Introduction to the Directory

Personal Insights

I remember sitting in class in the 6th grade listening with the teacher and other students as Alan Shepherd became the first American to venture into space and, a little less than a year later, sitting in 7th grade class tracing John Glenn's path on a world map as he became the first American to actually orbit the Earth.

So began a fascination with anything having to do with space exploration that continues to this day. Even after more than 110 successful flights (as of December 2002), the launch of a space shuttle brings a lump to my throat.

This section of Sandcastle V.I. is my tribute to the human experience in space. It includes a summary page for each manned spaceflight project, of both the United States and Russia, and linked pages that include details of each and every individual mission. But before going to the directory, you might want to check out the comparison drawings below. Each thumbnail is linked to a 640x480 JPEG file (about 60kb each). Each individual spacecraft was scanned from published line art and then scaled, cleaned up, and colorized with Photofinish.

The Space Pioneers [Click on thumbnail for 640x480 version]

To the Moon [Click on thumbnail for 640x480 version]

Apollo-Soyuz [Click on thumbnail for 640x480 version]

The Space Shuttles [Click on thumbnail for 640x480 version]

The Space Stations [Click on thumbnail for 640x480 version]

Space Projects Menu

United States Manned Missions

• X-15 Astroflights
• Mercury
• Gemini
• Apollo
• Skylab
• Apollo-Soyuz
• Space Shuttle
• Space Station
• Constellation

Soviet Union/Russian Manned Missions

• Vostok
• Voskhod
• Zond
• Soyuz
• Salyut & Mir
• Buran

Chinese Manned Missions

• Shenzhou

Manned Spaceflight Photo Album

In Memory of Fallen Space Heroes

Unmanned Planetary Probes

Recommended Reading List

| Home | Intro | Ventures | Sea | Air | Space | SciFi | Racing | Movies | Art | Travel | Exit |

| Intro | X-15 | Mercury | Gemini | Apollo | Skylab | Apollo-Soyuz | Shuttle | Space Station |
| Vostok | Voskhod | Zond | Salyut/Mir | Soyuz | Buran | Shenzhou |
| Photo Album | Fallen Heroes | Unmanned Probes | Bibliography |

Last Updated: November 6, 2009