Video: Savitskaya (at 0:09 and 1:05)

(Thursday, August 19, 1982, 1:12 p.m. EDT) — Soviet cosmonaut Svetlana Savitskaya flew aboard Soyuz T-7 today from Gagarin’s Start, becoming the second woman in space some 19 years after Valentina Tereshkova.

Video: '1962: Vostok 3 and 4 (USSR)'

(Sunday, August 12, 1962, 4:04 a.m. EDT) — One day after sending Andrian Nikolayev into orbit, the Soviet Union launched Vostok 4 today with cosmonaut Pavel Popovich on board from Gagarin’s Start at Baikonur Cosmodrome at atop a Vostok 8K72K rocket. Both men landed safely Aug. 15.

Video: '1962: Vostok 3 and 4 (USSR)'

(Saturday, August 11, 1962, 4:24 a.m. EDT) — Andrian Nikolayev today became the Soviet Union’s third cosmonaut to fly in space as Vostok 3 lifted off from Gagarin’s Start at Baikonur Cosmodrome at atop a Vostok 8K72K rocket.

Video: STS-4 launch and July 4, 1982 landing

(Sunday, June 27, 1982, 11:00:00 a.m. EST) — The U.S. space shuttle Columbia went into orbit today on its fourth and final test flight, carrying a secret military cargo and an array of experimental instruments.

The multi-mission Columbia, piloted by Ken Mattingly and Henry Hartsfield, began its week-long flight after a punctual lift-off.

Video: STS-50 launch and landing

(Thursday, June 25, 1992, 12:12:23 p.m. EDT) — The space shuttle Columbia broke through the clouds and roared into orbit today on a marathon 13-day mission that is expected to lead to even longer trips and, eventually, full-time stays in space.

Video: STS-111 launch

(Wednesday, June 5, 2002, 17:22:49 p.m. EDT) — Space shuttle Endeavour roared into orbit late this afternoon on a flight to deliver new residents to the international space station following nearly a week’s delay.

Video: May 24, 1962 (at 20:50)

(Thursday, May 24, 1962, 12:41:21 p.m. EDT) — Astronaut Malcolm Scott Carpentered orbited the world three times today in his Aurora 7 spacecraft, but overshot the planned landing area in the Atlantic Ocean by 200 miles. Splashing down to earth at 12:41 p.m. EDT, Carpenter was sighted in a life raft outside his floating Mercury space capsule shortly after 1:20 p.m. EDT.

(Thursday May 7, 1992, 7:40 p.m. EDT) — Space shuttle Endeavour lifted off tonight on its maiden flight, a nine-day mission to rescue the stranded Intelsat 603 communications satellite, which failed to leave low earth orbit two years before.

Video: Apollo 16 on Apr. 27, 1972 (at 25:10)

(Thursday, April 27, 1972, 2:45 p.m. EST) — Three U.S. astroanuts splashed down with unparalleled accuracy in the Pacific today, concluding the 11-day flight of Apollo 16 in gentle blue seas about 1,520 miles south of Honolulu. Commander John W. Young and his rookie spacemen, Charles M. Duke Jr. and Thomas K. “Ken” Mattingly, pronounced themselves in “outstanding” condition.

Video: Apollo 16 on Apr. 26, 1972 (at 24:58)

(Wednesday, April 26, 1972) — As Apollo 16 streaked toward a splashdown in the South Pacific, its commander, John W. Young, proclaimed in a press conference from space today: “We’ve seen as much in 10 days as most poeple see in 10 lifetimes.”