnik
The world's first artificial satellite that was successfully launched by the Soviet Union. Americans feared it meant that the Soviets had the capability to launch ballistic missiles that could carry Nuclear Weapons to the U.S.
https://history.nasa.gov/sputnik/ -
Laika The Space Dog
was a Soviet space dog who became one of the first animals in space. Laika was a stray dog from Moscow. She was the occupant of Sputnik 2. Laika died within hours from overheating. it was widely reported that she died when her oxygen ran out on day six or, as the Soviet government initially claimed, she was euthanized prior to oxygen depletion. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laika -
Explorer 1
Explorer 1 was the first satellite launched by the United States.Explorer 1 revolved around Earth in a looping orbit. Explorer 1 made its final transmission on May 23, 1958. on March 31, 1970, it entered Earth's atmosphere and burned up, after more than 58,000 orbits.
https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/explorer/explorer-overview.html -
Luna 1
Luna 1, also known as Mechta(Russian for Dream) was the first spacecraft to reach the vicinity of the Earth's Moon, and the first spacecraft to be placed in heliocentric orbit. intended as an impactor, however due to an incorrectly timed upper stage burn during its launch, it missed the Moon, in the process becoming the first spacecraft to leave geocentric orbit.The Moon was found to have no detectable magnetic field.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luna_1 -
Yuri Gagarin
On 12 April 1961, the Vostok 3KA-3 (Vostok 1) spacecraft with Gagarin aboard was launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome. Gagarin became both the first human to travel into space, and the first to orbit the Earth. A. On 27 March 1968, while on a routine training flight from Chkalovsky Air Base, he and flight instructor Vladimir Seryogin died in a MiG-15UTI crash near the town of Kirzhach https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yuri_Gagarin -
Alan Shepard
An American astronaut, naval aviator, test pilot, and businessman. In 1961 he became the first American to travel into space.Shepard was designated as the commander of the first manned Project Gemini mission, but was grounded in 1963 due to Ménière's disease, an inner-ear ailment that caused episodes of extreme dizziness and nausea. This was surgically corrected in 1969, and in 1971, Shepard commanded the Apollo 14 mission.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Shepard -
John Glenn
a United States Marine Corps aviator, engineer, astronaut, and United States Senator from Ohio. He became the first American to orbit the Earth, circling it three times.Glenn flew the Friendship 7 mission, becoming the first American to orbit the Earth, and the fifth person and third American in space.Glenn became the oldest person to fly in space as a crew member of the Discovery space shuttle. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Glenn -
Project Gemini, Space Walk
During the Gemini 4 mission on June 3, 1965, Ed White became the first American to conduct a spacewalk.The spacewalk took place on the third orbit when White opened the hatch and used the hand-held maneuvering oxygen-jet gun to push himself out of the capsule -
Apollo 1
The first manned mission of the United States Apollo program, which had as its ultimate goal a manned lunar landing.The low Earth orbital test of the Apollo Command/Service Module never made its target launch date of February 21, 1967.A cabin fire during a launch rehearsal test on January 27 at Cape Kennedy Air Force Station Launch Complex 34 killed all three crew members.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_1
