Manned space missions

 Manned space missions:

Man's space adventure began with the Russian Yuri Gagarin, who on April 12, 1961 became the first person to travel to space. Gagarin traveled in the Vostok 1 spacecraft, which circled Earth on a mission that only lasted 108 minutes.

The next step was taken by the Americans with the arrival of man on the Moon. The first "moon landing" occurred on July 20, 1969, and the first man to step on it was Neil Armstrong. This mission was part of the "Apollo" project, which managed to complete 6 manned trips to our satellite. The trips were made between 1969 and 1972 and there were 12 astronauts who managed to step on the lunar soil.

At present there is no project to send manned missions to the Moon, although it is not ruled out to send a probe in order to develop our knowledge about this natural satellite of the Earth.

In 1986, the USSR put the Mir space station into orbit. It was one of the most important space navigation projects of the 20th century, more than 100 astronauts passed through it. This station was in operation until February 2001 and was used to carry out experiments that were very valuable to science.

The experience gained with the Soviet station was essential for the construction of the other great project of man in space: the International Space Station (ISS). It is already in operation with astronauts on board, although it is expected to be fully completed by April 2006. This project, in which 16 countries collaborate, has the main participation of the US, Russia, Europe and Japan.

The International Space Station will be a great advance in space technology, it will be useful for conducting experiments and for studying the Earth from space. It will also be important for future manned space travel, as it will allow studying the effects of microgravity on the human body over long periods of time.