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The first satellite was Sputnik 1 which involved the Soviet Union basically launching a metal ball into space -
The first animal to make an orbital spaceflight around the Earth was the dog Laika, aboard the Soviet spacecraft Sputnik 2 -
Explorer 1 was the first U.S. satellite and the first satellite to carry science instruments. Wernher von Braun and his Army Redstone Arsenal team began work on the Explorer project. -
President Eisenhower signed the National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958 into law on July 29, creating NASA. (NASA wasn't open for business until the second date mentioned) -
HAM was the first chimp in space as he blasted off to an altitude of 157 miles during the Mercury-Redstone 2 mission. He performed the tasks that he was trained to do and was found to be in good health after recovery from the flight, despite some fatigue and dehydration. -
Yuri Gagarin from the Soviet Union was the first human in space. -
astronaut Alan Shepard became the first American — and the second man — to travel in space when he launched a 15-minute, sub-orbital flight aboard NASA's Mercury spacecraft Freedom 7. -
this one is kinda in the name, JFK delivered a speech about the USA getting to the moon. -
Astronaut John Glenn relaxes aboard the USS Noa after being recovered from the Atlantic near Grand Turk Island after his historic Mercury flight. Glenn became the first American to orbit the Earth -
The first EVA was performed by Soviet cosmonaut Alexei Leonov, who spent 12 minutes and 9 seconds outside the Voskhod 2 spacecraft. -
The first person to go on a spacewalk was Russian cosmonaut Alexei Leonov followed by NASA astronaut Ed White on June 3, 1965 during the Gemini 4 mission.
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Gemini III (GT-3) was the first crewed Earth-orbiting spacecraft of the Gemini series. It was piloted by astronauts Virgil "Gus" Grissom and John Young, with the primary objective of demonstrating the crewed qualifications of the Gemini spacecraft including evaluation of the two-man Gemini design, the worldwide tracking network, the orbit attitude and maneuver system, the control of reentry flight path and landing point, spacecraft systems, and spacecraft recovery. -
Air Force pilots Jim McDivitt and Ed White were selected as the crew for the upcoming flight. Like John Young on Gemini III, they were members of the agency’s second group of astronauts. McDivitt went on to command Apollo 9, the first piloted test of the lunar module, and he later became manager of Lunar Landing Operations and Apollo Spacecraft Program manager. (from the 3rd-6th) -
Gemini V, carrying astronauts Gordon Cooper and Charles "Pete" Conrad was the third crewed Earth-orbiting spacecraft of the Gemini series. (went from August 21-29) -
See and Bassett died in a plane crash as they approached the runway at St. Louis' Lambert International Airport in marginal weather. Their T-38 Talon aircraft clipped the nearby McDonnell building where technicians were preparing the Gemini IX spacecraft for shipment to the launch site. -
Astronauts Gus Grissom (left), Ed White (middle), and Roger Chaffee (right), died during a flash fire inside the Apollo 1 crew capsule during a launch test rehearsal. -
Apollo 7 was launched from Cape Kennedy Air Force Station, Florida, and splashed down in the Atlantic Ocean eleven days later. Extensive testing of the CSM took place, and also the first live television broadcast from an American spacecraft. -
it was the first mission to take humans to the Moon and back. While the crew did not land on the Moon's surface, the flight was an important prelude to a lunar landing, testing the flight trajectory and operations getting there and back.
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Apollo 9 carried out a full test of the lunar landing mission in Earth orbit. Astronauts McDivitt and Schweickart tested the lunar module and rendezvoused and docked with the command and service modules piloted by Scott.
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When Apollo 10 launched it was the fifth launch of the Saturn V. The Apollo 10 (Spacecraft 106/Lunar Module 4/Saturn 505) space vehicle with crew members Eugene Cernan, John Young and Thomas Stafford
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Apollo 11 launched from Cape Kennedy, carrying Commander Neil Armstrong, Command Module Pilot Michael Collins and Lunar Module Pilot Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin into an initial Earth-orbit of 114 by 116 miles.