Salyut Became the World’s First Space Station Half a Century Ago

Back when the space race was at its peak, Russia was kicking some serious American butt. Even if, in the end, the U.S. managed to get ahead by putting humans on the Moon, it was the Russians who first sent a man to space and the first ones to put a space station in orbit. And they achieved these amazing feats in the same month, ten years apart. Yuri Gagarin was the first human to escape the claws of Earth’s gravity. The until-th...