Don't worry, it's a short one. Did you know that rockets were invented by the Anicent Chinese? No? Yes? They did. What's this have to do with space travel? Well,first of all, it's what sent people into space.
Now what's important: In 1957, the first sattelite, Sputnik 1 was sent into space by the Russians. It was the size of a beach ball with four five feet long anttenas. Sputnik did really nothing,but beep. After ninety days of launch it fell in to the earth's atmosphere (it's a layer that covers earth).
The first creature (or dog)in space traveled in Sputnik 2 ten days. Sadly, she died in space either of no air or of bad landing.
Then, in 1958, the Americans launched Explorer 1 which weighed about 38 pounds. Before that, the Americans had a unsucessful launch. The rocket was built by the US Navy. when it was launched, it exploded.
� Copyright 1999-2000 by Anthony