August 21, 1957 First Intercon tinental Ballistic Missile October 4, 1957 First Artificial Satellite Nove mber 3, 1957 First Live Anima l in Space January 31, 1958 First American Satellite October 1, 1958 NASA is Born January 2, 1959 First Spacecraf t to Achieve Solar Orbit September 12, 1959 First Spacecraft to Impact on the Moon Octob er 4, 1959 First View of Moon 's Far Side April 1, 1960 First Weath er Satelli te

First Intercontinental Ballistic Missile The soviet union launches the first Intercontinental ballistic missile. This occurred on August 21, The missile was called the r-7 Semyorka. It traveled 3728 miles. The soviet union kept some parts of the ship to use for launching a satellite. The r-7 semyorka was also known as the icbm.

First Artificial Satellite On October the first artificial satellite was launched. It is called the sputnik. The people of the USSR beat the united states by creating it. It weighed 180 pounds and was the worlds first artificial satellite. It sent back signals to the earth for a short time and then was destroyed. This was a major accomplishment in history.

First Live animal in Space Due to the success of the Sputnik The Soviet union decides to create another sputnik. It was called the sputnik 2 and was launched on November The spacecraft had a dog named laika. It controlled the atmosphere, food supply, waste and sensors. Laika lived until the food supply ran out which was 8 days after the launch

First American satellite America launched its first satellite on January It was called the Explorer 1. It only weighed 30 pounds. It was launched into orbit by the army. IT was used to orbit a rocket. In the end of the mission radiation belts were discovered around the earth.

Nasa is Born On October NASA was born. NASA stands for National Aeronautics and Space Administration. NASA also took over the responsibilities of the National Advisory Committee on aeronautics. On your left is the NASA symbol. NASA is full of many intelligent astronauts and scientists. The founder of NASA is Dr. Smith

First Spacecraft to achieve solar orbit On January 2, 1959 the Russians launched a spacecraft called the Luna 1. It was sent to space to hit the moon. Due to the moons gravity the ship is moved and orbits the sun. IT was the first spacecraft to orbit the sun. On your left is the Luna 1. It was a great achievement even though it was by accident.

First Spacecraft to impact on the moon. Because the first try was unsuccessful the Russians create the Luna 2 and send it to space on September 12, It was successful and was the first spacecraft to hit the moon. Before they sent it to space they sterilized the spacecraft. This was because they did not want to contaminate the moon. On your left is the Luna 2. It is advanced in many ways than the Luna 1.

First View of Moons Far Side The Russians launch another Luna Ship. This picture on your right is the Luna 3. It was launched into space orbiting the moon and taking pictures of the far side of the moon. Only 70% of the far side of the moon was taken pictures of. On the bottom of the Luna is the camera and transmitters to send the pictures. Many pictures were sent to the Russians showing a rocky surface.

First Weather Satellite On April the Tiros 1 Satellite is launched by the United States. It was the first successful satellite. 2 Cameras were equipped to the satellite to view the clouds. It was only working for 78 days. This was very important because it proved that satellites could be used to view weather.