The Explorers' Club, № MCLXIV

Operation AXIOM: The Space Age—The 50th Anniversary of Salyut 5
22 June 1976: Salyut 5 lifted off from the Kazakh S.S.R.'s Baikonur Cosmodrome atop a Proton-K rocket; "Salyut 5" was a cover name for a military Almaz ("Diamond") spy station, O.P.S.-3, the third & last Almaz station; Salyut 5 was equipped with a KSI descent capsule, to return research materials to Earth; two crews spent sixty-five days aboard; Salyut 5 burned up upon re-entry, 8 August 1977.

Commentary: Photographs of the Soviet space program are hard enough to come by under the best of circumstances, but are even more rare when dealing with an uncrewed flight & a secret military mission. The launch of Salyut 5 checks both of those boxes.

Bonus! Space Race Song o' the Day: Saylut 5
The Aquabats!, "Hi-Five City!" from Charge!! Special One Year Anniversary Edition (Space Cadet Mike Papa Whiskey)

Semper exploro.