Salyut 6 (Russian: Салют-6; lit. Salute 6), DOS-5, was a Sovietorbital space station, the eighth station of the Salyut programme. It was launched on 29 September 1977 by a Proton rocket. Salyut 6 was the first space station to receive large numbers of crewed and uncrewed spacecraft for human habitation, crew transfer, international participation and resupply, establishing precedents for station life and operations which were enhanced on Mir and the International Space Station.
Salyut 6 was the first "second generation" space station, representing a major breakthrough in capabilities and operational success. In addition to a new propulsion system and its primary scientific instrument—the BST-1M multispectral telescope—the station had two docking ports, allowing two craft to visit simultaneously. This feature made it possible for humans to remain aboard for several months. Six long-term resident crews were supported by ten short-term visiting crews who typically arrived in newer Soyuz craft and departed in older craft, leaving the newer craft available to the resident crew as a return vehicle, thereby extending the resident crew's stay past the design life of the Soyuz. Short-term visiting crews routinely included international cosmonauts from Warsaw pact countries participating in the Soviet Union's Intercosmos programme. These cosmonauts were the first spacefarers from countries other than the Soviet Union or the United States. Salyut 6 was visited and resupplied by twelve uncrewed Progress spacecraft including Progress 1, the first instance of the series. Additionally, Salyut 6 was visited by the first instances of the new Soyuz-T spacecraft.
Sergey Pavlovich Korolyov (December 30, 1906 - January 14, 1966) was a Soviet rocketengineer and is widely regarded as the founder of the Soviet space program. In July 1932, Korolev was appointed chief of Jet Propulsion Research Group, GIRD, one of the earliest state-sponsored centers for rocket development in the USSR. In 1933, the group was reorganized into the Jet Propulsion Research Institute, RNII, where Korolyov worked as Deputy Chief of the institute. At RNII, Korolyov led the development of cruise missiles and of a manned rocket-powered glider. He also participated in the development of the Tu-2 bomber, a major aircraft of the Soviet Air Force during World War II. In 1945, he was commissioned into the Red Army, with a rank of colonel and, along with other rocket experts, he was flown to Germany to gather information on the German V-2 rocket. Korolyov worked on the R-1 missile which was a replica of the German V-2 ballistic missile. In 1947 the NII-88 group under Korolyov began working on more advanced designs, with improvements in range and throw weight. This led to the R-2 and R-3 ballistic missiles and finally the R-7ICBM. He successfully convinced the Soviet leaders to fund the Sputnik program. The actual development of Sputnik was performed in less than a month. Finally on 4 October 1957, launched on a rocket that had only successfully launched once, the satellite was placed in orbit. This was followed by the launch of Sputnik 2 and 3. Korolyov's planning for a manned mission had begun back in 1958, when design studies were made on the future Vostok spacecraft. After the success of Vostok, Korolyov planned to move forward with Soyuz spacecraft that would be able to dock with other craft in orbit and exchange crews. For the moon race, Korolyov's staff designed the immense N1 rocket. He also had in work the design for the Soyuz manned spacecraft, as well as the Luna vehicles that would soft land on the Moon and unmanned missions to Mars and Venus. But, unexpectedly, he was to die before he could see his various plans brought to fruition. (Full article...)
A timed exposure of Space ShuttleColumbia on launch pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in preparation for her maiden flight, STS-1. To the left of the Shuttle are the fixed and the rotating service structures.