> every metric Sure, except: - First spacecraft to detect/study the Van Allen belt - First solar-powered satellite - First polar-orbit satellite -

> every metric Sure, except: - First spacecraft to detect/study the Van Allen belt - First solar-powered satellite - First polar-orbit satellite - First photograph of Earth from orbit - First satellite recovered from orbit - First spy photos from space - First aerial recovery of an object returning from orbit - First great ape in space - First pilot-controlled space flight - First successful planetary flyby (Venus) - First spaceplane - First reusable piloted spacecraft - First geosynchronous satellite - First geostationary satellite - First piloted spacecraft orbit change - First successful Mars flyby mission - First rendezvous of manned spacecraft - First spacecraft docking - First direct-ascent (first orbit) rendezvous - First (and only) human orbit of the Moon - First (and only) humans to land on the Moon - First spacecraft to orbit another planet (Mars) - First spacecraft sent on solar escape trajectory - First spacecraft to enter the asteroid belt - First Jupiter flyby - First Mercury flyby - First Saturn flyby - First untethered spacewalk - First Uranus flyby - First Neptune flyby - First Pluto flyby So, yeah, vanity. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_the_Space_Race https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/o51254593.pdf https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_artificial_satellites_and_space_probes https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Explorer_1