Soyuz (Russian: Союз, Union) is a series of Soviet/Russian spacecraft designed for the Russian space program by the Korolev Design Bureau (now part of Energia Corporation). Soyuz succeeded the Voskhod spacecraft and was originally built as part of the Zond program to take cosmonauts to Mars and back. But following delays in the Mars project, it became apparent that Soyuz would be needed as an interim crewed spacecraft until work on a more advanced vehicle could be completed. The first Soyuz launch took place on April 23, 1967, carrying cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov. The Soyuz spacecraft is launched on top of a Soyuz rocket from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
The original design for Soyuz was based on the Vostok craft used for manned spaceflight within Earth orbit. It featured three modules: a Command Module (or Orbital Module), Service Module, and Descent Module. Each module served a specific purpose:
The Command Module was the living quarters for the crew during flight; it contained all necessary life support systems and also housed scientific equipment used for conducting experiments while in orbit. The Service Module was responsible for propulsion and contained fuel tanks, engines, and other support systems required for keeping the craft operational; it also served as storage for extra supplies like food and water. Finally, the Descent Module held everything needed for reentry into Earth’s atmosphere and landing – this included parachutes, retro-rockets, and survival gear in case something went wrong during descent.
The first few launches of Soyuz were failures; however later versions proved much more successful with only minor changes being made to improve reliability. By 1973, enough had been learned about operating these types of spacecraft that international flights began taking place – most notably between Russia and America with their Apollo-Soyuz Test Project mission which saw American astronauts docking with a Soviet crew aboard their respective crafts. Since then, numerous other countries have sent astronauts to train or participate in research aboard Soyuz missions including China, France, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan (whose citizens make up over 50% of International Space Station crews), Spain among many others . In all cases except one – STS-51L which resulted in loss of life when Challenger broke apart shortly after liftoff – everyone has returned safely to Earth.
The current version of Soyuz used both by Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) as well as NASA is known as “Soyuz TMA” where “TMA” stands for Transportniy Modul Apparatura or Transportational EquipmentModule . This updated model includes several new features such as an improved docking system compatible with both Russian Mir station as well International Space Station , additional security measures like reinforced windows ,and removalof toxic substances like Freon from coolant lines . However despite these changes ,the general layout remains largely unchanged since earlier versionswith three main modules stacked on top each other .