Baikonur Cosmodrome

I found this 2001 Air & Space article during my research about Sputnik-1, the world’s first artificial satellite. It’s a very good first person account of a visit out to the Baikonur Cosmodrome and some of the run-ups and rituals for launching from there. The writer was there for a launch of the first permanent International Space […]

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Repost: Soviet Dogs and History

This is a repost of a post from 3 Sept 2014.  For those who just needed a reminder, yesterday was the 57th anniversary of the Soviet Union’s second satellite launched into space.  This time with a dog named Laika on board.  And while the Soviets’ accomplishment of launching the first living being into space shouldn’t […]

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DIY Space: Do You Have Room in Your Life for PocketSpacecraft?

“If at first you don’t succeed…”–this is the spirit that is guiding the people conducting the activities at PocketSpacecraft.com.  They originally tried to get their “Mission to the Moon” project funded last year with Kickstarter, but didn’t get the funding level required there. The Mission to the Moon would’ve given lots of people the opportunity to send […]

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