Sarah's Space Project
Spaceman
I always wanted you to go into space, man...
On Oct. 4, 1957, the Soviets launched the first artificial satellite,
Sputnik 1, into space. Four years later on April 12, 1961, Russian Lt.
Yuri Gagarin became the first human to orbit Earth in Vostok 1. His
flight lasted 108 minutes, and Gagarin reached an altitude of 327
kilometers (about 202 miles).
The first U.S. satellite, Explorer 1, went into orbit on Jan. 31, 1958.
In 1961, Alan Shepard became the first American to fly into space. On
Feb. 20, 1962, John Glenn’s historic flight made him the first American
to orbit Earth.