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Soviets Launch Sputnik I
The U.S.S.R launched the first satalite to space on Oct 4th 1957. This was a huge achievement for the U.S.S.R. They named it Sputnik after the Russian word "fellow travler." In January of 1958 the satalite burned up because of the atmosphere. -
NASA is Created
In July of 1958 the U.S. government passed the civilian agency N.A.S.A which would be in control of America's space activities. -
HAM!!!
On January 31st 1961, America launched the first animal to sucessfully make it to space and back. It was a chimpanzee named Ham. He travled approximately 5800 mph and launched 157 miles above earth. He experienced 6.5 minutes of weightlessness before coming back down and landing 130 miles from the target in the water. -
Yuri Gagarin
The first man is space was Soviet Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin. On April 12th 1961 he boarded the spacecraft Vostok 1 and became the first human to travel into space. -
Mariner 4
On this day an unmanned spacecraft by the name of "Mariner 4" passed over Mars sending the first ever close up pictures of Mars back to earth. These photos dismissed suspicions that there might be life on Mars. -
Americans land on the Moon
American astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin became the first ever humans to land on the moon. This was a huge acheivement for the U.S. as it brought us a huge lead in front of the U.S.S.R in space developments at the time. After travling for 76 hours they landed into orbit on July 19th before stepping foot on the moon the next day. -
First Space Station was Launched
The U.S.S.R placed Salyut into orbit and it became the worlds first space station. The space station was designed to last 6 months in orbit. The crew that went set a 24 day mission record. Sadly the crew died due to sudden depressurization. Over the decades the Soviets improved their design after the succession of the Apollo 11 mission in 1969. In responce to that misson the Soviets deveoloped the first civilian space station. -
U.S. and U.S.S.R joint mission
The U.S. and the U.S.S.R projected the first international human spaceflight called the Apollo-Soyuz Project. On july 15th the Apollo spacecraft launched carrying a crew of three and then two days later the Soviet spacecraft launched a crew of two in the Soyuz ship. During the mission the crew combined to conduct experiments and even heald a news confrence. This event ended the Space Race and brought both sides to a period of peace. Thus ending on a note of international cooperation.