Syromyatnikov also helped design and develop Vostok, the world's first crewed spacecraft, which launched Yuri Gagarin into space in 1961.
Shuttle-Mir
In the 1990s, following the fall of the Soviet Union, he updated the design of his docking mechanism for the meeting of the Mirspace station and the AtlantisSpace Shuttle. Syromyatnikov's designs are still used by spacecraft visiting the International Space Station.
Znamya
Having failed to get support for a solar sail program in the mid-1980's, Syromyatnikov pivoted to use the technology as a space mirror. Two prototype Znamya space mirrors were deployed aboard Progress spacecraft in 1993 and 1999 respectively,[1] however due to the latter's failure, the program was abandoned.