The Tupolev Tu-144 was a Soviet supersonic airliner designed by the Tupolev bureau, whose prototype flew for the first time two months before Concorde's maiden flight. It was the first commercial transport to exceed Mach 2, and in the West it was nicknamed Concordski because of its visual similarity to the Anglo-French aircraft. A prototype crashed at the Paris Air Show in 1973, a setback to the program. Limited cargo and mail flights began in 1975 and scheduled passenger service between Moscow and Alma-Ata in 1977, but another crash in 1978 and poor economics and reliability ended passenger flights after a short period. The aircraft was later used for research, including in cooperation with NASA in the 1990s.
Before and after
- 5 November 19681968 United States presidential election
- 20 December 1968Death of John Steinbeck
- 21 December 1968Launch of Apollo 8
- 24 December 1968Apollo 8 orbits the Moon and photographs Earthrise
- 31 December 1968First flight of Tupolev Tu-144
- 1969Discovery of the Murchison meteorite
- 1969Invention of ed
- 1969Introduction of special drawing rights
- 1969Establishment of Simien Mountains National Park
More in Science & technology
- 1945Discovery of promethium
- 18 February 1970Discovery of dubnium
- July 1974Discovery of seaborgium
- 1976Discovery of bohrium
- 29 August 1982Discovery of meitnerium
- 1984Discovery of hassium
The era
This moment belongs to the Contemporary world (1945 CE to today), the world since 1945. You can also browse everything in the 20th century.