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The rocket technology in turn enabled both sides to develop Earth-orbiting satellites for communications, and gathering weather data and intelligence. [11] Americans were shocked when the Soviet Union placed the first satellite into orbit in October 1957, leading to a growing fear that the US was falling into a "missile gap".
Project Mercury was the first human spaceflight program of the United States, running from 1958 through 1963. Its goal was to put a person into Earth orbit and return them safely, ideally before the Soviet Union. John Glenn became the first American to orbit the Earth on February 20, 1962, aboard the Mercury-Atlas 6. [57]
Earth: Sputnik 1: First satellite in orbit. [5] USSR 4 October 1957 Earth: Sputnik 2: First animal in orbit, Laika, a dog. USSR 3 November 1957 Earth: Vanguard 1: Oldest satellite still in orbit, in addition to its upper launch stage. Expected to stay in orbit 240 years. Ceased transmission in May 1964. USA 17 March 1958 Earth: Pioneer 1
Yuri Gagarin was the first human in space and the first in Earth orbit, on Vostok 1. 17 July 1962 or 19 July 1963 Either Robert M. White or Joseph A. Walker (depending on the definition of the space border ) was the first to pilot a spaceplane , the North American X-15 , on 17 July 1962 (White) or 19 July 1963 (Walker).
1963 - The USSR launches Vostok 6, Valentina Tereshkova was the first woman (and first civilian) in space and to orbit Earth. She remained in space for nearly three days and orbited the Earth 48 times. 1963 - US X-15 rocket-plane, the first reusable crewed spacecraft (suborbital) reaches space, pioneering reusability, carried launch and glide ...
The core stage then separated while the rocket was in a suborbital trajectory, and the upper stage carried it to orbit. Once the upper stage finished firing, it separated from the spacecraft, which orbited for 108 minutes before returning to Earth in Kazakhstan. [49] Gagarin became the first human to orbit the Earth. [50]
Rocket malfunction caused the spacecraft to get stranded in low Earth orbit. [4] November 18 US: Ranger 2: Atlas-Agena: Moon Failure: Booster rocket malfunction caused spacecraft to be trapped in low Earth orbit. [5] 1962 January 26 US: Ranger 3: Atlas-Agena: Moon Failure: NASA's first attempt to land a spacecraft on the Moon.
Spaceflight (or space flight) is an application of astronautics to fly objects, usually spacecraft, into or through outer space, either with or without humans on board.Most spaceflight is uncrewed and conducted mainly with spacecraft such as satellites in orbit around Earth, but also includes space probes for flights beyond Earth orbit.