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 […]

Soviet Space History

12 April 1961 is another of those important dates humans shouldn’t forget. It was the day a human first entered space, if only for 108 minutes. That human was a Soviet Cosmonaut named Yuri Gagarin. The Daily Kos posted this article yesterday, giving some information on the Space Race between the US and USSR, and […]

Russian spacesuits, showers, and toilets for space operators

Popular Mechanics posted this article and these pictures of an old Soviet spacesuit factory. According to the article, the Tomilino, Russia-based factory is still manufacturing things (but doesn’t really say spacesuits, specifically). They apparently manufactured spacesuits for cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin–and for dogs named Laika, too. The toilet looks, um, functional. Related articles Skydiver record could affect spacesuit […]