News Archive / Tagged: Soviet Union

• Russian reusable spacecraft ambitions revived

  Tomasz NowakowskiAugust 25th, 2015

  The Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center plans to revive the former Soviet Union’s winged space shuttle program, known as Buran. Started in 1974, Buran was a Soviet reusable spacecraft project undertaken as a response to NASA’s Space Shuttle program.

• Our Spaceflight Heritage: Baikonur turns 60

  Tomasz NowakowskiJune 2nd, 2015

  Baikonur Space Center in Kazakhstan, the jewel in the former Soviet Union’s crown – currently leased by Russia – has seen it all. This site, which witnessed the launch of the historic Sputnik 1 mission – the first ever satellite sent to space – as well as Yuri A. Gagarin’s pioneering spaceflight, turned 60 on Tuesday, June 2. This marks […]

• Women in space: In the beginning…

  J.D. TaylorApril 27th, 2015

  On April 12, 1961, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first man to orbit the Earth. Although most Americans associate women in space with shuttle astronaut Sally Ride, the simple fact of the matter is that the first woman to travel into the blackness of space was Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova who roared aloft on her Vostok […]

• First launch of Russia’s new Angara rocket canceled – investigation underway

  David DarlingJuly 3rd, 2014

  Russia’s beleaguered space industry suffered another setback on Friday, June 27, with the last-minute abort of the inaugural launch of the Angara 1.2 rocket from Plesetsk Cosmodrome. A second opportunity to launch the following day came and went with the vehicle still stood on the pad.

• Our Spaceflight Heritage: First Manned Spaceflight

  NASAApril 12th, 2014

  On this day in 1961, a Soviet cosmonaut, Yuri Gagarin, became the first person in space. Gagarin made a 108-minute orbital flight in his Vostok 1 spacecraft. The date of April 12 was already a huge day in terms of space history because of this. Some twenty years later, this date would be underlined in terms of […]

• Chang’e 3 soars to the Moon, following impressive night-time launch

  SpaceFlight InsiderDecember 1st, 2013

  Staying true to the nature of its mythological namesake, the Moon-bound Chinese lander Chang’e 3 thundered into the skies at 17:30 GMT today above the Xichang Satellite Launch Center located in mainland China atop a Long March 3B launch vehicle. Chang’e 3’s historic launch, which was carried live by China’s state television, is of double […]