Thales Alenia Space Italy, Apollo 11, ISS space station
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ISS to ground visibility is possible only if a source of light like the Sun or lights on ground are available
Soyuz MTA
The liftoff of a Soyuz-FG rocket was scheduled for Nov. 24, 2014, at 00:01:14 Moscow Time (4:01 p.m. EST on Nov. 23) from Pad No. 6 at Site 31 in Baikonur Cosmodrome.
The liftoff of a Soyuz-FG rocket was scheduled for Nov. 24, 2014, at 00:01:14 Moscow Time (4:01 p.m. EST on Nov. 23) from Pad No. 6 at Site 31 in Baikonur Cosmodrome.
THE SOYUZ LAUNCH SEQUENCE EXPLAINED
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JOURNEY TO THE ISS PART: SOYUZ RENDEZVOUS AND DOCKING EXPLAINED
SOYUZ UNDOCKING, REENTRY AND LANDING EXPLAINED
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Soyuz interior
ISS - International Space Station - 2014
A photo I took
Apollo 11 landing site - hold mouse key to rotate wheel to zoom
Apollo 11 Official Crew
The Apollo 11 mission was the first manned mission to land on the Moon. It was the fifth human spaceflight of Project Apollo and the third human voyage to the Moon or Moon orbit. Launched on July 16, 1969, it carried Mission Commander Neil Alden Armstrong, Command Module Pilot Michael Collins, and Lunar Module Pilot Edwin Eugene 'Buzz' Aldrin, Jr. On July 20, Armstrong and Aldrin became the first humans to land on the Moon, while Collins orbited above.
The mission fulfilled President John F. Kennedy's goal of reaching the moon by the end of the 1960s, which he had expressed during a speech given before a joint session of Congress on May 25, 1961: "I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth."
The picture was taken by Neil Armstrong, Apollo 11 commander, visible with the lunar module as a reflection on Aldrin's helmet faceplate
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Apollo 11 - drag to look around.
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Apollo 11 Launch Pad
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Apollo 11 Lunar Landing
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APOLLO 11 Extravehicular activity (EVA) restored video by NASA.
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Apollo 11 Lunar Landing - CBS Coverage
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Laser Ranging Retroreflector
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The first and last flight of the Space Shuttle
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Space Shuttle Discovery Documentary.
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STS-134 Lands, Endeavour Completes Last Mission
Launch May 16, 2011 - Landing June 1, 2011 |
STS-135 Atlantis: The Final Voyage
Launch July 8, 2011 - Landing July 21, 2011 |
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STS-133 Lands, Discovery Completes Last Mission
Launch Feb. 24, 2011 - Landing March 9, 2011
Launch Feb. 24, 2011 - Landing March 9, 2011
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360° view of the Shuttle Cabin
Russia space program History
credit: Buran.ru
BTS paves the way to the Soviet shuttle
During the development of the US Space Shuttle, a full-scale prototype of the orbiter dubbed Enterprise was carried into the air on the back of a modified Boeing-747 aircraft and then set free in mid-air. With two pilots at the controls, the Enterprise would then glide back to Earth, testing its aerodynamics in process. When the time came for the Soviet Buran to prove its flight capabilities, there was no aircraft, which could support a similar test flight program.
Although a Myasishev VM-T Atlant aircraft was designed to transport elements of the Energia-Buran system, it could not lift a fully assembled vehicle. In the meantime, Antonov-224 Mriya would not appear on the scene until several years later in the program. As a result, Soviet developers chose a totally different approach to atmospheric testing of the winged orbiter than their American colleagues. Instead of lifting a giant glider into the air by another aircraft, a full-scale prototype of Buran was equipped with its own jet engines, so it could take off from the runway under its own power.
