Sputnik 1
Sputnik 1, launched by the USSR, was the world's first artificial satellite. It was launched into orbit on October 4, 1957. The Sputnik was manufactured and operated by the team OKB-1. Its mission was to study the Earth's atmosphere. It took this satellite about 98 minutes to orbit the planet. The mission lasted 3 months, Sputnik brought down on January 4.
Laika
On November 3, 1957, the dog Laika became first living organism from Earth to enter space. She was aboard the Soviet Union's Sputnik 2, orbiting the Earth. Laika was actually once a stray dog, found on the streets of Moscow, with the original name of Kudryavka. Unfortunately, Laika died within hours after the launch, inside the spacecraft, due to overheating and low oxygen. After 162 days of orbit, Sputnik 2 decayed and returned to the Earth's atmosphere on April 14, 1958.
Yuri Gagarin
Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, aboard the Soviet Union's Vostok 1, became the first man to go into space. He orbited the Earth once and the mission lasted 1 hour and 48 minutes. The spacecraft was launched on April 12, 1961. Yuri Gagarin was the single man crew for the Vostok 1, the probe being designed for just one cosmonaut. By entering a code into the system, the spacecraft would automatically control itself.
Alan Shepard
The honor of being the first American astronaut to enter the frontier of space was given to Alan Shepard on May 5, 1961. He flying aboard the Freedom 7. Although Shepard didn't orbit the Earth like Gagarin, he manually controlled the spacecraft, and was the first human to do so. The mission lasted only 15 minutes and 22 seconds. One of the objectives was to view and examine the ground from high up.
Neil Armstrong
Astronaut Neil Armstrong was the first human to ever step foot on the moon. He was aboard the US spacecraft Apollo 11, with along crew members Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins. Apollo 11 was launched and landed on the moon on July 20, 1969. After searching the lunar environment, at 2:56 am., Armstrong and Buzz became the first people from Earth to walk on the moon. They spent approximately 3 hours outside the craft, studying the unknown, collecting celestial substances like moon rocks, and searching for...who knows what. Collins orbited the moon in the spacecraft, investigating the moon for...anything curious? The mission ended on July 24, when the crew returned to Earth.
