A Brief Timeline of the Soviet/Russian Manned Space Program

The Soviet, then Russian, space program was born of Cold War competition. After the fall of the Soviet Union, it became the last vestige of Russia as a super power, a shadow of its former self. Here are some highlights.

April 12, 1961 - Soviet Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin becomes first man to orbit the Earth in hisVostok 1.

Aug. 11-12, 1962 - Simultaneous flights ofVostok 3andVostok 4.They pass within four miles of each other. First ship-to-ship communication in space.

June 16, 1963 - Launch ofVostok 6. Valentina Tereshkova becomes first female in space.

Oct. 12, 1964 -Voshkod 1launched with three-man crew. First multi-manned mission.

March 18, 1965 -Voshkod 2launched with two-man crew, cosmonaut Alexi Leonov performs first space walk.

April 23, 1967 -Soyuz 1launched. Cosmonaut Vladmir Komarov dies in crash landing.

Jan. 14-15, 1969 - Launch ofSoyuz 4andSoyuz 5. Docked with each other and achieved crew transfer.

April 19, 1971 - Launch of first space station,Saylut 1. First crew of three die while reentering Earth on board a Soyuz spacecraft.

July 15-24, 1975 -Apollo-Soyuz test project. A Soviet Soyuz and an American Apollo were launched and successfully docked in low Earth orbit, constituting the first joint mission for the two super powers.

July 25, 1984 -Svetlana Savitskayabecomes first woman to walk in space while on Soviet space stationSaylut 7.

Feb. 19, 1986 - First module ofMir space stationlaunched. Several other modules were added and a total of 28 crews occupied the facility until it was deorbited in 2001.

Oct. 5, 1992 -Agreement signedto put Russian cosmonauts on the American space shuttle and American astronauts on the Mir space station.

September 1993 - Agreement negotiated between Russia and United States to build joint International Space Station.

June 29,1995 -Space shuttle Atlantis docks with Mir. First docking of a U.S. and Russian spacecraft since Apollo-Soyuz test project.

Nov. 29, 1998 - Russia launchesZarya, first module for theInternational Space Station.

Oct. 2, 2000 -First crew, including two Russian cosmonauts, launched to International Space Station aboard Soyuz spacecraft.

April 28, 2001- Russia takes first paying customer,Dennis Tito,to ISS. Seven tourists so far have stayed on the ISS on behalf of Russia.

April 4, 2011 -Soyuz spacecraft"Gagarin"takes two Russians and one American to the International Space Station.

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