In Pictures: Exploring Mars with Curiosity
In Pictures: Meteors
In Pictures: Space photos of the day: Dancing with the Stars
In Pictures: Space photos of the day: Black Holes
In Pictures: Space Photos of the Day: Asteroids
In Pictures: Space photos of the day: Visions of the future
In Pictures: Space photos of the day: Massive Storms
In Pictures: Space photos of the day: Gas giants
In Pictures: Space photos of the day: Heavenly Rings
In Pictures: Space photos of the day: Female Astronauts
In Pictures: Space photos of the day: The Moon
In Pictures: Space photos of the day: A Blue Planet
The Soviet and, later, Russian space station Mir is seen in 1998 as it orbits Earth after the US space shuttle Endeavour moves away after completing five days of joint operations. The space station would be decommissioned in 2000 and reentered the Earth's atmosphere in 2001.
The Soviet-French space crew (l.- r.) Sergei Krikalyev, Jeab-Loup Chretien aboard the Russia's space station Mir in 1988.
Sputnik 2 was the first satellite to carry a living animal, Laika the dog, into space. Laika died after 5 to 7 hours.
This file photo taken on April 12, 1961 shows the Soviet Vostok-1 spaceship with cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin on board blasts off on top of Rocket R-7 for the first manned trip into space from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The 27-year-old's 108-minute flight is still remembered in Russia even after the USSR's collapse as its greatest national achievement. The first manned spaceflight allowed the Soviet leadership, fully entrenched in the cold war, to maintain the superiority of the communist system over their principal adversary, the United States.
This undated picture shows a Russian Vostok rocket on its launcher. It was the Soviet Union's own giant leap for mankind – one that would spur a humiliated America to race for the moon. It happened on Tuesday, April 12, 1961 when an air force pilot named Yuri Gagarin, traveling in a Vostok, became the first human in space.
This file photo taken on April 12, 1961 shows Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin inside the Vostok 1 command capsule.
Yuri Gagarin talks with Soviet leadership before his historic 1961 flight.
An early space capsule from the USSR is seen in this 1960s photo.
The Apollo-Soyuz Test Project was the first joint US/Soviet space mission, flown in 1975. This symbolic mission saw the two crews conducting separate experiments and helping each other conduct joint research. The mission also saw the docking of the two orbital spacecraft, as depicted in this painting
A replica of Sputnik 1, the first artificial satellite to be put into outer space by the Soviet Union in 1957.
This photo depicts the liftoff of the Saturn IB launch vehicle, for the Apollo/Soyuz Test Project mission, from the Launch Complex 39B, Kennedy Space Center.
Visitors at the 38th Paris International Air and Space Shown at Le Bourget Airfield line up to tour a Soviet An-225 Mriya aircraft with the Space Shuttle Buran on its back. The Buran was a Space Shuttle-like reusable space vehicle that completed only one unmanned spaceflight in 1988.
This 1972 Soviet postage stamp depicts celebrating the space program is from a series titled '15 Years of Space Age.
Nikolai Nikolaevich Rukavishnikov, cosmonaut of the USSR, was captain of the 1979 Soyuz 33 mission to the Soviet Salyut 6 space station.
A model of the Salyut 7 space station, with a Soyuz spacecraft docked at the front port and a Progress spacecraft at the rear port is seen. The display is in front of one of the pavilions of the Exhibition of Soviet National Economic Achievement located across from the Kosmos Hotel on the north side of Moscow.
The Soyuz spacecraft and launch vehicle are installed on the launch pad at the Baikonur complex in Kazakhstan. Baikonur is the world's largest space center. This launch was part of the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (ASTP), a cooperative space mission between the United States and the USSR.
The Soviet Cosmos unmanned satellite/spacecraft is on display. The circular viewport was installed for display purposes. The Cosmos (or Kosmos) series of satellites are a large series of unmanned orbiters launched from Russia beginning in 1962. 2,468 Cosmos satellites have been launched to date.
On April 12, 1961, the era of human spaceflight began when the Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first human to orbit the Earth in his Vostock I spacecraft. The flight lasted 108 minutes.
In Pictures: Derby Day devotees, Kenyan style
Photos of the Day: Photos of the day 05/16
In Pictures: Dazzle like Beckham
In Pictures: Weather extremes 2013
Photos of the Day: Photos of the day 05/15
In Pictures: Duchess Kate's royal baby bump
Photos of the Day: Photos of the day 05/14
In Pictures: Keffiyeh is rebel chic
Under Hugo Chávez, big businesses endured threats of state takeover. This week, Chávez's successor reached out to the boss of Venezuela's largest privately held company.
In Venezuela, Hugo Chávez's successor seems to be turning toward big business for help in ending rampant scarcities of basic consumer goods and an almost 30 percent annual inflation rate.
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