Book: Manned Spaceflight of the 21st Century. The Beginning

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Project Team

Alexander Misurkin

Author and Project Leader

Igor Marinin

Author Team Leader, Editor

Vadim Anosov

Author

Alexey Belozersky

Author

Ivan Ivanov

Author

Andrey Krasilnikov

Author

Konstantin Lantratov

Author

Igor Lisov

Author

Vyacheslav Turyshev

Author

Andrey Lysenko

Science Editor

Tatiana Malikova

Science Editor

Julia Potemkina

Literary Editor

Olga Svitova

Literary Editor

Alla Sinitsyna

Editor, Proofreader

Maria Druzhinina

Art Director

Dmitry Akhmerov

3D Modeler

Alexey Drozdov

3D Visualization Artist

Vyacheslav Lyulko

Illustrator

Danila Zhestarev

Illustrator

Oleg Shinkovich

Photo Editor, Layout Artist

Infographics Editor

Infographics Designer

Gennady Glazov

Consultant

Nikolai Dergunov

Consultant

Viktor Kolyasnikov

Consultant

Andrey Kondratyev

Consultant

Ekaterina Soboleva

Project Legal Advisor

Section I.

The 20th Century. How It All Began. An Overview — Chapter Descriptions

Soviet–Russian Crewed Spaceflight Programs
1961–1963. Vostok (1K, 3K, 3KA)
1964–1965. Voskhod (3KV, 3KD)
1967–1970. Soyuz (7K-OK): From a Lunar Flyby to Long-Duration Orbital Flight
1971–1987. Salyut Long-Duration Orbital Stations: Humanity's First Homes in Space
1973–1976. Autonomous Soyuz Flights
1974–1977. Almaz Orbital Piloted Stations: A Military Outpost in Space
1987–2001. Mir Orbital Complex: The World's First Modular Space Station
US Crewed Spaceflight Programs
1961–1963. Mercury Flights: First Steps
1963–1966. Gemini Program: Rehearsing for the Moon
1967–1972. Saturn–Apollo Program: First Humans on the Moon
1973–1974. Skylab: A Giant Station with No Sequel
1981–2011. Space Shuttle: Many Missions, Great Risk
China's Crewed Spaceflight Program
1967–1978. The Shuguang Spacecraft That Never Reached Space

Section II

«Manned space flights at the beginning of the 21st century»

International Space Station
1975–1992. The Difficult Path to U.S.–Russian Cooperation
2000. Atlantis: Working as “space mules”
1998. The first module "Zarya": Built in Russia
1998. Shuttle Endeavour and the U.S. Unity Module
1999. "Discovery" as a cargo carrier
2000. Launch of "Atlantis" on the fourth attempt
2000. "Zvezda": The difficult path of the Russian Service Module
2000. Discovery delivered the control moment gyroscopes
2000. ISS-1. The first long-duration expedition
2001. ISS-2. The first crew rotation
2001. ISS-3. “We Are on the Road to the Stars”
2001. ISS-4. The ISS’s gracious hosts
2002. ISS-5. “My home is here now”
2002. ISS-6. No Shuttle this time
2003. ISS-7. Two in Orbit
2004. ISS-9. The Station Is in Good Hands
2004. ISS-10. An Expedition with Adventures
2005. ISS-11. The Shuttles Return
2005. ISS-12. Shuttle Delayed Again
2006. ISS-13. “Let’s start flying as a trio”
2006. ISS-14. Things will not go as planned
2007. ISS-15. Computer blackout
2007. ISS-16. Building the station without pause
2008. ISS-17. A rookie crew and space dynasties
2008. ISS-18. Completing and repairing the station
Expansion of capabilities and Simonyi’s second flight
2009. ISS-20. Now six instead of three
2009. ISS-21. “Poisk” arrives at the station
2009. ISS-22. “Real work, man’s work”
2010. ISS-23. “Rassvet” in orbit
2010. ISS-24. Integration of “Rassvet”
2010. ISS-25. Mir’s record surpassed
2010. ISS-26. A triple “Happy New Year!”
2011. ISS-27. Soyuz named “Yuri Gagarin”
2011. ISS-28. The final visit of the last Shuttle
2011. ISS-29. The launch vehicle rehabilitated
2011. ISS-30. Seeing the station from the outside
2012. ISS-31. The First Dragon Arrives
2012. ISS-32. Monitoring Natural Processes
2012. ISS-33. Kazbeks to the Rescue
2012. ISS-34. Maneuvering and Refueling
2013. ISS-35. Express to the Station
2013. ISS-36. Luca Parmitano in Danger
2013. ISS-37. Swan Follows Einstein
2013. ISS-38. Spacewalks — Scheduled and Unscheduled
2014. ISS-39. Repairs, Tests, and Space-to-Ground Conferences
2014. ISS-40. “There Is No Place for Politics in Space”
2014. ISS-41. One-Winged Soyuz and the Grounded Cygnus
2014. ISS-42. False Alarms and Real Emergencies
2015. ISS-43. The “Marathon” Begins
2015. ISS-44. A Lost Dragon and an Arrived Stork
2015. ISS-45. The Third Stage of the “Marathon”
2015–2016. ISS-46. The Station Changes and Is Upgraded
2016. ISS-47. Station Work as an Example for Others
2016. ISS-48. On the New Soyuz
2016. ISS-49. Sprint Expedition
2016. ISS-50. Success Despite Problems
2017. ISS-51. A Function with Many Variables
2018. ISS-52. The Charm of a Peaceful Earth Limb
2017. ISS-53. “The Eyes and Hands” of Scientists
2017. ISS-54. Major Repairs Outside the Station
2018. ISS-55. “Expanding the Boundaries of Tasks”
2018. ISS-56. The Mysterious Hole
2018. ISS-57. Working Against the Backdrop of an Accident
2018. ISS-58. For Myself and for That Guy
2019. ISS-59. Back at Full Strength
2019. ISS-60. And Fyodor Visits Us
2019. ISS-61. Spacewalk Record Day
2020. ISS-62. Only Three of Us Left...
2020. ISS-63. Dragon to the Rescue
2020. ISS-64. Seven Brave Souls
2021. ISS-65. Nauka Arrives
2021. ISS-66. Movies, Japanese, and Prichal
2022. ISS-67. ERA in Motion
2022. ISS-68. Treacherous Meteoroids, or Two Strikes in One Crater
2023. ISS-69. “We Can Extend the Mission”
2024. ISS-71. Stranded in Orbit
2024–2025. ISS-72. Away from Home While at Home
2025. ISS-73. “I Fly Over the Planet as if in a Fairy-Tale Dream”
From Orbit to Ocean: The Final ISS Mission
USA: From the Shuttle to Commercial Spacecraft — A New Era of Autonomous Flights
Autonomous Shuttle Flights and the End of the Space Shuttle Era
China: Crewed Spaceflights
1986–1999. The Birth of Shenzhou
Shenzhou Spacecraft
Long March-2F Launch Vehicle
1999–2002. Flight Tests
Technology transfer: The Russian trace in China’s space program
2003. Shenzhou-5. The First Chinese Astronaut in Orbit
2005. Shenzhou-6. Five-Day Mission of the First Chinese Crew
How to join the EVA technology club
2008. Shenzhou-7. First Three-Person Crew. Zhai Zhigang — China’s Leonov
2011. Tiangong-1 Target Laboratory
2011. Shenzhou-8. Live Docking Demonstration
2012. Shenzhou-9. Liu Yang — The First Chinese Woman in Space
2013. Shenzhou-10. A Lesson from Orbit
2016. Tiangong-2 Orbital Laboratory
2016. Shenzhou-11. Landing After a 100 km Overshoot
2017. Tianzhou-1. China’s First Cargo Spacecraft
2021. The Modular Orbital Station "Tiangong"
2021. Tianhe Core Module and Its Launcher
2021. Shenzhou-12. The First Expedition to Tiangong
2021–2022. Shenzhou-13. Half a Year in Orbit
2022. Shenzhou-14. Major Orbital Construction
Wentian and Mengtian Research Modules of the Tiangong Station
2022. Shenzhou-15. The First Crew Handover
2023. Shenzhou-16. Three Doctors on Board
2023–2024. Shenzhou-17. The Batteries Need Repairs...
2024. Shenzhou-18. EVA Record — 8 Hours 23 Minutes
2024–2025. Shenzhou-19. The Third Chinese Woman in Space
2025. Shenzhou-20. An Unexpected Epilogue
2025. Shenzhou-21 and Shenzhou-22

