When we think of the first earth orbit, Yuri Gagarin springs to mind. And the first landing on the moon calls up images of Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin in the... » 

When we think of the first earth orbit, Yuri Gagarin springs to mind. And the first landing on the moon calls up images of Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin in their spacesuits. What we tend to overlook is that Gagarin was preceded by Sputnik-1, and the Apollo 11 moonwalkers came after Luna-2. This book talks about the space invaders. «