Manned Spaceflight Gallery

First US manned space flight, 1961

First US manned space flight, 1961. Redstone rocket launching the Freedom 7 capsule into space on 5th May 1961. This mission (Mercury-Redstone 3) launched Alan Shepherd into space as part of the Mercury program, making him the first US astronaut to travel into space, and the second person worldwide after Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin - who had made his flight in April of that year. Shepherd's flight lasted less than 16 minutes, reaching a height of 187 kilometres. Unlike Gagarin, Shepherd did not orbit the Earth. Photographed on 5th May 1961, at Launch Complex 5 (LC-5), Cape Canaveral, Florida, USA

© NASA/VRS/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY

Astronaut Bruce McCandless walking in space

Astronaut Bruce McCandless floats free above the Earth in his manned maneuvring unit (MMU) on February 7, 1984, during the 10th space shuttle flight (mission 41B). McCandless, who helped design the MMU, was the first person to fly it, thus becoming the first "human satellite" in orbit around the Earth. The MMU is propelled by small nitrogen thrusters which are controlled by the astronaut's hands. Because no umbilical cord attaches the astronaut to the spacecraft, it gives much greater mobility than was available to earlier spacewalkers. Mission 41B was launched from Kennedy Space Center on February 3, 1984, & landed back at Kennedy on February 12

© Nasa/Science Photo Library

Laika the space dog

First animal in space. Laika, the bitch who became the first animal in space, inside a mock-up of the cabin of the Soviet Sputnik 2 spacecraft. Sputnik 2 was launched on 3 November 1957. Laika (meaning "Barker" or "Husky") was contained within a sealed cabin with a food store and an air conditioner. Soviet propaganda at the time maintained that she survived for around a week, but in fact she died after just a few hours due to overheating and panic. The spacecraft was not designed to be recovered and it burnt up as it re- entered the atmosphere on 14 April 1958, 162 days after its launch. Still image from the documentary film First Soviet Satellites of the Earth

© RIA NOVOSTI/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY