text: what was the name of the first satellite, and first person to go in space? need dates and rocket names also? i want to know the names of the people, rocket and the dates on which these events took place. the first satellite was named sputnik, which means explorer in russian.  i don't remember who was the first person to go into space.  i was pretty young at the time.  the name yuri gregaron comes to mind, but i'm really scratching my gray head over where i got that.