Short answers, pulled from the story.
Scottish astronomer William Leitch published an essay titled A Journey Through Space in 1861. This document contained the first theoretical proposal for space travel using rockets.
The Soviet Union launched Sputnik 1 on the 4th of October 1957. This event marked the beginning of the space age and triggered intense geopolitical competition.
The Space Shuttle Columbia weighed 2030 metric tons at takeoff during STS-1. Six orbiters were built during the Shuttle era including Enterprise, Columbia, Challenger, Discovery, Atlantis, and Endeavour.
Germany achieved suborbital capability in 1944 using V-2 rockets making it the first spacefaring nation overall. Russia United States and China remain the only crewed spacefaring nations currently.
Long-term exposure leads to significant bone loss some of which remains permanent. Muscular and cardiovascular tissues also suffer deconditioning over extended periods.