All articles tagged with #soviet space program
Originally Published 6 months ago — by IFLScience
In 1968, the Soviet Union's Zond 5 spacecraft became the first to circle the Moon, carrying two steppe tortoises along with worms, flies, and seeds, beating NASA's Apollo 8 mission, which carried humans. The tortoises' successful journey marked a significant milestone in space exploration, demonstrating that even slow-moving creatures could achieve lunar orbit before humans did.
Originally Published 1 year ago — by Jalopnik
The Buran space plane, the Soviet Union's answer to NASA's Space Shuttle, now sits abandoned and rusting in a hangar in Kazakhstan. Despite its successful unmanned flight in 1988, the Buran program was halted after the fall of the Berlin Wall and officially canceled in 1993. While NASA's shuttles are celebrated in museums, the Buran remains largely forgotten, with only a few remnants and an engineering prototype left to tell the story of this ambitious but ultimately short-lived Soviet space endeavor.
Originally Published 1 year ago — by Hollywood Reporter
Apple has renewed "For All Mankind" for a fifth season and ordered a spinoff series titled "Star City," which will explore the Soviet space program. The spinoff, created by the same team behind the flagship series, is described as a "propulsive paranoid thriller" set during the alt-history retelling of the space race. Ron Moore, the co-creator of "For All Mankind," will serve as an executive producer on the spinoff. This move comes as Apple continues to invest in high-profile content and expand its original series lineup.
Originally Published 1 year ago — by Variety
Apple TV+ has renewed "For All Mankind" for Season 5 and ordered a spinoff series titled "Star City," focusing on the Soviet space program. The spinoff will explore the alternative timeline where the Soviets are the first to reach the moon and delve into the lives of cosmonauts, engineers, and intelligence officers in the Soviet space program. Both shows are executive produced by Ronald D. Moore, Matt Wolpert, and Ben Nedivi, with "Star City" set to be showrun by Wolpert and Nedivi.
Originally Published 1 year ago — by RussianSpaceWeb.com
From Nov. 30, 1973, to Jan. 28, 1974, the Soyuz spacecraft completed a two-month autonomous endurance mission, setting a new record for its solo flight. Originally intended for a crewed mission to the DOS-2 space station, the spacecraft was repurposed for the unpiloted test flight after the loss of DOS-3. The mission, designated Kosmos-613, involved testing the spacecraft's onboard systems in a simulated joint flight with a space station, certifying it for future expeditions. The spacecraft successfully landed on Jan. 28, 1974, and its nature was publicly acknowledged in 1985.