Who Was First in Space—and in Which Category?

Who was first in space—Laika, Gagarin, or Tereshkova? It depends on the category. In 1957, Laika became the first animal to orbit Earth, though animals had flown on suborbital missions earlier. In 1961, Yuri Gagarin made the first human orbital flight. In 1963, Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman in space. During Apollo 11 in 1969, Neil Armstrong stepped onto the Moon first, followed by Buzz Aldrin, the second person to walk on the Moon.