Portal:Spaceflight

The Spaceflight Portal

Main   Lists and timelines   WikiProject Spaceflight Discussions Introduction Launch of STS-1, the first space shuttle flight Spaceflight (also space flight) is an application of astronautics to fly objects, usually spacecraft, into or through outer space, either with or without humans on board. Most spaceflight is uncrewed and conducted mainly with spacecraft such as satellites in orbit around Earth, but also includes space probes for flights beyond Earth orbit. Such spaceflights operate either by telerobotic or autonomous control. The first spaceflights began in the 1950s with the launches of the Soviet Sputnik satellites and American Explorer and Vanguard missions. Human spaceflight programs include the Soyuz, Shenzhou, the past Apollo Moon landing and the Space Shuttle programs. Other current spaceflight are conducted to the International Space Station and to China's Tiangong Space Station. (Full article...) Selected article Dragon is a spacecraft developed by SpaceX. During its maiden flight in December 2010, Dragon became the first commercially built and operated spacecraft to be recovered successfully from orbit. On May 25, 2012, a cargo variant of Dragon became the first commercial spacecraft to successfully rendezvous with and be attached to the International Space Station (ISS). SpaceX is contracted to deliver cargo to the ISS under NASA's Commercial Resupply Services program, and Dragon began regular cargo flights in October 2012. The spacecraft is currently launched atop a Falcon 9 Full Thrust rocket. Earlier missions, through SpaceX CRS-2, used the original Falcon 9 rocket. Dragon has been launched on seven missions, with one, SpaceX CRS-7, suffering a launch failure. Dragon was renewed for the second round of the Commercial Resupply Services in 2016. It is also the basis for the Dragon V2 manned spacecraft, which was selected under the CCDev program in 2014 to deliver astronauts to the ISS. Next scheduled launch For a full schedule of launches and deep-space rendezvous, see 2026 in spaceflight. Selected biography Yuri Gagarin Yuri Alexeyevich Gagarin (9 March 1934 – 27 March 1968) was a Soviet cosmonaut and the first human to orbit the earth. Yuri Gagarin joined the Soviet Air Force in 1955 and graduated with honors from the Soviet Air Force Academy in 1957. Soon afterward, he became a military fighter pilot. By 1959, he had been selected for cosmonaut training as part of the first group of USSR cosmonauts. Yuri Gagarin flew only one space mission. On April 12, 1961 he became the first human to orbit Earth. Gagarin's spacecraft, Vostok 1, circled Earth at a speed of 27,400 kilometers per hour. The flight lasted 108 minutes. At its highest point, Gagarin was about 200 miles (327 kilometers) above Earth. Once in orbit, Yuri Gagarin had no control over his spacecraft. Vostok's reentry was controlled by a computer program sending radio commands to the space capsule. Although the controls were locked, a key had been placed in a sealed envelope in case an emergency situation made it necessary for Gagarin to take control. As was planned, Cosmonaut Gagarin ejected after reentry into Earth's atmosphere at an altitude of 20,000 feet and landed by parachute. As pilot of the spaceship Vostok 1, he proved that man could endure the rigors of lift-off, re-entry, and weightlessness. As a result of his historic flight he became an international hero and legend. Colonel Gagarin died on March 27, 1968 when the MiG-15 airplane he was piloting crashed near Moscow. He was given a hero's funeral, his ashes interred in the Kremlin Wall. He is popularly known as “The Columbus of the Cosmos”. More selected biographies Selected picture Image of the Pioneer plaque NASA image of Pioneer 10's famed Pioneer plaque, a pictorial message to any extraterrestrial being that may intercept the probe. It features a design engraved into a gold-anodized aluminum plate, 152 by 229 millimeters (6 by 9 inches), attached to the spacecraft's antenna support struts to help shield it from erosion by interstellar dust. On This Day 11 September 1967 - A Voskhod launches the Kosmos 175 satellite. 1974 - A Kosmos-3M launches the Kosmos 676 satellite. 1976 - A Thor DSV-2U launches a DMSP satellite. 1976 - A Proton-K launches a Raduga satellite. 1981 - A Molniya-M launches the Kosmos 1305 satellite. 1987 - A Soyuz-U launches the Kosmos 1881 satellite. 1996 - An Ariane 4 launches the Echostar-2 satellite. 1997 - The Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft begins orbit insertion around Mars. 2006 - An H-IIA launches two IGS satellites. 2007 - A Kosmos-3M launches the Kosmos 2429 satellite. 2010 - An H-IIA launches the QZSS-1 navigation satellite. 2013 - A Rokot launches three Gonets-M satellites. View: Today | September | All Did you know... ... that Blue Origin NS-31 recently became the first all-female spaceflight in 62 years? nCube, a typical CubeSat …that a CubeSat (pictured) is a cube, 10 centimetres in all dimensions, weighing less than one kilogram? …that the Voskhod spacecraft was so cramped that the crew of Voskhod 1 were unable to wear spacesuits? ...that the last flight of the Space Shuttle program was on June 2011? Key topics Related portals Related WikiProjects Spaceflight Aviation Military history Solar System Astronomy Things to do Here are some tasks awaiting attention: Article requests : See Wikipedia:Requested articles/Applied arts and sciences/Engineering § Aeronautical/Aerospace See Wikipedia:Requested articles/Applied arts and sciences/Transport § Rockets and spacecraft Assess : See Category:Unassessed spaceflight articles Infobox : See Category:Spaceflight articles needing infoboxes Stubs : See Category:Outer space stubs Update : 2020s in spaceflight Categories Category puzzle Select [►] to view subcategories Spaceflight Spaceflight by century Spaceflight by decade Spaceflight by year Human spaceflight Space programs Spacecraft Future spaceflights Space accidents and incidents Space advocacy Aircraft related to spaceflight Astrodynamics Spaceflight between space stations Celebrations of spaceflight Spaceflight concepts Space debris Spaceflight ground equipment Exploration of the Solar System by target History of spaceflight Interstellar travel Space-flown life Space organizations People associated with spaceflight Private spaceflight Rocket launches Space Age Suborbital spaceflight Spaceflight technology Test spaceflights Space traffic management Works about spaceflight Associated Wikimedia The following Wikimedia Foundation sister projects provide more on this subject: Commons Free media repository Wikidata Free knowledge base Wikiquote Collection of quotations Wikisource Free-content library Wikiversity Free learning tools Wiktionary Dictionary and thesaurus Discover Wikipedia using portals List of all portals The arts portal Biography portal Current events portal Geography portal History portal Mathematics portal Science portal Society portal Technology portal Random portal WikiProject Portals