B11

Some of the greatest and most prominent inventions in the quest to explore space have a Russian connection. The father of theoretical astronautics, Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, was a Soviet. His works have been an inspiration to leading Russian rocket engineers Valentin Glushko and Sergev Korolyov.

 LEAD

B12

Soviet scientists paved the way to the well-known success of the Russian space program. Sputnik I, the first artificial satellite orbiting the Earth, was launched in 1957.

 SCIENCE

B13

On April 12, 1961, Yury Gagarin successfully made the first human trip to space.

 SUCCESS

B14

Since then, many other Russian and Soviet records in space exploration followed.

 EXPLORE

B15

Even now, Russia continues to be the leaderin satellite launching.

 LEAD

B16

It is also the sole transport provider for space tourism/tourists. Other Soviet contributions to the development of space flights include the invention of space food, space suits, human spaceflight, and human space orbit.

 TOUR