Re: What was the most important historical event in the advancement of space?

Many people probably say the first landing on the Moon by Apollo 11, on 20 July, 1969. Certainly that was the most important event so far in manned spaceflight. But as far as the history of space exploration in general goes, I would have to say the most important event was the launch of Sputnik 1 by the USSR on 5 October, 1957. This was the start of all space exploration and the first step on our long journey.

It's interesting to note that the Russians still use a variant of the R-7 booster used to launch Sputnik 1 to launch the Soyuz and Progress spacecraft to Mir and to the International Space Station. It's that good a design.

You and your students can find more space history at:
http://www.thespacep lace.com/history/space.html
and
http://www.planets capes.com/solar/eng/history.htm
and of course, the various NASA sites.

Best,
-Adams Douglas
(formerly with NASA/JPL)