Even before Laika set paw in Sputnik 2, Soviet researchers sent dogs into higher altitudes than any canine creature had traveled before. To help keep those dogs safe—and to test the equipment that would allow humans to eventually reach orbit—these scientists created high pressure suits, complete with helmets fitted to…

Space exploration requires technical expertise, careful planning, and test after test after test. But it can be hard to discount the role of luck in missions where so much can go wrong. In the US and Russian space programs, many rituals are attached to missions, perhaps to add a little good fortune to their science.

Laika might get the lion dog's share of the historical glory, but the Soviet Union sent dozens of intrepid canine explorers on orbital and suborbital missions. This poster by Jess Bradley honors those early cosmonauts as adorable, waggly dogs.

When cosmonauts and astronauts now return from a long-duration space mission on board the International Space Station, they are always coming home on a Soyuz capsule, landing in northern Kazakhstan. The Kazakh Steppe is known for its bitter winters (I just checked the local weather in Ayagoz, Kazakhstan and there is…

One of the most horrific and mysterious deaths in space is that of USSR cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov, a close friend of Yuri Gagarin. Some historians say Komarov was sent to space in a craft that officials knew could never return.

The United States won the Space Race decisively when Apollo 11 landed on the Moon on July 20, 1969, but nobody ever really knew just how close the Soviet Union got to putting cosmonauts on the lunar surface. Now, forty years later, researcher Charles Vick says the Soviets really could have reached the Moon by the…

Inspired by Soviet-era technology and Jewish symbols, Derek Stenning has created a series of paintings in which retro-outfitted cosmonauts travel the skies of an industrial future.

Every year the NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View, CA, plays host to a Yuri's Night festival, which celebrates the journey of Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin on April 12, 1961. This year's event, April 9-10, still needs volunteers!