In this deeply researched chronology, Colin Burgess describes the then Soviet Unions extraordinary success in the pioneering years of space exploration. Within a decade, the Soviets not only launched the worlds first satellite, Sputnik, in 1957, but they also were the first to send an animal and a human being into Earth orbit. In the years that followed, their groundbreaking missions sent a woman into space, launched a three-man spacecraft, and included the first person to walk in space. Six decades on from the historic spaceflight of cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, Burgess guides us through the amazing achievements of Russias spaceflight program through to the present day, introducing the men and women who have flown the missions that drive us to delve ever deeper into the wonders and complexities of the cosmos. |