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Sputnik 1 (First Satellite by USSR)
The first satellite in space by the USSR. It orbited for 3 weeks then ran out of batteries and then floated for 2 months before falling back down to Earth. -
Laika (First Animal in Space by USSR)
Sputnik 2 carried a stray dog named Kudryavka (Curly) into space. Kudryavka was later known to the world as Laika (Barker). -
Explorer 1 (First Satellite in Space by the U.S.)
Explorer 1 was the first Satellite sent into space by the U.S. It was part of the U.S. participation in the International Geophysical Year. The mission followed the first 2 satellites the previous year, Sputnik 1 and 2. -
The Creation of NASA
The U.S. Congress passes legislation establishing the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). This is a civilian agency responsible for coordinating America's activities in space. NASA was created in response to the Soviet Union's Sputnik 1 launch. -
Ham (First Chimp in Space by the U.S.)
Ham, also known as Ham the Chimp and Ham the Astrochimp, was a chimpanzee and the first non-human animal launched into space. Ham flew a suborbital flight on the Mercury-Redstone 2 mission, part of the U.S. space program's Project Mercury. -
Cosmonaut Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin (First man in space and orbit by USSR)
On the spacecraft Vostok 1, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin becomes the first human being to travel into space. During the flight, the 27-year-old test pilot and industrial technician also became the first man to orbit the planet. -
Alan Shepard Jr. (First Man in Space by the U.S.)
NASA astronaut Alan Shepard Jr. became the first American in space. -
JFK's Speech and Commitment to getting to the Moon.
"For the eyes of the world now look into space, to the moon and to the planets beyond, and we have vowed that we shall not see it governed by a hostile flag of conquest, but by a banner of freedom and peace," the president told 40,000 people in Rice's football stadium that day. "We have vowed that we shall not see space filled with weapons of mass destruction, but with instruments of knowledge and understanding." -
John Herschel Glenn Jr. (First Man in Orbit by the U.S.)
John Herschel Glenn Jr. is successfully launched into space on the Friendship 7 spacecraft on the first orbital flight by an American astronaut. -
Cosmonaut Alexei Leonov (First man to do an EVA by the USSR)
The first EVA was performed by Soviet cosmonaut Alexei Leonov, who spent 12 minutes and 9 seconds outside the Voskhod 2 spacecraft. -
Ed White (First man to do an EVA by the U.S.)
During the Gemini 4 mission Ed White became the first American to conduct a spacewalk. -
Gemini 6A and 7
These were the first Gemini missions to meet up in space. -
Gemini 8
The first space mission to dock with another unmanned space craft. -
Gemini 11
This mission flew higher than any other NASA mission. -
Failed Apollo 1 Mission
Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee lost their lives in a fire during a ground test. -
Apollo 7
The first crewed spaceflight. -
Apollo 11
This was the first mission to land on the moon.
