Sputnik Anniversary, World Space Week Put Spotlight On Spaceflight Firsts (PHOTOS)

PHOTOS: Sputnik Anniversary Spotlights 25 Spaceflight Firsts

The Space Age has been filled with exciting firsts. The one that started it all came 56 years ago today, when on Oct. 4, 1957 an antenna-studded satellite called Sputnik 1 became the first manmade object to orbit the earth. Other important space firsts followed, including the first man in space, the first woman, the first spacewalk, and, of course, the first man on the moon.

Now as World Space Week kicks off on Sputnik's anniversary, these and other notable space firsts are in the spotlight. Check out the slideshow below for HuffPost Science's selections for some of the most important spaceflight firsts of all time.

First Artificial Satellite

Spaceflight Firsts

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