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The Soviet Buran space shuttle on the launch pad the day of its only launch, November 15, 1988. (Photo)

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Soviet Cosmonauts / Full Set of 50 Big Size Postcards (1982) / Vintage Spacemen Portraits by SovietPostcards (39.99 USD) http://ift.tt/1l1BbCJ

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Belka (Белка, literally, “Squirrel” or, alternately, “Whitey”) and Strelka (Стрелка, “Arrow”), alongside a grey rabbit, 42 mice, 2 rats, flies and several plants and fungi, became the first Earth-born creatures to go into orbit and return alive aboard Korabl-Sputnik 2 (Sputnik 5) on 19 August 1960, spending a day in space.

Strelka went on to have six puppies with a male dog named Pushok who participated in many ground-based space experiments, but never made it into space. One of the pups was named Pushinka (Пушинка, “Fluffy”) and was presented to President John F. Kennedy’s daughter Caroline by Nikita Khrushchev in 1961. A Cold War romance bloomed between Pushinka and a Kennedy dog named Charlie resulting in the birth of 4 pups that JFK referred to jokingly as pupniks. Two of their pups, Butterfly and Streaker were given away to children in the Midwest. The other two puppies, White Tips and Blackie, stayed at the Kennedy home on Squaw Island but were eventually given away to family friends. Pushinka’s descendants are still living today. A photo of descendants of some of the Space Dogs is on display at the Zvezda Museum outside Moscow.

Source: Wikipedia.

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  How Valentina Tereshkova’s 1963 Vostok-6 Flight Worked

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Both the first woman and first civilian to go to space, cosmonaut Valentina Vladimirovna Tereshkova (born 6 March 1937), who flew in Voskot 6 on June 6 1963, for a total mission duration of 2 days, 22 hours and 50 minutes, completing 48 orbits around the earth.

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Belka (Белка, literally, “Squirrel” or, alternately, “Whitey”) and Strelka (Стрелка, “Arrow”), alongside a grey rabbit, 42 mice, 2 rats, flies and several plants and fungi, became the first Earth-born creatures to go into orbit and return alive aboard Korabl-Sputnik 2 (Sputnik 5) on 19 August 1960, spending a day in space.

Strelka went on to have six puppies with a male dog named Pushok who participated in many ground-based space experiments, but never made it into space. One of the pups was named Pushinka (Пушинка, “Fluffy”) and was presented to President John F. Kennedy’s daughter Caroline by Nikita Khrushchev in 1961. A Cold War romance bloomed between Pushinka and a Kennedy dog named Charlie resulting in the birth of 4 pups that JFK referred to jokingly as pupniks. Two of their pups, Butterfly and Streaker were given away to children in the Midwest. The other two puppies, White Tips and Blackie, stayed at the Kennedy home on Squaw Island but were eventually given away to family friends. Pushinka’s descendants are still living today. A photo of descendants of some of the Space Dogs is on display at the Zvezda Museum outside Moscow.

Source: Wikipedia.

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New on War History Online: V-2 Rocket Facility Peenemunde - Rare Color Film http://wrhstol.com/1NEfzb5

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If you’re going to be in London next month....

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Soviet Space Dog Laika Cigarette Pack Russia 1950s

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Сегодня исполняется 45 лет с момента запуска «Венеры-7».

Today is 45th anniversary of Venera 7 (Venus 7) launch.

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Первый космонавт Юрий Гагарин с белым голубем.

The first cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin with a white dove.

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R.I.P. Valery Kubasov (Вале́рий Куба́сов), the Russian cosmonaut best known for his participation in the 1975 Apollo-Soyuz mission. He passed away on February 19, 2014, at the age of 79. Here are some fun facts about his amazing life culled from various obituaries:

"Kubasov, twice named Hero of the Soviet Union, flew in space three times, including on the historic Apollo-Soyuz mission in 1975 that saw an American Apollo and Soviet Soyuz spacecraft dock with one another." (RIA Novosti)

"The cosmonauts and the astronauts — Brig. Gen. Thomas P. Stafford, and Deke Slayton and Vance D. Brand, both civilians — spent 44 hours together, exchanging gifts and conducting scientific experiments, while their spacecraft were linked." (New York Times)

"Later, at a space-to-ground conference attended by both crews, he expressed his hope as an engineer that their work would pave the way for a time “when space will have whole plants, factories, for the production of new materials." (The Telegraph)

"On his first space mission, aboard Soyuz 6 in October 1969, he carried out the first vacuum welding in space, fusing different types of metals with an electric gun to set the stage for extensive welding work on future missions in zero gravity." (NYT)

Kubasov was “reported to have broken out in a medley of songs during that mission, seemingly out of character, bringing laughter from the craft’s commander, Lt. Col. Georgi Shonin.” (NYT)

Of the Earth, he said “there is nothing more beautiful than our blue planet.” (The Telegraph)

"Mr. Kubasov’s third and final space mission came in spring 1980, when he joined with Bertalan Farkas, the first Hungarian in space, on a docking with the Soviet Union’s Salyut 6 orbiting station." (NYT)

His wife described him as “calm, restrained, not excitable.” (NYT)

"Kubasov, originally trained as an engineer, remained active as a manager and technical consultant in Russian space projects in the post-Soviet era." (RIA Novosti)

Please note: In the two-shot photos, he is pictured with fellow cosmonaut Aleksei A. Leonov.

(Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5)

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Has anyone read this? It's several volumes, right?

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 Misión lunar de las naves soviéticas Zond. Estas naves, derivadas de las Soyuz, estaban diseñadas para realizar un sobrevuelo a la Luna y regresar a Tierra, y potencialmente podían haber transportado a un cosmonauta a la Luna. En su lugar llevaron diversos especímenes biológicos, entre ellos tortugas.-

 Fuente de la infografía: Ciudad Futura.-

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Sergei Korolyov, Chief Designer, talking to Valentina Tereshkova before her flight. (1963)

(Energia)

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Soviet poster promoting science, 1970s