Expedition 21 Soyuz Rollout (via nasa hq photo)
The sun rises behind the Soyuz launch pad shortly before the Soyuz rocket is rolled out to the launch pad Monday, Sept. 28, 2009 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The Soyuz is scheduled to launch the crew of Expedition 21 and a spaceflight participant on Sept. 30, 2009. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)
1993: The space race officially comes to an end when the two old antagonists agree to set competition aside and cooperate in space. It has nothing to do with feeling warm and gooey inside: Both the U.S. and Russian space agencies are foundering and, as Bill Withers might say, need someone to lean on.
By the early ’90s, NASA was nearly moribund. Although largely recovered from the 1986 Challenger disaster, manned spaceflight activity was low owing to a lack of money and well-focused projects. As a result, NASA’s remaining shuttle fleet spent a lot of time idling on its collective wheels.
The Russians were in even worse shape. The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 was a crushing blow for Russian space aspirations, which had been heavily subsidized by the Communist government. With state support mostly gone and the new Russian government facing more pressing issues on Earth, the Russian Federal Space Agency, which was less than two years old in September 1993, was left to shift for itself. In an effort to keep Roskosmos (as the agency was later known) afloat, the powerful design bureaus propping it up — companies like Energia and Lavochkin — turned to the launching of commercial satellites and space tourism to help feed the kitty.
Two moon rockets: American Saturn V and Soviet N-1 on the right. Drawn to scale. (via upload.wikimedia.org)
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Photograph of Pioneer Cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova hand signed & personalized to Pioneer Astronaut Wally Schirra via farthestreaches.com
This 8x10 color photo shows Valentina Tereshkova just prior to her historic Vostok flight. Note: Cosmonaut Alexei Leonov to her right, holding a microphone. Making this photo so special however is it’s being hand signed and personalized to Wally Schirra, “With my best wishes”. Tereshkova signs in both Russian and English with mission information added.
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