Mariner 2 flies past Venus

The object initially joined the planetary list and was reclassified as a dwarf planet many decades afterward.

The Soviet Union launched the first artificial Earth satellite from a spaceport in the Kazakh Soviet Republic.

Sputnik 1 began transmitting radio beeps as it orbited Earth, opening new possibilities for tracking a satellite.

Radio signals from Sputnik could be received outside the launch program, making the orbit publicly observable.

The successful launch created a new platform for studying Earth and, later, the wider universe.

Mariner 2 measured properties of the planet while passing it without entering orbit.

Mariner 2 showed that interplanetary spacecraft could return measurements from distant worlds.

The flyby provided direct data to compare with Earth-based astronomical observations.

Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman to travel in space.

The Vostok 6 mission began from Soviet Central Asia and went on to orbit Earth 48 times.