Early Spaceflight: Practice Problem Solutions

1. The first artificial satellite, a metal sphere launched by the Soviet Union on October 4, 1957.

2. Explorer 1 (January 31, 1958). Its rocket was built by von Braun's team at the Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama.

3. The Van Allen radiation belts around Earth.

4. Yuri Gagarin, April 12, 1961.

5. Alan Shepard (May 5, 1961) was first in space; John Glenn (February 20, 1962) was the first to orbit.

6. Land a man on the Moon and return him safely before the end of the decade.

7. Spacewalking, rendezvous and docking in orbit, and long-duration flight.