Editing Russia (section)

==== Space exploration ====
[[File:Mir on 12 June 1998edit1.jpg|thumb|[[Mir]], Russian [[space station]] that operated in [[low Earth orbit|LEO]]]]
[[Roscosmos]] is Russia's national space agency. The country's achievements in the field of [[space technology]] and [[space exploration]] can be traced back to [[Konstantin Tsiolkovsky]], the father of theoretical [[astronautics]], whose works had inspired leading Soviet rocket engineers, such as [[Sergey Korolyov]], [[Valentin Glushko]], and many others who contributed to the success of the [[Soviet space program]]me in the early stages of the [[Space Race]] and beyond.<ref>{{cite book |last=Siddiqi |first=Asif A. |title=Challenge to Apollo: The Soviet Union and the Space Race, 1945–1974 |date=2000 |publisher=[[United States Government Publishing Office]] |isbn=978-0-160-61305-0}}</ref>{{rp|6–7,333}}

In 1957, the first Earth-orbiting artificial [[satellite]], ''[[Sputnik&nbsp;1]]'', was launched. In 1961, the first human trip into space was successfully made by [[Yuri Gagarin]]. Many other Soviet and Russian [[space exploration records]] ensued. In 1963, [[Valentina Tereshkova]] became the first and youngest [[women in space|woman in space]], having flown a solo mission on [[Vostok 6]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1963-023A |title=Vostok 6 |work=[[NASA Space Science Data Coordinated Archive|NSSDCA]] |publisher=[[NASA]]  |access-date=26 January 2022}}</ref> In 1965, [[Alexei Leonov]] became the first human to conduct a [[spacewalk]], exiting the [[space capsule]] during [[Voskhod 2]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/special/2014/newsspec_9035/index.html |title=The First Spacewalk |publisher=BBC |first=Paul |last=Rincon |date=13 October 2014 |access-date=31 May 2021}}</ref>

In 1957, [[Laika]], a [[Soviet space dogs|Soviet space dog]], became the first animal to orbit the Earth, aboard [[Sputnik 2]].<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Wellerstein |first=Alex |url=https://www.newyorker.com/tech/annals-of-technology/remembering-laika-space-dog-and-soviet-hero |title=Remembering Laika, Space Dog and Soviet Hero |magazine=[[The New Yorker]] |date=3 November 2017 |access-date=18 January 2022}}</ref> In 1966, [[Luna&nbsp;9]] became the first spacecraft to achieve a survivable landing on a [[Astronomical object|celestial body]], the [[Moon]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1966-006A |title=Luna 9 |work=[[NASA Space Science Data Coordinated Archive|NSSDCA]] |publisher=[[NASA]]  |access-date=1 June 2021 }}</ref> In 1968, [[Zond 5]] brought the first Earthlings (two tortoises and other life forms) to circumnavigate the Moon.<ref>{{cite web |last=Betz |first=Eric |url=https://www.discovermagazine.com/the-sciences/the-first-earthlings-around-the-moon-were-two-soviet-tortoises |title=The First Earthlings Around the Moon Were Two Soviet Tortoises |work=[[Discover (magazine)|Discover]] |date=19 September 2018 |access-date=18 January 2022 }}</ref> In 1970, [[Venera&nbsp;7]] became the first spacecraft to land on another planet, [[Venus]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Avduevsky |first1=V. S. |last2=Ya Marov |first2=M. |last3=Rozhdestvensky |first3=M. K. |last4=Borodin |first4=N. F. |last5=Kerzhanovich |first5=V. V. |date=1 March 1971 |title=Soft Landing of Venera 7 on the Venus Surface and Preliminary Results of Investigations of the Venus Atmosphere |doi=10.1175/1520-0469(1971)028<0263:SLOVOT>2.0.CO;2 |doi-access=free |pages=263–269 |publisher=[[Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union]] |location=Moscow|journal=Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences|volume=28 |issue=2 |bibcode=1971JAtS...28..263A }}</ref> In 1971, [[Mars&nbsp;3]] became the first spacecraft to land on [[Mars]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Perminov |first=V.G. |title=The Difficult Road to Mars – A Brief History of Mars Exploration in the Soviet Union |date=July 1999 |publisher=[[NASA]] History Division |isbn=0-16-058859-6 |url=https://history.nasa.gov/monograph15.pdf |access-date=18 January 2022 |archive-date=14 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190714111920/https://history.nasa.gov/monograph15.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>{{rp|34–60}} During the same period, ''[[Lunokhod-1|Lunokhod 1]]'' became the first [[space exploration rover]],<ref>{{cite web |url=https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/missions/lunokhod-01/in-depth/ |title=Lunokhod 01 |work=[[NASA Space Science Data Coordinated Archive|NSSDCA]] |publisher=[[NASA]] |access-date=1 June 2021 |archive-date=31 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220331072547/https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/missions/lunokhod-01/in-depth/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> while ''[[Salyut&nbsp;1]]'' became the world's first [[space station]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nasa.gov/feature/50-years-ago-launch-of-salyut-the-world-s-first-space-station |title=50 Years Ago: Launch of Salyut, the World's First Space Station |work=[[NASA Space Science Data Coordinated Archive|NSSDCA]] |publisher=[[NASA]] |date=19 April 2021 |access-date=1 June 2021}}</ref>

{{As of|2023}}, Russia has 181 active satellites in space, which is the third-highest in the world.<ref>{{cite web |title=Satellite Database |url=https://www.ucsusa.org/resources/satellite-database |access-date=18 August 2022 |website=[[Union of Concerned Scientists]]}}</ref> Between the final flight of the [[Space Shuttle]] programme in 2011 and the 2020 [[SpaceX]]'s [[Crew Dragon Demo-2|first crewed mission]], [[Soyuz (rocket family)|Soyuz rockets]] were the only launch vehicles capable of transporting astronauts to the [[International Space Station|ISS]].<ref>{{cite news |title=SpaceX successfully launches first crew to orbit, ushering in new era of spaceflight |url=https://www.theverge.com/2020/5/30/21269703/spacex-launch-crew-dragon-nasa-orbit-successful |work=The Verge |date=30 May 2020}}</ref> [[Luna&nbsp;25]] launched in August 2023, was the first of the [[Luna-Glob]] Moon exploration programme.<ref>{{cite news |title=Russia launches Luna-25 moon lander, its 1st lunar probe in 47 years |url=https://www.space.com/russia-luna-25-moon-mission-launch-success |work=Space.com |date=10 August 2023 |language=en}}</ref>