Buran's prototype
Designated BTS-002 or OK GLI (where BTS stands for "big transport vessel" and OK GLI - for "orbiter for horizontal flight tests,") the Buran prototype was almost an exact copy of the actual orbiter. The main difference were four AL-31 engines installed in the tail section of the bird. Two of the engines were equipped with afterburners, like on the Sukhoi-27 fighter aircraft. A propellant tank placed inside the cargo bay of the vehicle would provide the engines with propellant. Although the addition of jet engines did change the aerodynamics of the operational Buran glider, ground testing showed that the impact on flying characteristics would be relatively minor.
Comparing to the operational orbiter, BTS-002 also had an extension on its nose gear, which kept the vehicle under angle of four degrees on the runway for an easier takeoff. The landing gear could be, both, lowered and retracted, while on operational ships, only lowering system would be needed for landing.
Unlike a real Buran, BTS was covered with foam-based equivalents of thermal protection tiles. Nevertheless, all mass and center of gravity characteristics of the real orbiter were preserved on BTS-002.
Specifically, for the BTS program, the ship's digital flight control system was backed up with an analog control system, featuring its own network of sensors, which could handle all aerodynamic surfaces of the vehicle. As it turned out, the back flight controls would never be employed during real flights.
BTS was equipped with ejection seats for two pilots and it was capable of staying in the air up to 30 minutes, instead of three-five-minute glides performed by the unpowered prototype of the US Shuttle.
BTS also had its unique telemetry system, which, unlike operational vehicle, had two sub-systems. One unit, was designed to transmit around 2,300 parameters of the flight control system and its main computers, while, the second would carry 2,200 channels of information from various sensors spread around the ship. In addition, around 450 parameters would be recorded onboard BTS. A special control and measurement station, KIS, was deployed at Myasishev plant to digest telemetry from BTS flights. The actual flight control room was organized at the Zhukovsky airfield. It included a powerful calculation center for real-time tracking of the flight and the transmission of all crucial data to 12 monitors manned by ground controllers.
Test program preparation
To certify systems, which were unique to BTS, special facilities for testing of the propulsion unit, the propellant supply system, the engine fire suppression system, ejection seats and for frequency testing were built at Myasishev Experimental Plant, EMZ. The flight testing itself was conducted at the airfield of the Flight Research Institute, LII in the town of Zhukovsky, near Moscow. Similarly to the Buran's landing facility at Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, the airfield was equipped with landing radar and the Vympel (Banner) microwave landing complex. Existing tracking facilities of the LII landing complex, including the Kama tracking radar and the Opal high-precision optical tracking system, would be used for tracking the vehicle in flight.
Test flight planning
During its real orbital missions, Buran was expected to glide back to Earth without any propulsion. At the altitude of 20 kilometers, the ship's would fly at the speed of 1,870 kilometers per hour or 1.75 faster than a speed of sound. The speed would become subsonic (Mach 0.8) at the altitude of around 10 kilometers. Finally, the touchdown speed was expected to be around 310 kilometers per hour.
It was calculated, that in order to have the projected landing speed, Buran's prototype could have a gliding speed of around 450-470 kilometers per hour. However, after adding possible wind resistance, the gliding speed was increased to 540 kilometers per hour and later adjusted to 520 kilometers per hour. Developers demanded a fixed position of the so-called key point, KT, from which the final approach to the runway would be initiated. For BTS-002 flight planners, it meant that the KT point's coordinates would be pre-programmed and no adjustment based on real-time wind conditions would be possible. For GLI flight tests, the KT point would be located 12.5 kilometers from the end of the runway, at the altitude of four kilometers. Under the circumstances, Buran's descent angles were expected to vary from 17 to 22 degrees and the descent velocity to be 50-60 meters per second. For comparison, the descent speed for a traditional aircraft is normally 4-6 meter per second and the angle of descent is 3-4 degrees.
