Cosmonautics Day! :: Nauka ~ Tehnika ~ Military

On April 12, 1961, Soviet cosmonaut Yury Gagarin orbited the Earth for the first time in a Vostok spacecraft.! Smile

..............http://www.yurisnight.net/2007/

Yury Gagarin, the first man in space, in 1961.

Launching the Vostok-1 spacecraft.

Newspapers published on April 12, 1961.

Yury Gagarin, the world’s first cosmonaut and Hero of the USSR, with spacecraft designer Sergei Korolyov. 1961.

Cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova, the first woman in space, before her space flight on June 16, 1963. The Baikonur Space Center.

Cosmonaut Alexei Leonov became the first person to perform a spacewalk. March 1965.

American astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin were the first astronauts to land on the Moon. The picture shows Buzz Aldrin on the Moon. Photo taken by Neil Armstrong. July 21, 1969.

American astronaut Neil Armstrong with a present from Soviet cosmonauts. Star City, 1970.

American astronauts David Scott and James Irwin, crewmembers of the Apollo-15 spacecraft, preparing a lunar rover to operate on the Moon. July 30, 1971.

Transporting a launch vehicle carrying the Soyuz-13 spacecraft. The Baikonur Space Center, 1974.

The crews of the Soyuz and Apollo spacecrafts meeting with journalists before their space flight. The Cosmonauts Training Center, Star City. June 10, 1975.

Thomas Stafford and Alexei Leonov during a joint exercise. 1975.

The joint international flight of the Soyuz-19 and Apollo spacecrafts in 1975 presaged the era of cooperation between Russia and America. The picture shows the joint Russian-American Soyuz-Apollo mission after the two crafts docked. Soviet cosmonaut Alexei Leonov (center), Hero of the USSR, and American astronauts Thomas Stafford and Deke Slayton aboard a spacecraft.

Viktor Afanasyev and Sergei Avdeyev, Mir space station crewmembers, performing an extra-vehicular activity. 1999.

On May 19, 2000, the Atlantis, an American space shuttle, was launched from Cape Canaveral to the International Space Station with 7 crewmembers on board, among them Russian cosmonaut Yury Usachyov.

The Soyuz TM-31 spacecraft carried the first Russian-American long-term expedition, which included astronaut William Shepherd and Russian cosmonauts Yury Gizdenko and Sergei Krikalyov. The spacecraft docked with the International Space Station on November 2, 2000.

Launching the Soyuz TM-31 spacecraft. October 31, 2000.

A Soyuz crew including Russian cosmonauts Talgat Musabayev (center), Yury Baturin (right) and American Dennis Tito, the first space tourist, preparing for a space flight. April 2001.