Start here
The Story of the First Space Station: A Space Pioneer
A plain history of the first orbital space stations, from the Soviet Salyut 1 in 1971 to the American Skylab, and what crews actually did aboard them.
Transport and Exploration
The first orbital stations and the suits that kept people alive in space.
Start here
A plain history of the first orbital space stations, from the Soviet Salyut 1 in 1971 to the American Skylab, and what crews actually did aboard them.
How the Apollo-era suits were designed for walking on the Moon, from layered fabrics to the backpack that supplied oxygen and cooling for each outing.
How pressure suits built for high-altitude pilots in the 1930s through the 1950s became the starting point for the garments used in spaceflight.
How the silver Mercury space suit, adapted from a Navy pilot's pressure suit, was fitted to each astronaut and tested for the first American crewed flights.
Related topics