Space Special

Witness History's Claire Bowes is at the Science Museum, in London, to present five incredible stories of space exploration. We hear from the first Afghan cosmonaut in space, Abdul Ahad Momand, who tells us how his mission nearly ended in tragedy when a computer malfunctioned on his return to earth. We'll also meet NASA astronaut Kathryn Sullivan who was part of the mission to deploy the Hubble telescope and describes the wonder they felt when they saw those first pictures of far-flung galaxies. The compilation also features the handshake in space between Russian cosmonauts and American astronauts which was hailed as a symbol of peace during the Cold War. Plus there's the story of Laika, the stray Soviet dog which became the first living creature to orbit the earth. Finally, we learn about Alina Szmant, one of five women "aquanauts" who spent two weeks living underwater in the Atlantic Ocean and paved the way for more women in an industry dominated by men.