Tag Archives: Space Race

Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, the first human in space, prepares for his historic space flight on April 12, 1961.
1961: The Dawn of Human Spaceflight – Gagarin and Shepard’s Historic Missions

Yuri Gagarin and Alan Shepard pioneered human spaceflight in 1961, marking the start of an era of space exploration celebrated annually on Yuri’s Night

A replica of Sputnik 1, the world's first artificial space satellite, on display at the National Air and Space Museum of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC. The metallic sphere has a diameter of approximately 23 inches (58 centimeters), with antennae extending out about 112 inches (9 feet; 285 centimeters).
1957: Sputnik – The Satellite that Kickstarted the Space Age

Sputnik's launch by the Soviet Union in 1957, led by Sergei Korolev, ignited the Space Age and spurred significant advancements in space exploration and technology