CHAPTER 1 INTO ORBIT The alarm clock beeps and the astronaut floats out of her sleeping pod She squirts water droplets from a tube and brushes her teeth Then she spits the toothpaste into a towel After breakfast she will conduct an experiment in the space station's research lab But first she stops to look out a window Earth floats like a pale blue ball far below After two years of training for her mission she is excited to finally be in space Astronaut Ellen Ochoa looks out a window of the International Space Station 2002 in
Space stations are large structures in space where astronauts live and work Since the 1970s humans have built several space stations that orbit Earth Many countries have sent astronauts to live in these stations for days weeks or even months These longer stays allow scientists to study how living in space affects the human body The Soviet Union built the first space station in 1971 Known as Salyut 1 it launched into space on April 19 Two days later a Soyuz space shuttle carried three cosmonauts into space The shuttle docked or connected with Salyut 1 However the cosmonauts could not open the station's hatch so they had to return to Earth Another Soyuz shuttle carried a new crew to Salyut 1 in June 1971 This time the cosmonauts were able to open the hatch and enter the station They spent three weeks in space While they were
An artist's illustration of a Soyuz shuttle left preparing to dock with Salyut 1 right on the space station the cosmonauts orbited Earth 383 times However tragedy struck during their return flight An air leak depressurized the shuttle and all three died cosmonauts