Only at the altitude of around 500 meters, Buran's steep descent would have to start becoming more gentle and the speed to go down. At the altitude of 100 meters, the pilot was expected to transition to almost an aircraft-like approach. The final landing speed and descent parameters would have to be reached at the altitude of around 15 meters followed by the touchdown with the speed of 300-320 kilometer per hour and the rate of descent of no more than one meter per second.
The crew was expected to pilot BTS-002 manually through a takeoff, ascent and reaching the KT point, as these phases of the flight would not exist in real missions of the Buran orbiter. A two-seat fighter aircraft would accompany the prototype during all tests for visual inspection. Video would also be recorded from the air.
To accumulate plenty of statistics, each flight would include the approach to the runway to the altitude of around 15-20 meters followed by a quick ascent for a second approach and the actual landing. It is clear from pilots' memoirs that during the descent, engines would be put to a low thrust rather then being completely shut down.
Flight testing
Traditionally for the aircraft testing, BTS-002 flying career started with the taxing on the runway, which took place for the first time on Dec. 29, 1984. These test runs were gradually becoming bolder until reaching a takeoff speed and lifting the nose of the vehicle, but without leaving the runway. Finally, on Nov. 10, 1985, OK-GLI took into the air for the first time with Igor Volk and Rimantas Stankyavichus at the controls. There was no attempt to practice the Buran's descent in that flight and the vehicle returned to the runway along a normal aircraft trajectory. The same crew flew three more test missions, which confirmed basic flight capabilities of BTS-002. Later, pilots Anatoly Levchenko, Aleksandr Shyukin, Ivan Bachurin and Aleksei Borodai joined the program.
Beginning with the 4th flight, BTS started practicing Buran's steep descent trajectory. First missions were flown under fully manual control, after which, the auto-pilot started being gradually introduced to control channel by channel -- yaw, pitch and course. During the 6th flight, automated control flew BTS down to the altitude of 100 meters. During the 7th flight, the autopilot was turned off just moments before the touchdown. During the 8th test, the autopilot successfully brought the glider to the runway, even though pilots did take over shortly thereafter. During the 9th mission, the automated system fully controlled the landing, except for the operation of lowering of the nose gear, shortly after the touchdown. Finally, during the 10th flight, on Feb. 16, 1987, all descent and landing operations, beginning with the activation of the autopilot at the KT approach point at the altitude of four kilometers and all the way to stopping of the vehicle on the runway, were performed automatically.
Upon the conclusion of 14 flights, including seven under control of the autopilot, developers considered the automated landing system of the Buran orbiter flight-proven. Nevertheless 10 more BTS missions were ordered to accumulate necessary flight statistics and test the autopilot under less than ideal conditions. The pilots would start the descent with various deviations from the nominal speed, altitude and the direction of flight, often close to allowable limits. However, in all cases, the autopilot reportedly managed to land the glider successfully.
Until April 1988, the vehicle made total of 24 flights, 15 of which concluded with a fully automated landing. Beginning with the 7th flight, the total of 36 approaches to the runway under automated control had been performed. The vehicle always landed well within allowed deviations from expected touchdown point.
The BTS-002's missions allowed to certify both automated and manual flight control of the Buran orbiter and confirmed aerodynamic capabilities of the vehicle. Buran's flight control software was also thoroughly tested. The BTS flight program thus became a major milestone on the way to the first orbital mission of the Buran orbiter in 1988, which concluded with a successful automated landing.
Life after death
The last practical work with the BTS-002 was concluded on Dec. 28, 1989. A flight-processing team of specialists from NPO Molniya, Myasishev experimental team and the Soviet Air Force posed for a group photo in front of the test orbiter in Zhukovsky, after which, the vehicle was retired.
In 1999, a largely neglected BTS-002 was shipped from Russia to Sydney to serve as a tourist attraction during the 2000 Olympic Games. The vehicle was then purchased by an investment group in Singapore, which planned to exhibit the ship around the world. The first destination of the tour was Bahrain, where the ship arrived, only to be seized by authorities due to its owners' financial problems. In the summer of 2003, a private technology museum in the German town of Speyer claimed it purchased the vehicle, however, the ship continued rusting away in the Bahrain harbor until March 2008. Only after all legal battles were settled, the vehicle was transported by sea via Suez Canal to Rotterdam and then up the Rhine River to Speyer.
