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First Satellite!
The space race begins! The Soviet union launched the very first artificial satellite Sputnik I. -
Sputnik 2
2nd satellite, Sputnik II, launches. Inside the spacecraft was an experimental dog named Laika. -
Explorer 1
The US launches Explorer 1. It was the first American satellite to reach orbit. -
NASA
The US forms NASA. NASA stands for
National Aeronautics and Space Administration. -
Pioneer 1
NASA launches Pioneer 1. It reaches a hight of 70,700 -
Astronauts are picked
NASA picked astronauts to go on the Mercury 7 mission. The astronauts were chosen based on the way they completed difficult tests. -
Tiros 1
NASA sends off Tiros 1. Tiros stands for Television Infrared Observation Satellite Program. Tiros 1 was the first working weather satellite. -
First man in space!
Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin becomes the first human to enter space and return safely. Gagarin was from Russia and went to space in the Vostok I spacecraft. He was only in space for a little under 2 hours. -
First American in space!
Alan B. Shepard becomes the first American to enter space. He was only in space for a little over 15 minutes. -
JFK speech
The 35th president, John F. Kennedy, gives a speech in Texas. He addressed congress and challenged Americans to be the first to make it to the moon. -
Friendship 7
NASA launches the Friendship 7. John Glenn, the pilot, was the first person to orbit earth, In fact he orbited 3 times. -
Apollo 1
Mission AS-204 later renamed Apollo 1 had an accident on the launch pad killing 3 astronauts. This created a delay for NASA. -
Vostok 6
The Vostok 6 was sent into space on June 16, 1963 by Russia. On board was cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova. She is known as the first woman in space. -
Moon landing
US wins the race to the moon beating the USSR by only a few weeks. "Buzz" Aldrin and Neil Armstrong are the first people ever to walk on the moon. The American Flag and the footprints they left are still there today. -
Skylab
NASA sends off there first experimental space station called the Skylab. The Skylab returned to earth, plunging into the Indian Ocean, on July 11,1979. -
Voyager 1
NASA launches Voyager I. It was launched as one of two spacecrafts sent to explore beyond the asteroid belt. Voyager I was issued to find out about the atmosphere of planets, map out the geography of the planets, and calculate the size, shape, and if there were any rings. -
Challenger explostion
A major explosion at the launching of the space shuttle Challenger occurred. The Challenger exploded 73 seconds after takeoff. It carried 7 crew members who all died in the accident. -
Mars pathfinder
NASA launches the Mars Pathfinder to try to discover what the surface of Mars looked like. The Pathfinder landed on Mars on July 4, 1997. -
Space Station
NASA launches first piece of the international space station. It was the first step of several to assemble an US station. -
Apollo 11
NASA launches Apollo 11. This launch would later go down in history as one of the most important days of space traveling history.
