SALYUT:
THE WORLD'S FIRST SPACE STATION
On
April 19, 1971, the Soviet Union launched the world's first space
station, Salyut ("Salute"). Six improved Salyuts were
launched during the next 10 years. The Salyuts were intended to
make human presence in space routine and continuous. Besides doing
scientific research and spacecraft maintenance, cosmonauts tested
equipment that would make space stations more habitable.
There
were 32 missions to the Salyuts, and the longest stay, aboard Salyut
7, was 237 days. In 1986 Salyut 7 was replaced by the modular Mir
space station.
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