The Space Age has run almost in tandem with the Atomic Age. In 1957, the Soviet Union launched the first satellite, Sputnik I, and the United States followed with Explorer I in 1958. The first manned space flights were made in the spring of 1961, first by Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin and then by American astronaut, Alan B. Shepard, Jr. From the first tentative steps of the 1969 moon landing to today's reusable space shuttle , the space program has produced a range of secondary uses of aerospace technology. Communications satellites transmit computer data, telephone calls, and radio and television broadcasts.
Weather satellites furnish the data necessary to provide early warnings of severe storms.
Space technology has generated thousands of products and services ranging from the lightweight materials used in running shoes to respiratory monitors. The goal of NIH research is to foster knowledge that helps prevent, detect, diagnose and treat disease and disability - from the rarest genetic disorder to the common cold. NIH research has helped make possible numerous medical achievements. Mortality from heart disease, the number-one killer in the United States, dropped 41 percent between 1971 and 1991. The death rate for strokes decreased by 59 percent in the same period.