Video: NBC's Brian Williams recaps Video: NBC's David Brinkley and Roy Neal recap Sputnik in 1977
50 years of U.S. spaceflight";
Replay_Gallery[i++] = new Array("","1957","","http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Video/041013/p_sputnik_010214.vlarge.jpg","","", "", "", "", "", "right", "", "Midway", "209", "278", "#000000", "", "", "", "");
Replay_Gallery[i-1].body = "First satellite
The Soviet Union's Sputnik becomes the world's first artificial satellite on Oct. 4, 1957, touching off U.S. concerns about losing the high ground in the Cold War. America's early launch attempts fail more often than they succeed.
At the age of 27, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin is launched into space aboard Vostok 1 on April 12, 1961, and makes a single orbit of the Earth during his 108-minute flight. Gagarin is acclaimed as the first human in space. In 1968 he dies in an aviation accident.
Video: Msnbc.com's Alan Boyle
recaps Gagarin's flight";
Replay_Gallery[i++] = new Array("","1961-62","","http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Video/Evergreens/Technology_Science/p_space_mercury6_990716.vlarge.jpg","","", "", "", "", "", "right", "", "Apogee", "180", "240", "#000000", "", "", "", "");
Replay_Gallery[i-1].body = "U.S. plays catchup
Alan Shepard becomes the first American in space during a 15-minute suborbital flight May 5, 1961. John Glenn orbits Earth three times during a five-hour flight on Feb. 20, 1962.
Video: NBC's Roy Neal reviews
the early Mercury missions.";
Replay_Gallery[i++] = new Array("","1969","","http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Video/Migrated/p_space_apollo11_990716.vlarge.jpg","","", "", "", "", "", "right", "", "", "209", "278", "#000000", "", "", "", "");
Replay_Gallery[i-1].body = "First on the moon
While the Soviets falter, the Americans take the top prize in the space race by sending astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin to a lunar landing on July 20, 1969. Ten more NASA moonwalkers would follow, with the last trip to the moon in 1972.
Video: A 1994 NBC retrospective looks back at Apollo 11 ";
Replay_Gallery[i++] = new Array("","1971","","http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/071002/071002_salyut_bcol_3p.vlarge.jpg","","", "", "", "", "", "right", "", "NASA", "207", "278", "#000000", "", "", "", "");
Replay_Gallery[i-1].body = "First space station
Salyut 1 is remembered as the world's first orbital outpost, but also as a dark chapter in space history: When the first three-man crew leaves the station to return to Earth, a valve in their spacecraft jerks open, and the cosmonauts suffocate during re-entry.
At right: A Soyuz spacecraft is docked to Salyut 1 in 1971";
Replay_Gallery[i++] = new Array("","1973","","http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Video/Evergreens/Technology_Science/p_skylab_010130.vlarge.jpg","","", "", "", "", "", "right", "", "", "180", "240", "#000000", "", "", "", "");
Replay_Gallery[i-1].body = "Americans launch Skylab
America's first space station, launched on May 14, 1973, is actually a converted upper stage from a Saturn 1B rocket. Three crews conduct missions during 1973. NASA originally hoped that the station would stay in orbit well into the 1980s, but it falls to Earth in 1979.
Video: NBC's John Chancellor and Roy Neal report on the Skylab crew's return ";
Replay_Gallery[i++] = new Array("","1975","","http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Video/Evergreens/Technology_Science/p_1975apollosoyuz_010130.vlarge.jpg","","", "", "", "", "", "right", "", "", "180", "240", "#000000", "", "", "", "");
Replay_Gallery[i-1].body = "First U.S.-Soviet space link
An American Apollo spacecraft docks with a Soviet Soyuz craft on July 17, 1975, marking the first meeting in orbit between space rivals. On the American side: Tom Stafford, Vance Brand and Deke Slayton, the last of the original seven Mercury astronauts to go into space. On the Russian side: Valery Kubasov and Alexei Leonov, the world's first spacewalker.
Video: NBC’s John Chancellor reports on the Apollo-Soyuz docking. ";
Replay_Gallery[i++] = new Array("","1986","","http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Video/Evergreens/Technology_Science/p_1986mir_010130.vlarge.jpg","","", "", "", "", "", "right", "", "", "180", "240", "#000000", "", "", "", "");
Replay_Gallery[i-1].body = "Soviets launch Mir station
The Soviets launch Mir's first module on Feb. 20, 1986, just after America's Challenger tragedy. They gradually add to their biggest orbital laboratory, with the last research module, Priroda, attached in 1996. Mir was the world's longest-lasting space station.
Video: NBC’s Robert Bazell reports on Mir’s first months of operation ";
Replay_Gallery[i++] = new Array("","1995","","http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Video/Evergreens/Technology_Science/p_1995shuttlemir_010130.vlarge.jpg","","", "", "", "", "", "right", "", "", "180", "240", "#000000", "", "", "", "");
Replay_Gallery[i-1].body = "First shuttle-station docking
The shuttle Atlantis hooks up on June 29, 1995, with a Russian space station for the first time as part of a Russian-American program aimed at setting the stage for the international space station. In 1996, Mir visitor Shannon Lucid sets the American record for longest time in space: 188 days.
Video: NBC’s Robert Hager reports on the first shuttle-Mir docking ";
Replay_Gallery[i++] = new Array("","1997","","http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Video/Evergreens/Technology_Science/p_hager_mir97_010116.vlarge.jpg","","", "", "", "", "", "right", "", "", "180", "240", "#000000", "", "", "", "");
Replay_Gallery[i-1].body = "Coping with space crises
Mir's Russian-American crews struggle with an onboard fire in February and a near-fatal collision with a cargo ship June 26, 1997, as well as a string of glitches affecting the computer control system and the air-recycling system. Mir's crisis was a trial by fire for the U.S.-Soviet relationship in space.
Video: NBC’s Robert Hager reports on the aftermath of the cargo ship collision ";
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Replay_Gallery[i-1].body = "First international station
Russia and America are the primary partners in the 16-nation effort to build the international space station. The first elements of the new station are launched in 1998, and a U.S.-Russian crew takes up residence in 2000. Since then, Russians, Americans and visitors from other nations have occupied the station continuously.
Video: NBC’s Ed Rabel reports on the space station in 1998 "; // END editorial data