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First Satellite in Space by USSR
Sputnik 1 was the first satellite sent into space by the USSR. This event would kickstart the space race between Russia and the U.S. -
First Animal in Space
The first animal in space was a dog named Laika. She was sent up by the USSR to study how a human body would react to being sent into space. Sadly there were no plans to bring her back to earth and she lived for 4 days in orbit. -
First Satellite in Space by USA
The first satellite sent into space by the U.S was named Explorer 1 and was a direct answer back to Russia's Sputnik 1. This launch marked the beginning of the U.S Space Age. -
Creation of NASA
NASA, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration was created in response to the Soviet Union's launch of Sputnik 1. NASA is a civilian agency responsible for coordinating America's activity in space. -
First Animal in Space by USA
The first animal sent into space by the U.S was a chimp named Ham. Ham spent 18 months in training for the test flight of Project Mercury. He was sent into space to test the safety of space travel. -
First man in Space in Space by USSR
The first man in space was a Russian pilot and cosmonaut named Yuri Gagarin. He was launched into space inside of the Vostok 1 capsule and completed 1 orbit around Earth. -
First man in Space by USA
The first American man to be sent into space was astronaut Alan B. Shepard. He flew inside of the Freedom 7 capsule and was to do a suborbital flight and then come back down to Earth. Over 45 million Americans watched the launch of Freedom 7. -
JFK's Speech and Commitment to reaching the Moon
JFK looked beyond just putting someone or something in space. He wanted to go the distance. He said in his speech, "we choose to go to the moon." He wanted the U.S to commit themselves to landing a man on the moon before the decade is over. -
First Man to Orbit Earth by USA
The first American to orbit the Earth was astronaut John H. Glenn Jr. He orbited the Earth 3 times in a little less than 5 hours in the Friendship 7 capsule. He splashed down safely just Southeast of Bermuda. -
First Man to do an EVA by USSR
The first EVA was done by cosmonaut Alexei Leonov. Leonov launched into space inside the Voskhod 2 spacecraft. -
First man to do an EVA by USA
The first American to conduct an EVA was astronaut Ed White. The spacewalk started on the third orbit of the Gemini 4 mission. -
Week Long Getaway
The main mission of the Gemini missions was to test an astronaut's ability to fly long duration flights. With that being said, Gemini 5 was, at the time, the longest time spent in space at about a week. While in space they ran multiple tests involving rendezvousing with another space craft. -
The First Space Rendezvous
The first rendezvous was between Gemini 6A and Gemini 7. Gemini 6A came within one foot of Gemini 7 and remained there for 5 hours and 19 minutes. The original plan had Gemini 6 dock with the Agena target, but the Agena exploded on launch and Gemini 6 was almost cancelled entirely. -
Tragedy of Gemini 9
On February 28, 1966, Command pilot Elliot See and pilot Charles Bassett are tragically killed in a crash while test flying a T-38 jet trainer. See was 38 and was a married father of two girls. Bassett was 34 and left behind a wife, daughter, and son. -
The First Docking in Space
The Gemini 8 mission was the first docking in space. The crew consisted of Neil A. Armstrong and David R. Scott. The backup crew was Mercury Veteran Charles “Pete” Conrad and rookie Richard F. Gordon. They successfully docked with the Agena target but were forced to abort the mission early after a system failure that could've killed all the astronauts on board. -
Tragedy of Apollo 1
The Apollo 1 mission never flew. A training exercise gone wrong took the lives of all three astronauts, including Gus Grissom, who became the second man to go in space, and Ed White, the first American to do an EVA. A cabin fire was the cause of death of all three astronauts. Command Pilot Gus Grissom, senior Pilot Ed White, and pilot Roger B. Chaffee all passed on January 27. The command module was also destroyed in the fire.