Faces of Space Exploration

Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky (1857-1935), Soviet scientist, founder of the theory of interplanetary communications, author of major discoveries in rocket engineering, in his workshop.

Sergey Pavlovich Korolev, a lead Soviet rocket engineer and spacecraft designer.

Pilot-Cosmonaut of the USSR, Hero of the Soviet Union Yuri Gagarin with a model of a sports plane. Yuri Gagarin learned to fly in such a plane while he was a cadet at the Saratov Aero Club in 1955. The model was presented to him by pilots of the Central Aero Club of the USSR named after V. Chkalov.

German Titov, a Soviet cosmonaut who became the second human to orbit the Earth, during preparation for space flight. Training on a vibrating table.

Space station commander Yuri Usachev, left, welcomes California millionaire Dennis Tito, center, and Russian cosmonaut Talgat Musabayev, right, to the International Space Station, in this image from television. Dennis Tito is an American engineer and entrepreneur who is most famous for being the first space tourist. In 2001, he spent eight days on board the International Space Station after paying $20 million for the experience.

Still from the documentary “In a Spacesuit Over the Planet,” shot in space. Cosmonaut Alexey Leonov in outer space. Leonov was the first person to walk through space on March 18, 1965, when he left the Voskhod 2 mission capsule for 12 minutes 9 seconds.

Expedition One crew members about to eat fresh fruit in the form of oranges on board the Zvezda Service Module of the Earth-orbiting International Space Station (ISS) on December 4, 2000. Pictured, from the left, are cosmonaut Yuri P. Gidzenko, Soyuz commander; astronaut William M. Shepherd, mission commander; and cosmonaut Sergey K. Krikalev, flight engineer.

The world's first female cosmonaut, Valentina Tereshkova, signs an autograph.

Valentina Tereshkova made history on June 16, 1963, when she became the first woman to travel into space.

Still from the film "Flight Into the Future." Central Studio for Popular Science and Educational Films (Tsentrnauchfilm). USSR cosmonaut, crew commander Andriyan Nikolayev in the cabin of the Soyuz-9 spacecraft during flight.

Andriyan Grigoryevich Nikolayev became the third Soviet cosmonaut to go into space in 1962 on board the Vostok 3. He was the first person to make a TV broadcast from space and also the first to record music in space.

Astronaut Bruce McCandless II, mission specialist, participates in an extra-vehicular activity (EVA), a few meters away from the cabin of the Space Shuttle Challenger. He uses a nitrogen-propelled hand-controlled Manned Maneuvering Unit (MMU). He performs this EVA without being tethered to the shuttle. The picture shows a cloud view of the Earth in the background.

John Watts Young is a US astronaut who flew on Gemini 3, Gemini 10, Apollo 10 and Apollo 16.

Apollo 11 astronaut Neil Armstrong, right, trudges across the surface of the Moon, leaving behind footprints, July 20, 1969. The US flag, planted on the surface by the astronauts, can be seen between Armstrong and the lunar module. Edwin E. Aldrin is seen closer to the craft. The men said the surface of the Moon was like soft sand and that they left footprints several inches deep wherever they walked.

Astronaut Anton Shkaplerov, actress Yulia Peresild, and director Klim Shippenko (left to right) on the International Space Station.

Russian actress Yulia Peresild and movie director Klim Shipenko spent 12 days on the ISS starting October 5, 2021 to shoot the first-ever movie made in space, called "The Challenge."