At the height of the "space race" between the USSR and the United States, newspapers were regularly full of headlines about cosmonauts and conducted flights. Now the situation has changed: few know how things are in space, and whether astronauts continue to explore the Universe. Nevertheless, despite the high cost of space flights, people continue to fly into space.
Russia, the United States and China are the three countries that have sent manned spacecraft into space. The famous American Shuttle program, which started in 1981, was closed in 2011. The reusable spacecraft have served their time and have been donated to national museums. However, America is not giving up. Its astronauts are still ready to fly into space, just not in their ships. They have already redeemed their seats and will conquer the vastness of the Universe on the ships of the Russian Federation.
Soyuz is a series of Russian spacecraft. The project was started in 1962 and has been successfully developing ever since. It is the Soyuz that are now delivering people and the necessary equipment to the orbital station. Astronauts from many countries fly on multi-seat spaceships.
Not so long ago, China also joined the space race. In 2003, it became the third country capable of launching its own manned spacecraft into orbit. And in 2011, China launched its orbital station into space. Now the government plans to develop reusable manned transport spaceships and send Chinese astronauts to the moon.
The giant ISS research complex continues its activities in orbit. Astronauts from 15 countries are working on the joint brainchild of Russia and the United States: Russia, the United States, the Netherlands, France, Norway, Belgium, Germany, Spain, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, Italy, Japan, Switzerland and Sweden. There are 6 astronauts permanently at the station, working and monitoring the instruments.
Tourists are also eager to fly into space. Despite the fact that they have to part with huge sums of money for preparation and directly for the flight to the ISS, space tourism continues to develop. More and more people are ready to endure grueling physical activity in order to fulfill their dream - to go to the stars.
