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Period: to
The Space Race
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First man in space.
Russia puts cosmonaut Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin in space. -
First American in space.
First American, Alan Shepard, was launched in his Freedom 7 capsule on a Redstone rocket in a sub-orbital flight that lasted less than 20 minutes. -
First day-long space flight.
Vostok 2 is launched by the Soviets, carrying Cosmonaut Gherman Titov. -
First American in orbit.
Mercury Friendship 7 lifts off with John H. Glenn, Jr., the first American in orbit. -
America orbits the Earth three times.
Mercury Aurora 7 is launched with M. Scott Carpenter, making three orbits. -
U.S. enters a solar orbit.
U.S. Mariner 2, the first successful planetary spacecraft, flies past Venus, and enters a solar orbit.