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Sputnik I - First satellite in space by USSR
launched by the Soviet Union; the U.S. was upset that they were not the first to make this move; it burned up when reentering Earth's atmosphere 3 months later -
First animal in space by USSR
Laika - a Moscow street dog, was aboard the Soviet spacecraft Sputnik 2. She died in orbit after a few hours and no plans to return her to Earth. -
First satellite in space by USA
Explorer 1 - was the first satellite to carry science instruments; it stopped transmitting on May 23, 1958; and remained orbiting until March 31, 1970, then burned up in Earth's atmosphere. -
Creation of NASA
In order to focus U.S. technological research, Congress and the President create a new federal agency. -
First animal in space by USA
Ham the Chimp was the first great ape launched into space. Ham flew a suborbital flight on the Mercury-Redstone 2 mission, part of the U.S. space program's Project Mercury. -
First man in space by USSR
Yuri Gagarin - was in the Vostok 1 that circled Earth at a speed of 27,400 kilometers per hour with the flight lasting 108 minutes. On re-entry, he was ejected from a parachute rather than landing in a capsule. -
First man in space by USA
Alan Shepard - he launched a 15-minute, sub-orbital flight aboard NASA's Mercury spacecraft Freedom 7. Everything went pretty smoothly. He was the first person from the US and the second person to enter space. -
JFK's speech and commitment to getting to the moon
Kennedy went in front of Congress and suggested that the U.S. "should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth. " -
First man to orbit Earth by USA
John Glenn was the first american to orbit Earth. He was also a part of Mercury 7 - which was NASA's first astronaut training class. -
Gemini 3
Gemini 3 was the first manned mission in the Gemini Project. It was the first time two American astronauts flew together into space. -
First man to do an EVA by USSR
Soviet cosmonaut Alexei Leonov. He became the first person to conduct a spacewalk, exiting the capsule during the Voskhod 2 mission for 12 minutes and 9 seconds. -
Gemini IV
Gemini IV is when the first EVA or spacewalk happened by an American astronaut, Edward White. -
First man to do an EVA by USA
Ed White was the first American man to do an EVA. He did this during the mission of Gemini 4. -
Gemini V
Gemini V - was the first week-long flight and exceeded the longest human spaceflight record, beating the Soviet Union by 5 days. -
Tragedy 1 leading to the moon
On the Gemini 9, command pilot Elliot See and pilot Charles Bassett were killed in a crash while flying a T-38 jet trainer to the McDonnell Aircraft plant in St. Louis, Missouri to inspect their spacecraft. -
Tragedy 2 leading towards the moon
A fire engulfed the Apollo 1 Command Module during a launch rehearsal test. Astronauts Gus Grissom (left), Ed White (middle), and Roger Chaffee (right), died on January 27th, 1967 -
Apollo 7
After a total of 163 orbits and a flight of 10 days 20 hours, the crew landed in the Atlantic Ocean near Bermuda. Despite the fact that all three crewmembers had head colds for most of their time in orbit, the flight was considered a complete success, achieving virtually all of its objectives. -
Apollo 8
The first human spaceflight to reach the moon. The crew orbited the Moon ten times without landing and then departed safely back to Earth. -
Apollo 9
Apollo 9 was the third human spaceflight in NASA's Apollo program; tested the LM in lunar orbit – while Apollo 9 was in orbit, NASA rolled out the Saturn V rocket for that mission, Apollo 10, planned to fly in May. -
Apollo 10
Apollo 10 - was the 4th human spaceflight in the U.S.'s Apollo program and the 2nd to orbit the Moon. Called a "dress-rehearsal" for the moon landing. -
Apollo 11
Apollo 11 - the most iconic and known. This was the spaceflight that got the first humans on the moon. "Commander Neil Armstrong and Lunar Module Pilot Buzz Aldrin landed the Apollo Lunar Module Eagle on July 20, 1969"