FAMOUS FIRSTS IN SPACE

Three giant leaps -- the first use of rockets (in China, 1232), the first mention of space travel (by a Russian in 1903), and the pioneering prewar efforts of Dr. Goddard -- blaze the trail for 27 space-age firsts from Sputnik I in 1957 to the first men on the moon in 1969. The usual facts and figures on each mission are accompanied by a summarizing sentence on the scientific findings and such minutiae as the badge and motto devised by the captain and what John Glenn had for breakfast the day he became ""the first American in orbit."" Shenfield badly strains the original notion of listing famous firsts as a record for reference, as librarians are unlikely to meet inquiries as to the ""first determined extent of the Van Allen Belt"" or the ""first space TV picture."" As this is far from the first time we've attended the same flights -- manned orbits, space walks, dockings -- their arrangement here is but one small step that need not have been taken.