Russia had established a presence in Alaska during the first half of the 18th century and had skirmishes with the indigenous Tlingit people already there. So I guess that gave them the right to sell it? Czar Alexander II sought to unload the territory for some quick cash and found a buyer in US Secretary of State William Seward. Czar Alex also considered Alaska to be difficult to defend in case the United Kingdom attacked.
A price was agreed upon on March 30, 1867 at a price of $7.2M. The treaty became effective October 18, 1867. Alaska became a state in 1959.
Pyotr Dubrov, born January 30, 1978 in Russia, went into space aboard Soyuz MS-18 in April 2021 to the International Space Station. He participated in a long duration missions from Expeditions 64-66. He returned to Earth aboard Soyuz MS-19 in March 2022 with fellow astronaut Mark Vande Hei. He spent over 355 days in space.
Bion 10, or Kosmos 2229, a Russian spacecraft as part of a multinational effort, was launched December 29, 1992. It carried two monkeys, plants, cell cultures, insects, and amphibians. The Rhesus monkeys were trained to activate food and juice dispensers, to operate a foot pedal to study muscles responses, and to make hand and head movements in response to visual stimuli.
The countries involved were Canada, France, Germany, Lithuania, Netherlands, China, Russia, Ukraine, US, Uzbekistan, and the European Space Agency.
The spacecraft orbited Earth for almost 12 days, before landing successfully on January 10, 1993.
Aleksandr Laveykin, born April 21, 1951 in Moscow, Russia, went into space aboard Soyuz TM-2 to Mir in February 1987. He was part of expedition Mir EO-2 and spent 174 days in space. He returned to Earth in July 1987.
Valentin Lebedev, born April 14, 1942 in Moscow, Russia, went into space twice.
His first flight was aboard Soyuz 13 in December 1973 as flight engineer. The flight lasted almost 8 days.
His second flight was aboard Soyuz T-5 as flight engineer to Salyut 7 in August 1982. He stayed aboard until December, when he returned to Earth aboard Soyuz T-7.
Aleksandr Samokutyayev, born March 13, 1970 in Penza, Russia, has been into space twice.
His first flight was aboard Soyuz TMA-21 as commander to the International Space Station in April 2011. He participated in Expeditions 27 and 28. During Expedition 28, he conducted an EVA with fellow cosmonaut Sergey Volkov for 6 hours 23 minutes. He returned to Earth in September 2011.
His second mission was aboard Soyuz TMA-14M as commander to the International Space Station in September 2014. He participated in Expeditions 41 and 42, during which he conducted a second EVA with fellow cosmonaut Maksim Surayev. He returned to Earth in March 2015.
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky debuted his The Year 1812 Solemn Overture, Op. 49, better known as the 1812 Overture in Moscow, Russia August 20, 1880. He later conducted a performance at Carnegie Hall in New York City.
He composed it to commemorate Russia's successful defense against an invasion by Napoleon in 1812. It is best known for the finale which includes cannon fire and chimes. It has become on of his most popular works along with the Nutcracker Suite.
Cosmonaut Evgeny Tarelkin, born December 29, 1974, went into space aboard Soyuz TMA-06M to the International Space Station. He was part of the crew for Expeditions 33 and 34. He stayed in space for over 143 days.
My third Corey Shaw novel, Invisible Curtain, has been re-released and is available on Amazon!
Here is the link to Amazon. Blurb: Paranormal sleuth Corey Shaw is enjoying vacation with his family in the Baltic Sea when terrorists bomb restaurants hosting World Cup parties in London and Copenhagen. On each occasion the explosion coincides with the cruise ship leaving port. Although the United States isn’t attacked directly, Corey and his colleagues are unavoidably drawn into the investigation with or without the blessing of international intelligence agencies. When a third bomb goes off in St. Petersburg, Russia, Corey is convinced the answer lies aboard his ship. He must use all his psionic abilities to protect his family, and his friends, and keep the world safe from this worrying upsurge in international terrorism
Vladimir Remek, born September 26, 1948 in the former Czechoslovakia, went into space aboard Soyuz 28 to Salyut 6 in March 1978. He is the first and, so far, the only Czech citizen to travel into space.
After his only mission, he became a member of the European Parliament and is currently the Czech ambassador to Russia.
I watched the Russian movie Salyut 7 over the weekend and
was very impressed with the whole film, which is based on the rescue of the
space station after contact had been lost with it. In June 1985, the crew of Soyuz T-13,
Vladimir Dzhanibekov and Viktor Savinykh, traveled to Salyut 7 and brought it
back to life. The mission has been
called the “Apollo 13” of the Soviet space program.
At first, I got confused because the two main characters,
the cosmonauts, were not given the full names of the real life cosmonauts. Vladimir Vdovichenkov played Vladimir
Fyodorov (Dzhanibekov) and cutie(!) Pavel Derenvyanko played Viktor Alyokhin
(Savinykh).
As I expected, the events of the real mission were
embellished and over-dramatized for the film version. For instance, Salyut 7 was crippled by a
faulty electrical sensor, which determined when batteries needed charging. Not meteorites, as in the film.
Also, a fire did not break out on the Soyuz module, causing Vladimir
to don a space suit and blow the hatch putting out the fire.
Still, the movie had a lot of suspenseful moments and had
some awesome special effects. The version
I saw has English subtitles, so it was easy to watch. Even if you are not a space history buff like
me, you will enjoy it for the drama and suspense.