During the development of the US Space Shuttle, a full-scale prototype of the orbiter dubbed Enterprise was carried into the air on the back of a modified Boeing-747 aircraft and then set free in mid-air. With two pilots at the controls, the Enterprise would then glide back to Earth, testing its aerodynamics in process. When the time came for the Soviet Buran to prove its flight capabilities, there was no aircraft, which could support a similar test flight program.
Although a Myasishev VM-T Atlant aircraft was designed to transport elements of the Energia-Buran system, it could not lift a fully assembled vehicle. In the meantime, Antonov-224 Mriya would not appear on the scene until several years later in the program. As a result, Soviet developers chose a totally different approach to atmospheric testing of the winged orbiter than their American colleagues. Instead of lifting a giant glider into the air by another aircraft, a full-scale prototype of Buran was equipped with its own jet engines, so it could take off from the runway under its own power.
Buran's prototype
Designated BTS-002 or OK GLI (where BTS stands for "big transport vessel" and OK GLI - for "orbiter for horizontal flight tests,") the Buran prototype was almost an exact copy of the actual orbiter. The main difference were four AL-31 engines installed in the tail section of the bird. Two of the engines were equipped with afterburners, like on the Sukhoi-27 fighter aircraft. A propellant tank placed inside the cargo bay of the vehicle would provide the engines with propellant. Although the addition of jet engines did change the aerodynamics of the operational Buran glider, ground testing showed that the impact on flying characteristics would be relatively minor.
Comparing to the operational orbiter, BTS-002 also had an extension on its nose gear, which kept the vehicle under angle of four degrees on the runway for an easier takeoff. The landing gear could be, both, lowered and retracted, while on operational ships, only lowering system would be needed for landing.
Unlike a real Buran, BTS was covered with foam-based equivalents of thermal protection tiles. Nevertheless, all mass and center of gravity characteristics of the real orbiter were preserved on BTS-002.
Specifically, for the BTS program, the ship's digital flight control system was backed up with an analog control system, featuring its own network of sensors, which could handle all aerodynamic surfaces of the vehicle. As it turned out, the back flight controls would never be employed during real flights.
BTS was equipped with ejection seats for two pilots and it was capable of staying in the air up to 30 minutes, instead of three-five-minute glides performed by the unpowered prototype of the US Shuttle.
BTS also had its unique telemetry system, which, unlike operational vehicle, had two sub-systems. One unit, was designed to transmit around 2,300 parameters of the flight control system and its main computers, while, the second would carry 2,200 channels of information from various sensors spread around the ship. In addition, around 450 parameters would be recorded onboard BTS. A special control and measurement station, KIS, was deployed at Myasishev plant to digest telemetry from BTS flights. The actual flight control room was organized at the Zhukovsky airfield. It included a powerful calculation center for real-time tracking of the flight and the transmission of all crucial data to 12 monitors manned by ground controllers.
Test program preparation
To certify systems, which were unique to BTS, special facilities for testing of the propulsion unit, the propellant supply system, the engine fire suppression system, ejection seats and for frequency testing were built at Myasishev Experimental Plant, EMZ. The flight testing itself was conducted at the airfield of the Flight Research Institute, LII in the town of Zhukovsky, near Moscow. Similarly to the Buran's landing facility at Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, the airfield was equipped with landing radar and the Vympel (Banner) microwave landing complex. Existing tracking facilities of the LII landing complex, including the Kama tracking radar and the Opal high-precision optical tracking system, would be used for tracking the vehicle in flight.
