February 07

Born in 1500 in Funchal, on the island of Madeira, into a family with maritime traditions. He entered Portuguese naval service and participated in expeditions to India and the Red Sea in his youth. In 1545 he was appointed the fourth viceroy of Portuguese India, reforming coastal defenses and administrative structures. A skilled cartographer and writer, his letters and maps provided critical information for future maritime explorers. He died in 1548 in Cochin, leaving a legacy of strategic governance and contributions to oceanic navigation.

Konstantin Feoktistov graduated from Moscow Aviation Institute and became a leading spacecraft designer. In 1964 he was selected for the Soviet space program and flew on Voskhod 1, the first mission to carry three crew members. During the flight, he conducted experiments in weightlessness and tested life-support systems. After his spaceflight, he served as a designer at OKB-1 under Sergei Korolev, working on Soviet lunar and space station projects. He later earned a doctorate for his research in space engineering. Feoktistov published numerous papers on spacecraft design and engineering. His contributions advanced the Soviet Union's capabilities in human space exploration.