Section III

«Near-term manned flight projects»

Russia: Crewed Spaceflight Program
Russian Orbital Station
Next-generation crewed spacecraft (PTK NP)
US Space Exploration Projects
Return to the Moon: Artemis Program
Starship Spacecraft by SpaceX
Haven-1 Station by Vast
Axiom Space Platform
Orbital Reef Modular Architecture
Starlab Station by NanoRacks
China: Advanced Projects
Xuntian Space Telescope
Crewed Lunar Program
International Lunar Research Station
India: Crewed Spaceflight Developments
Gaganyaan Space Program
Other Countries: Crewed Lunar and Mars Programs
ESA Lunar and Mars Programs

Section IV

«Roads to space. Cosmonauts and astronauts of the world»

Cosmonauts of the Russian Federation
Ministry of Defense Cosmonaut Corps
RSC Energia Cosmonaut Corps
Russian Academy of Sciences Cosmonaut Corps
Institute of Biomedical Problems Cosmonaut Corps
Gromov Flight Research Institute Cosmonaut Corps
Individual Cosmonaut Selections
Roscosmos Cosmonaut Corps at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center
US Astronauts
NASA Astronaut Corps
Professional Astronaut Corps of Private Companies
European Space Agency Astronauts
2008–2009 Selection (4th)
2021–2023 Selection (5th)
Chinese Astronauts
1971 Selection
1998 Selection (1st)
2010 Selection (2nd)
2020 Selection (3rd)
2024 Selection (4th)
Japanese Astronauts
2009 Selection (5th)
2023 Selection (6th)
Canadian Astronauts
2009 Selection (3rd)
2017 Selection (4th)
United Arab Emirates Astronauts
2018 Selection (1st)
2021 Selection (2nd)
Indian Astronauts
2020 Selection (1st)
Saudi Arabian Astronauts
2023 Selection (1st)
Alternative Paths to Space
Cosmonauts of Kazakhstan
Astronauts of Turkey
Italian Air Force Astronaut
Brazilian Astronaut
Australian Astronaut
Pakistani Astronauts
Commercial Spaceflight Participants
Participants of Spaceflights Aboard Russian Soyuz Spacecraft
Commercial Spaceflight Crews Aboard Crew Dragon Spacecraft

Appendices

Chronicle of Crewed Orbital Spaceflights, 1961–2025
Chronicle of Spacewalks, 1965–2025
Chronicle of Crewed Suborbital Spaceflights, 1961–2025
Sources
Books and Encyclopedias
Periodicals
Official Documents and Materials
Official Websites of Space Agencies and State Corporations
Commercial Space Companies
Reference and Encyclopedic Resources
News Publications and Portals

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