Test flight planning
During its real orbital missions, Buran was expected to glide back to Earth without any propulsion. At the altitude of 20 kilometers, the ship's would fly at the speed of 1,870 kilometers per hour or 1.75 faster than a speed of sound. The speed would become subsonic (Mach 0.8) at the altitude of around 10 kilometers. Finally, the touchdown speed was expected to be around 310 kilometers per hour.
It was calculated, that in order to have the projected landing speed, Buran's prototype could have a gliding speed of around 450-470 kilometers per hour. However, after adding possible wind resistance, the gliding speed was increased to 540 kilometers per hour and later adjusted to 520 kilometers per hour. Developers demanded a fixed position of the so-called key point, KT, from which the final approach to the runway would be initiated. For BTS-002 flight planners, it meant that the KT point's coordinates would be pre-programmed and no adjustment based on real-time wind conditions would be possible. For GLI flight tests, the KT point would be located 12.5 kilometers from the end of the runway, at the altitude of four kilometers. Under the circumstances, Buran's descent angles were expected to vary from 17 to 22 degrees and the descent velocity to be 50-60 meters per second. For comparison, the descent speed for a traditional aircraft is normally 4-6 meter per second and the angle of descent is 3-4 degrees.
Only at the altitude of around 500 meters, Buran's steep descent would have to start becoming more gentle and the speed to go down. At the altitude of 100 meters, the pilot was expected to transition to almost an aircraft-like approach. The final landing speed and descent parameters would have to be reached at the altitude of around 15 meters followed by the touchdown with the speed of 300-320 kilometer per hour and the rate of descent of no more than one meter per second.
The crew was expected to pilot BTS-002 manually through a takeoff, ascent and reaching the KT point, as these phases of the flight would not exist in real missions of the Buran orbiter. A two-seat fighter aircraft would accompany the prototype during all tests for visual inspection. Video would also be recorded from the air.
To accumulate plenty of statistics, each flight would include the approach to the runway to the altitude of around 15-20 meters followed by a quick ascent for a second approach and the actual landing. It is clear from pilots' memoirs that during the descent, engines would be put to a low thrust rather then being completely shut down.
Flight testing
Traditionally for the aircraft testing, BTS-002 flying career started with the taxing on the runway, which took place for the first time on Dec. 29, 1984. These test runs were gradually becoming bolder until reaching a takeoff speed and lifting the nose of the vehicle, but without leaving the runway. Finally, on Nov. 10, 1985, OK-GLI took into the air for the first time with Igor Volk and Rimantas Stankyavichus at the controls. There was no attempt to practice the Buran's descent in that flight and the vehicle returned to the runway along a normal aircraft trajectory. The same crew flew three more test missions, which confirmed basic flight capabilities of BTS-002. Later, pilots Anatoly Levchenko, Aleksandr Shyukin, Ivan Bachurin and Aleksei Borodai joined the program.
Beginning with the 4th flight, BTS started practicing Buran's steep descent trajectory. First missions were flown under fully manual control, after which, the auto-pilot started being gradually introduced to control channel by channel -- yaw, pitch and course. During the 6th flight, automated control flew BTS down to the altitude of 100 meters. During the 7th flight, the autopilot was turned off just moments before the touchdown. During the 8th test, the autopilot successfully brought the glider to the runway, even though pilots did take over shortly thereafter. During the 9th mission, the automated system fully controlled the landing, except for the operation of lowering of the nose gear, shortly after the touchdown. Finally, during the 10th flight, on Feb. 16, 1987, all descent and landing operations, beginning with the activation of the autopilot at the KT approach point at the altitude of four kilometers and all the way to stopping of the vehicle on the runway, were performed automatically.
Upon the conclusion of 14 flights, including seven under control of the autopilot, developers considered the automated landing system of the Buran orbiter flight-proven. Nevertheless 10 more BTS missions were ordered to accumulate necessary flight statistics and test the autopilot under less than ideal conditions. The pilots would start the descent with various deviations from the nominal speed, altitude and the direction of flight, often close to allowable limits. However, in all cases, the autopilot reportedly managed to land the glider successfully.
