Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum

69 facts cite this source

Space Space Exploration

The First Person to Sleep in Space

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Technology Computing & AI

Your phone dwarfs the computer that landed Apollo 11

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Technology Transportation

A jet engine works by squeezing air, setting it on fire, and shoving it backward

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Space Space Exploration

Alan Shepard becomes the first American in space

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Space Space Exploration

Alan Shepard tees off on the Moon

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Technology Transportation

Amelia Earhart becomes the first woman to fly the Atlantic solo

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History Modern

Amelia Earhart vanished over the Pacific Ocean

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Space Space Exploration

Apollo 11 launched on its way to the Moon

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Space Space Exploration

Apollo 13 launched toward the Moon before its near-fatal accident

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Space Space Exploration

Apollo 13's oxygen tank exploded, prompting 'Houston, we've had a problem'

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Space Space Exploration

Apollo 17's crew shot the Blue Marble, Earth's most famous portrait

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Space Space Exploration

Apollo 7 launched, restoring crewed American spaceflight

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Space Space Exploration

Apollo 8 launched, carrying the first humans to the Moon

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Space Space Exploration

Apollo 9 gave the lunar module its first crewed test

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Technology Transportation

Charles Lindbergh lands in Paris, conquering the Atlantic alone

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Technology Transportation

Charles Lindbergh takes off on the first solo nonstop transatlantic flight

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Technology Transportation

Chuck Yeager first broke the sound barrier

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Technology Transportation

Concorde made its first test flight

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Technology Transportation

Concorde crossed the Atlantic in under three hours

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Space Space Exploration

Ed White became the first American to walk in space

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Space Space Exploration

Eugene Cernan became the last human to walk on the Moon

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Technology Transportation

First aircraft landing on a ship

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Technology Transportation

First manned balloon flight in the Americas

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Space Space Exploration

Gemini 4 began America's first long-duration spaceflight

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Space Space Exploration

Germany's V-2 rocket reached space on its first successful flight

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Space Space Exploration

Joseph Kittinger leapt from the edge of space

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Space Solar System

Jupiter is so massive the Sun doesn't actually orbit its own center

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Technology Transportation

Louis Bleriot made the first airplane flight across the English Channel

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Space Space Exploration

Monkeys Able and Baker become the first to survive a spaceflight and return alive

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Space Space Exploration

NASA launched the final Space Shuttle mission

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Space Space Exploration

NASA launched the Mars Pathfinder mission

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Space Space Exploration

Neil Armstrong took the first human steps on the Moon

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Space Space Exploration

President Kennedy commits the US to landing a man on the Moon

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Space Space Exploration

Robert Goddard launched the first liquid-fueled rocket

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Space Space Exploration

Sally Ride became the first American woman in space

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Space Space Exploration

A shuttle takes flight bolted to a jumbo jet's back

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Space Space Exploration

SpaceShipOne made the first private crewed spaceflight

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Technology Transportation

The SR-71's speed record has stood since 1976

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Language & Communication Media & Communication

Telstar, the first communications satellite, launched

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Technology Transportation

The airship Hindenburg bursts into flames at Lakehurst, New Jersey

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Space Space Exploration

The Apollo 1 fire kills three astronauts

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Technology Transportation

The first flight around the world landed back in Seattle

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Technology Transportation

The first crewed transatlantic balloon flight succeeded

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Technology Transportation

The first licensed female pilot earned her wings

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Technology Inventions

The first recorded parachute jump took place

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Space Space Exploration

The first Saturn V thundered off the pad on Apollo 4

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Society & Economy Politics & Law

A pilot's 'flying saucers' sparked the modern UFO era

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Technology Transportation

The Hawker Hurricane took to the air for the first time

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Space Space Exploration

The Soviet Lunokhod 1 became the first rover to drive on another world

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History Modern

The Soviet Union lifts the Berlin Blockade

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Space Space Exploration

The Space Shuttle Challenger breaks apart after launch

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Space Space Exploration

The world's first communications satellite reached orbit

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Space Space Exploration

Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman in space

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Technology Transportation

Voyager flew nonstop around the world without refueling

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History Modern

Wiley Post became the first person to fly solo around the world

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Technology Transportation

The first powered flight lasted just 12 seconds

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Space Space Exploration

Salyut 1, the world's first space station, is launched

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Technology Transportation

Earhart Solos the Pacific, Hawaii to California

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Space Space Exploration

Ham the chimpanzee survives a U.S. spaceflight

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Technology Inventions

Leonardo's flying machines never left the page

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Space Space Exploration

Gemini 7 launched on a 14-day endurance flight

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Space Stars & Galaxies

Hubble Showed Other Galaxies Exist Beyond the Milky Way

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History Modern

Ruth Carol Taylor becomes the first Black flight attendant

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History Modern

The Bridge of Spies Swap That Freed Gary Powers

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Technology media-communication

Telstar Beams Live TV Across the Atlantic

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Technology Transportation

The Gossamer Albatross Pedaled Across the English Channel

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Nature & Animals Mammals

Bats are the only mammals that truly fly

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Space Solar System

Mercury is slowly shrinking and wrinkling its own crust

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Religion & Beliefs Mythology

The planets are named after Roman gods

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