|
|
Space Pioneers
|
Sputnik I |
The first rocket to reach space was a two-stage rocket called Project Bumper. It was launched on February 24th, 1949 and reached a height of 244 miles above Earth The first man-made satellite to reach outer space was Sputnik I, launched by the Soviet Union on October 4th, 1957. The real reason for the launch of the Sputnik I was merely to test the capabilities of the Soviet technology and also as propaganda for the Soviets. The first animal in space was a Soviet dog, carried there by the Sputnik II in November of 1957. |
| The first American object to enter space was the Atlas rocket. It was the second attempt to reach space after the first American rocket, the Vanguard, exploded before entering space in early December of 1957. The Atlas rocket reached Earth's orbit on December 17th, 1957. It was not until January 31st, 1958 that an American satellite was launched. The Americans launched a Mercury rocket with a chimpanzee named Ham aboard in Janurary of 1961. On September 12th, 1959, the Soviets launched the Luna 2, which was the first man-made object to hit the moon when it crashed there two days later. The first American in space was Alan Shepard on May 5th, 1961. He went up in a Mercury ship called the Freedom 7, as it was the seventh Mercury ship. But the Soviets had already beaten the Americans into space. On April 12th, 1961, Yuri Gagarin flew the Vostok 1 to become the first person to escape the gravity of Earth. John Glenn became the first person to complete a full orbit of the Earth when he piloted the Friendship 7 capsule on February 20th, 1962. The first woman in space was a Soviet named Valentina Tereshkova. She flew the Vostok 6 on June 16th, 1963. On the fourth day of June in 1965, Edward White preformed the first space walk ever. |
John Glenn during his orbit |
|
The launch of the Apollo 11 rocket |
The first man ever to walk on the Moon was Neil Armstrong. He landed there on July 20th, beating the Soviet Union. |
