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Today in History: October 4, Soviets launch Sputnik, spark the Space Age

Today in history: On Oct. 4, 1957, the Space Age began as the Soviet Union launched Sputnik 1, the first artificial satellite, into orbit. Pope Paul VI delivers an address to the United Nations General Assembly in New York, Oct. 4, 1965. This image made from television footage made in Mazar-i-Sharif, Afghanistan, Saturday Dec.1, 2001, shows John Walker Lindh at …

Space

Space Spaceshipone Soviets Launch

Mendez makes it to space

Answer the following questions: 1) Who is the first Cuban cosmonaut? By being part of the Soyuz 38 mission in 1980, Cuban cosmonaut Arnaldo Tamayo Mendez achieved all these firsts, inscribing his name in space history forever. Interkosmos programme During the time Mendez was making his way up the Cuban Air Force, the Soviet Union had designed and formed the …

The genius behind early Russian space tech

The genius behind early Russian space tech Sovfoto/Getty Images The Soviet Union did not have many of the same technological advances enjoyed by Nasa – but that didn’t stop them leaping ahead of the Americans into space. “The American aircraft industry had transitioned from vacuum tubes to transistors, but the Soviets were still using vacuum tubes in their spacecraft up …

Spacecraft

Yuri Gagarin: The first man in space

What can we learn from a 45-year-old handshake in space?

The United States wants to play space rangers. Back on Earth, the two nations were still pointing nuclear missiles at each other across the rigid ideological divide of the Iron Curtain, but 230 kilometres above the planet on 17 July 1975 it was all smiles, gifts and bonhomie as what was formally called the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project would become known …