Andrey Borisenko, born April 17, 1964 in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg), Russia, has spent almost a year in space total aboard the International Space Station.
His first mission into space was as Flight Engineer on Soyuz TMA-21 (Gagarin) launched in April 2011 as part of Expeditions 27 and 28. It was devoted to the 50th anniversary of Yuri Gagarin's historic first manned space mission. He returned to Earth with his fellow astronauts September 16, 2011. During re-entry, communications with the crew were lost and caused concern on the ground, but the crew landed safely. A cause for the communications lost has not been determined.
His second and most recent mission was on Soyuz MS-02 as Flight Engineer, launched October 19, 2016 as part of Expeditions 49 and 50. He returned to Earth April 10, 2017. During re-entry, the capsule experience partial depressurization when a buckle that was part of the deployment system struck a welding seam. Fortunately, this happened about 8 km (4.8 miles) above ground, so they were at a relatively safe altitude.
Soyuz TM-14 crew: Klaus-Dietrich Flade, Alexandr Viktorenko, Alexander Kaleri
Soyuz TM-14, launched March 17, 1992, was the 14th expedition to Mir and the first Russian Soyuz mission after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Its crew consisted of Commander Alexandr Viktorenko, Flight Engineer Alexander Kaleri, and Research Cosmonaut Klaus-Dietrich Flade from Germany. The Russians returned to Earth with Michel Tognini (who arrived on Mir on Soyuz TM-15) August 10. Flade remained on Mir and returned on Soyuz TM-13.
Vasily Tsibliyev, born February 20, 1954, is a veteran of two Soyuz missions and served as commander of Mir. Selected as a cosmonaut in March 1987, Vasily first went into space on Soyuz TM-17, July 1993 - January 1994 as commander. It was the 17th mission to Mir.
His second and final flight was on Soyuz TM-25, from February - August 1997. During his command, a Progress spacecraft, an unmanned craft which ferries supplies to Mir, hit the space station, damaging Mir.
But the crew managed to save Mir. Watch the video below: I haven't found the continuation of it though.
Soyuz TM-29, launched February 20, 1999, was the 38th mission to Mir. Its crew consisted of Commander Viktor Afanasyev, Flight Engineer Jean-Pierre Haignere (France), and Research Cosmonaut Ivan Bella (Slovakia). Bella is the first Slovak citizen to go into space. He stayed on Mir for about a week and returned to Earth on Soyuz TM-28.
Afanasyev and Haignere remained on board until August 28 and returned with fellow cosmonaut Sergei Avdeyev.
Soyuz TM-27, the 33rd expedition to Mir, launched on January 29, 1998, carried two cosmonauts and one French astronaut into space. Its crew consisted of Commander Talgat Musabayev, Flight Engineer Nikolai Budarin and Research Cosmonaut Leopold Eyharts.
The crew carried out a number of routine experiements, repaired the Spektr solar panel and installed a new VDU station orientation system.
Musabayev and Budarin returned with Soyuz TM-27 in August 1998 but Eyharts hitched a ride home in February 1998.
Kosmos 2175, launched January 21, 1992, was the first satellite launched by Russia after the breakup of the Soviet Union. It was a photo reconnaissance satellite that was deorbited and recovered in March 1992.
I could not find any videos about it online, not even the launch.
Viktor Mikhailovich Afanasyev, born December 31, 1948 (same day as Donna Summer!) in Bryansk, Russia, is a cosmonaut who has visited both Mir and the International Space Station. From 1985-1987 he took space training at the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center and flew his first mission on Soyuz TM-11, which launched December 2, 1990. He spent 175 days on Mir as part of the eighth manned expedition (EO-8) returning May 1991.
Afanasyev was commander of Soyuz TM-18 from January-July 1994 as part of the EO-15 crew. This time he spent 182 days on Mir.
His third flight was as commander on Soyuz TM-29, which launched February 1999 to Mir for the EO-27 crew. He returned to Earth in August after 188 days in space.
His fourth and last flight was on Soyuz TM-33 to the International Space Station in October 2001 as commander and returned later that month on Soyuz TM-32.
He has conducted 7 EVAs for a total of over 38 hours and has logged 545 days in space.
L-R: Thomas Pesquet, Peggy Whitson, Oleg Novitskiy
Mission patch
Soyuz MS-03 took off from Baikonur in Kazakhstan, November 17, 2016. On board were Oleg Novitskiy (Russia), Thomas Pesquet (France) and Peggy Whitson (Iowa). Peggy was the oldest woman to go into space, but I don't know of anyone who will actually say that to her. ;)
Soyuz MS-03 traveled to the International Space Station, docking on November 19. It undocked June 2, 2017 bringing Pesquet and Novitskiy back to Earth. Whitson stayed on the ISS until September 3.
Venera 3, launched November 16, 1965 by the Soviet Union to Venus, is the first spacecraft to (crash)land on another planet. Venera 3's communications system failed about 17 days before it reached Venus. It is believed to have entered the Venusian atmosphere March 1, 1966.
Thirty-one years to the day later, the Russians launched Mars 8, November 16, 1996 to Mars, but the spacecraft failed and re-entered Earth's atmosphere. So instead of landing on Mars, it crashlanded on Chile, Bolivia and in the Pacific Ocean.
