launch of the first shuttle mission. On that day in 1961, Russian
cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin (left, on the way to the launch pad) became the
first human in space, making a 108-minute orbital flight in his Vostok 1
spacecraft. Newspapers like The Huntsville Times (right) trumpeted
Gagarin's accomplishment.
Mercury astronaut Alan Shepard became the first American in space less
than a month later.
Scientific cooperation with the Soviet Union dates back to the very
beginnings of space flight. The
first cooperative human space flight
project between the United States and the Soviet Union took place in
1975. The Apollo-Soyuz Test Project was designed to test the
compatibility of rendezvous and docking systems for American and Soviet
spacecraft and to open the way for future joint manned flights.
Since 1993, the U.S. and Russia have worked together on a number of
other space flight projects. The Space Shuttle began visiting the
Russian Mir space station in 1994, and in 1995 Norm Thagard became the
first U.S. astronaut to take up residency on Mir. Seven U.S. astronauts
served with their Russian counterparts aboard the orbiting Mir
laboratory from 1995 to 1998. The experience gained from the Mir
cooperative effort, as well as lessons learned, paved the way for the
International Space Station.
In-orbit construction on the Station began in November 1998, and it has
been staffed non-stop with international crews since November 2000. The
first Station crew, made up of U.S. commander Bill Shepherd and
cosmonauts Yuri Gidzenko and Sergei Krikalev, was launched on board a
Russian Soyuz spacecraft. The crew returned to Earth on the Space
Shuttle Discovery in March 2001.
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Gagarin Video (2 Mb mpeg)
