People first investigated the planets using telescope. The first manmade object known to have been placed in Earth orbit was Sputnik 1 – a Soviet(Russian) satellite.
The astronauts that went to and orbited the moon would be the ones that have travelled farthest from the Earth.
Russians have launched the first ever satellite into the orbit, then they’ve sent a dog into space (that safely returned), then Yuri Gagarin went into space. He was the first person to be in space, who blasted off on 12 April 1961 in Vostok 1. He orbited the Earth from 200 miles up.
The first man to walk on the Moon was American astronaut Neil Armstrong (1930– ). He accomplished this feat on July 20, 1969, becoming the first human from Earth to do so. Armstrong exited the lunar module, a small spacecraft connected to the main spaceship Apollo 11, and took his first steps on the Moon. He was accompanied by astronaut Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin Jr. (1930– ). As he set foot on the Moon’s surface, Armstrong spoke the historic words, “That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.” (The live voice transmission had dropped the “a” before “man,” but it was added later.)