Until April 1988, the vehicle made total of 24 flights, 15 of which concluded with a fully automated landing. Beginning with the 7th flight, the total of 36 approaches to the runway under automated control had been performed. The vehicle always landed well within allowed deviations from expected touchdown point.
The BTS-002's missions allowed to certify both automated and manual flight control of the Buran orbiter and confirmed aerodynamic capabilities of the vehicle. Buran's flight control software was also thoroughly tested. The BTS flight program thus became a major milestone on the way to the first orbital mission of the Buran orbiter in 1988, which concluded with a successful automated landing.
Life after death
The last practical work with the BTS-002 was concluded on Dec. 28, 1989. A flight-processing team of specialists from NPO Molniya, Myasishev experimental team and the Soviet Air Force posed for a group photo in front of the test orbiter in Zhukovsky, after which, the vehicle was retired.
In 1999, a largely neglected BTS-002 was shipped from Russia to Sydney to serve as a tourist attraction during the 2000 Olympic Games. The vehicle was then purchased by an investment group in Singapore, which planned to exhibit the ship around the world. The first destination of the tour was Bahrain, where the ship arrived, only to be seized by authorities due to its owners' financial problems. In the summer of 2003, a private technology museum in the German town of Speyer claimed it purchased the vehicle, however, the ship continued rusting away in the Bahrain harbor until March 2008. Only after all legal battles were settled, the vehicle was transported by sea via Suez Canal to Rotterdam and then up the Rhine River to Speyer.
7 Soviet Space firsts
1) First artificial earth satellite: Sputnik Power supply unit (center) of Sputnik-1 consisting of 3 silver-zinc batteries.
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Sputnik-1 : the world's first satellite Launched October 4,1957, Mass: 83.6kg, it was pressurized (filled with nitrogen) in a spheric container with the diameter of 580 mm.
Telemetry audio from Sputnik-I passing overhead |
2) First animals to successfully orbit the earth: Belka and Strelka
3) First on the moon: Luna 2 probe
Long before Neil Armstrong walked on the lunar surface, the Soviets reached the moon. The country’s Luna program deployed a number of probes between 1959 and 1976 to significantly expand earthlings’ understand of our satellite. The Luna 1 probe performed the first successful flyby of the moon. More significantly, Luna 2 became the first human artifact to reach the moon when it crashed near the Sea of Serenity on September 14, 1959. Later that year, the Luna 3 probe took the first photographs of the far side of the moon. In 1966, Luna 9 achieved the first soft landing of an object on the moon and transmitted the first close-up photos of the lunar surface. Luna 16 became the first unmanned craft to return soil samples from the moon in 1970. Interestingly, at the same time that Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin of Apollo 11 were unfurling the American flag on the moon in 1969, the Soviet Union’s Luna 15 probe crashed there in a failed attempt to return soil samples.
4) First man in space: Yuri Gagarin
Riding a tide of successes in space, the Soviet Union set out to achieve the next logical accomplishment: putting a man into orbit. On April 12, 1961, cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin circled Earth one time in a Vostok spacecraft before ejecting 23,000 feet above the planet and parachuting safely down. Gagarin’s flight was the shortest manned mission in space history, lasting just 108 minutes from takeoff to touchdown. After the flight, Gagarin achieved celebrity status and toured the world extensively to promote the Soviet space program. Gagarin met an untimely death at age 34 when he and a colleague were killed in the crash of a MiG fighter jet during a routine training mission on March 27, 1968.
