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Following the first successful missile and the first artificial satellite, the Soviet Union decided that it was time to send a dog to orbit. Laika, the cosmonaut dog, was found as a stray on the streets of Moscow. She was sent to orbit aboard Sputnik 2, the second spacecraft launched into Earth's orbit, and the first to carry a living animal. Laika died (a painless death) due to oxygen deprivation after only a few hours in orbit. She was a hero who opened many doors for future space exploration. -
Following the first communications satellite and first weather satellite from the U.S. (NASA), the first ever photograph of the Earth from orbit was taken by Explorer 6. This photograph shows a sunlit area of the Central Pacific Ocean and its cloud coverage. While this photo does not show much by today's standards, this was a depiction of our planet that we had never seen before. This image was sent back to a station in Hawaii from over 17000 miles above Mexico and took about 40 minutes to send. -
Discoverer 13 was the first satellite successfully recovered intact from orbit. The satellite was launched on August 10th, 1960, and completed 17 successful orbits before the reentry capsule landed in the Pacific Ocean roughly 200 kilometers north-west of Honolulu, Hawaii. The capsule was recovered by the United States Navy on August 11th, 1960 via helicopter and was transported back to their ship. The payload, an American flag, was then presented to President Dwight Eisenhower four days later. -
The first manned space mission was completed by the Soviets on April 12, 1961. A man by the name of Yuri Gagarin, a peasant farmer's son, boarded the Vostok 3KA space capsule and was sent into outer space. He successfully made a single orbit of the Earth and then parachuted back to Earth's surface, all in 108 minutes. The capsule was no bigger than 8 feet in diameter, and Gagarin had no control over the capsule's path. The mission, known as Vostok I, was the first manned spaceflight in history. -
Konstantin Petrovich Feoktistov wrote this flight plan/checklist for the first man in space (Gagarin) to follow certain procedures during launch, in orbit, and during descent. Feoktistov was a cosmonaut and space engineer that flew on Vostok I, which was also the first spacecraft to carry three crew members. Feoktistov wrote numerous books on space exploration and technology, and has a crater named after him on the dark side of the moon (The Feoktistov Crater). -
Following Gagarin being recognized as the first human to orbit the Earth, John Glenn (American) flew aboard the "Friendship 7" spacecraft in 1962 and became the first American to orbit the Earth. The space suit shown on the left is the one that was worn by Gagarin, and the one on the right was worn by Glenn. They both consisted of a nylon oversuit and were well insulated and pressurized. These designs were adopted from high-altitude pressure suits worn by aircraft pilots at the time. -
Luna 9 was the twelfth attempt at a soft-landing by the Soviet Union. This was an uncrewed space mission by the Soviets as part of their 'Luna programme.' Luna 9, also known as Lunik 9, was the first to achieve a soft landing on the Moon's surface and successfully transmit photographs back to Earth. The lander weighed roughly 218 pounds, and consisted of four petals that opened out. This was our first proof that landing on the Moon would not result in sinking into the lunar dust of the surface. -
Apollo I was the first mission of the Apollo program, with the goal to land the first man on the moon. A cabin fire during a launch rehearsal test at Cape Kennedy Air Force Station killed all three crew members. NASA was unprepared for a fire to occur on the ground, and in order to maintain their public image, they waited over two hours to report the deaths of the crew. When they did report the deaths, the information was inaccurate, which tarnished the credibility of the entire mission. -
Apollo 11 was launched from Cape Kennedy on July 16, 1969, carrying Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins, and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin. These men became known as the first humans to walk on the Moon. Roughly 650 million people watched Armstrong's broadcast and heard him describe his event as he took "one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." During this mission, we transmitted the first color TV video from space to Earth. Armstrong and Aldrin spent 21 hours and 36 minutes on the Moon's surface. -
Soyuz 19 was the first manned international space mission that was carried out collectively by the Soviet Union and the United States. The two rivals collaborated to design a docking module that allowed spacecraft from each to join in space. Millions of people around the world watched on television as a United States Apollo module docked with a Soviet Union Soyuz capsule. Until now, every capsule that carried humans and was ever sent to space was either Soviet/Russian or American. -
