Salyut
The Russians (then the Soviet Union) were the first to place a space station, called Salyut 1, in orbit in 1971. The Salyut 1 station was a combination of the Almaz and Soyuz spacecraft systems. It was about 45 feet (15 meters) long and held three main compartments that housed dining and recreation areas, food and water storage, a toilet, control stations, exercise equipment and scientific equipment. The Soyuz 11 crew was the first crew to live on Salyut 1 for 24 days; but tragically, they died upon returning to Earth. Further missions to Salyut 1 were canceled, and the Soyuz spacecraft was redesigned.
During the 1970s, the Russians launched several other Salyut space stations (Salyuts 4-7) where they tested the new Soyuz spacecraft, developed and tested unmanned docking supply ships called Progress ships, conducted scientific experiment an d logged some of the longest space flights at that time. The Salyut program eventually led to the development of Russia's Mir space station.
Photo courtesy NASA
Diagram of the Salyut-4 space station docked to a Soyuz spacecraft.