On March 9, 1961, the Soviet Union launched Sputnik 9. This mission was a test flight of the Vostok spacecraft, which would ...

On April 12, 1961, Yuri Gagarin lifted off from Baikonur in the Vostok I capsule, becoming the first human in space. A year later ... from these failures. Salyut 3, Salyut 4, and Salyut 5 ...

has successfully completed a crucial "fit check" for the European Space Agency's (ESA) Proba-3 mission, confirming that the spacecraft are ready for their upcoming launch. The two-satellite ...

However, it was quickly confirmed that the dark patch was actually Vostok Island, one of the 33 landmasses that make up the Republic of Kiribati in the South Pacific, the BBC reported at the time.