5) First woman in space: Valentina Tereshkova
After the success of Yuri Gagarin’s spaceflight in 1961, the Soviet Union immediately turned to the idea of putting a woman in space. They marshaled a female cosmonaut corps that underwent extensive training, and on June 16, 1963, Valentina Tereshkova lifted off in Vostok 6 for three days of Earth orbits. In order to fly as a cosmonaut, Tereshkova had to be a member of the Soviet Air Force, so she was honorarily inducted prior to liftoff. During her spaceflight, Tereshkova performed experiments that tested the effects of weightlessness on the female body and also took photographs that helped scientists identify an aerosol layer in Earth’s atmosphere. Tereshkova went on to become a cosmonaut engineer and prominent communist government official. In a 2007 interview with the Russian newspaper Pravda, she expressed her desire to return to space. “If I had money, I would enjoy flying to Mars,” she said. “This was the dream of the first cosmonauts. I wish I could realize it. I am ready to fly without coming back.”
6) First spacewalk: Alexei Leonov
In order to break the bonds of encapsulated spaceflight, the Soviet space program developed the first pressurized spacesuit and created the first multi-person spacecraft, dubbed the Voskhod. The Voskhod 1 mission took a trio of cosmonauts into space in October 1964, but the real glory went to Voskhod 2’s Alexei Leonov, who on March 18, 1965, became the first person to free-float in space. The mission wasn’t without its drama. As Leonov recounted in a book about his experience, his pressurized suit became bloated during the 10-minute float in zero gravity, making it impossible for him to reenter the capsule. Over the course of a few tense minutes, Leonov bled off some of the oxygen in his suit so he could squeeze back through the narrow, 3-foot-wide airlock. Still, Leonov said the experience of floating alongside his spacecraft was moving. He’s famously quoted as saying he felt “like a seagull with its wings outstretched, soaring high above the Earth.” Now retired, Leonov paints scenes of the Earth as he viewed it during his spaceflights
First spacewalk. Historical still taken from a film of the Soviet cosmonaut Alexei Leonov (born 1934) lifting a chamber lid during the first ever spacewalk. On 18th March 1965 Leonov left the Soviet Voskhod 2 spacecraft through an inflatable aircraft and spent 10 minutes in open space in a specialised spacesuit. This first extra-vehicular activity (EVA) set a milestone in space exploration. Photographed on 18th March 1965.
First space walk. Soviet cosmonaut Alexei Leonov (born 1934), outside the Voskhod 2 spacecraft in a spacesuit on 18th March 1965, while orbiting the Earth (in the background). This was the worldandamp;apos;s first extravehicular activity (EVA), or space walk. Voskhod 2 had launched earlier that day, and Leonov exited the spacecraft at 08:30 UTC. He remained outside for 10 minutes, before trying to re-enter. Because his suit had ballooned while outside, he had to let some of his air out before he could successfully re-enter.
7) First remote-controlled rover on another celestial body: Lunokhod 1
The Soviet Union landed a robotically controlled rover on the moon in 1970. Lunokhod 1 (the name literally means “moonwalker” in Russian) launched on November 10, 1970, and achieved a soft landing near the lunar Sea of Rains on November 17. Measuring over 7 feet long, Lunokhod 1 ran on eight wheels and was equipped with four television cameras and an X-ray spectrometer, among other items. The rover roamed around the lunar surface for nearly a year, analyzing soil samples and transmitting photographs. It stopped communicating on September 14, 1971. Its precise location on the moon was unknown until 2010, when researchers using information from NASA successfully bounced a laser beam off Lunokhod 1’s light reflector, an item originally designed to help detect its position. Since that time, researchers have continued using Lunokhod 1’s reflector to conduct valuable ranging experiments that measure the moon’s movement in space.
The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) continues to take images of old lander sites. Here’s the Soviet rover Lunokhod 1 and its tracks. It was the first remote-controlled robot to land on another world: the Moon, in Mare Imbrium, on November 17, 1970. According to Wikipedia, this mission lasted 322 Earth days, with the rover travelling 10.5 km and returning more than 20,000 TV images and 206 panoramas.
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Space Race - The Untold Story
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360° view of the ISS, drag video up and down and side to side