Vostok
It's Been 60 Years Since the First Human Spaceflight, And We Have Come So Far
On Monday, space lovers across the world celebrated the 60th anniversary of Yuri Gagarin’s historic flight on April 12, 1961.
We Need a New Vocabulary to Talk About the Human Future in Space
If humans want to expand beyond Earth in an optimal way, we’ll need novel language to keep pace with novel technologies.
55 Years Ago, Yuri Gagarin Became the First Human in Space
55 years isn’t long, but look back at the technology and politics of the first human spaceflight and it seems like a different planet.
Are Russia and China Really Serious, Or Just Hooking Up?
Joint military exercises scheduled for 2015 have fueled fresh speculation about the possibility of a growing alliance between the two countries.
There's Microbial Life in Lake Vostok After All
Scientists are sure that this time, they really have found life in the long-isolated, subglacial Antarctic lake.
There Was No Escape from the Sketchiest, Most Cramped Soviet Spaceflight
The Soviet Voskhod spacecraft was a hollowed out Vostok with almost no safety provisions. And it worked.
Valentina Tereshkova Was the First Woman in Space
When the first woman was chosen to fly in space, it was her background that made her the perfect candidate.
Taking Stock of Vostok
*_Well, "they finally made it.":http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/09/world/europe/russian-scientists-bore-into-ancient-antarctic-lake.html Russian drilling expeditions have been boring through ice in and around the Vostok research outpost on the East...
The Handsome Stuff: How Yuri Gagarin was Selected to be the First Cosmonaut
If you've read Tom Wolfe’s canonical space history “The Right Stuff,” or seen the famous movie adaptation, you know something of the grueling selection process of America’s Mercury astronaut.