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The Soviet Unin launched of Sputnik 1
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Explorer 1, the first American satellite to reach orbit, is launched. It carried scientific equipment that lead to the discovery of the Van Allen radiation belt.
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The Soviet Union launched Sputnik 3
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Pioneer 4 is launched on a Earth-Moon trajectory. It passed within 37,000 miles of the Moon before falling into a solar orbit.
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Luna 1 is launched by the USSR. It is the first man made object to orbit the Sun.
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The US launches Discoverer XIV, its first camera equipped spy satellite
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Yuri Gagarin orbits the Earth once and becomes the first man in space
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Alan B. Shepard, becomes the first American in space.
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L. Gordon Cooper spends 34 hours in space. He is the last American to fly in space alone.
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Cosmonaut Valentia Tereshkova becomes the first woman in space for the Soviet Union
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Ed White performs America's first spacewalk. Jim McDivitt remains in the Gemini capsule.
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Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee are killed when a fire ignites in their Apollo 1 capsule while performing a test on the launch pad
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The crew of Apollo 7 begin a 10 day mission to study the new spacecraft.
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Neil Armstrong and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin become the first men to walk on the Moon while crewmate Michael Collins orbits around the Moon alone.
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apollo's 17 return from the moon
