Out of this world: 17 space ‘firsts’

It all started with Sputnik. In 1957, on the verge of the Space Age, the U.S.S.R. launched the world’s first manmade satellite into space, kicking off a decades-long series of interstellar ingenuities, including a space station marriage, a doomed space dog and plenty of tragedy that eventually comprised the drama of space exploration.