Short answers, pulled from the story.
The Soviet space program began in 1921 when the Soviet military sanctioned a small research laboratory to explore solid fuel rockets. Nikolai Tikhomirov led this Gas Dynamics Laboratory with support from Vladimir Artemyev.
Yuri Gagarin became the first person in Earth orbit by flying aboard Vostok 1 in 1961. He achieved this historic milestone before any other human had orbited the planet.
Sputnik 1 launched on the 4th of October 1957 and beat the United States to become the first artificial satellite. This event stunned people worldwide and marked the beginning of the space age under the Soviet flag.
Mars 3 became the first successful soft landing on Mars in 1971. Its lander transmitted data for only up to 20 seconds before going silent after touching down on the Martian surface.
The Soviet Union decided to compete for the Moon in August 1964 but cancelled operations entirely after four uncrewed test launches of the N-1 rocket ended in failure. The program suspended operations for two years then removed any chance of Soviet men landing on the Moon before the United States.