The USSR sent dogs into space to find out how it would be like for a living organism to travel in a spacecraft and if that were even possible. They did not want to risk putting humans into space until they had built a spacecraft that was safe, since the spacecraft that they sent the first dogs in were not made to land back on earth, therefore, the dogs would inevitably die. Sending dogs into space was a way to gain knowledge about the conditions in space without the expense of a human life.
November 3, 1957
ussr
The former USSR was.
The USSR (Russia) was.
Ussr
Jan 25 1964.
The USSR's Vostok 1 was the first ever spacecraft to carry a man into space.
By own spacecraft:ChinaUsing other country's spacecraft:Czechoslovakia (using USSR Soyuz)
The biggest goal of the Space Race was to send people to the surface of the Moon. The US accomplished this, and put 12 people on the Moon, two at a time. The USSR did not send anyone to the Moon.
No. The USSR was, and the USA was next.
The Russians put the first satellite into orbit named sputnik.
Chronologically . . . #1) . . . USSR #2) . . . USA