Soviet Space Mythologies

Soviet Space Mythologies PDF

Author: Slava Gerovitch

Publisher: University of Pittsburgh Press

Published: 2015-06-18

Total Pages: 355

ISBN-13: 0822980967

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From the start, the Soviet human space program had an identity crisis. Were cosmonauts heroic pilots steering their craft through the dangers of space, or were they mere passengers riding safely aboard fully automated machines? Tensions between Soviet cosmonauts and space engineers were reflected not only in the internal development of the space program but also in Soviet propaganda that wavered between praising daring heroes and flawless technologies. Soviet Space Mythologies explores the history of the Soviet human space program within a political and cultural context, giving particular attention to the two professional groups—space engineers and cosmonauts—who secretly built and publicly represented the program. Drawing on recent scholarship on memory and identity formation, this book shows how both the myths of Soviet official history and privately circulating counter-myths have served as instruments of collective memory and professional identity. These practices shaped the evolving cultural image of the space age in popular Soviet imagination. Soviet Space Mythologies provides a valuable resource for scholars and students of space history, history of technology, and Soviet (and post-Soviet) history.

Voices of the Soviet Space Program

Voices of the Soviet Space Program PDF

Author: S. Gerovitch

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2014-12-16

Total Pages: 324

ISBN-13: 113748179X

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In this remarkable oral history, Slava Gerovitch presents interviews with the men and women who witnessed Soviet space efforts firsthand. Rather than comprising a "master narrative," these fascinating and varied accounts bring to light the often divergent perspectives, experiences, and institutional cultures that defined the Soviet space program.

Into the Cosmos

Into the Cosmos PDF

Author: James T. Andrews

Publisher: University of Pittsburgh Pre

Published: 2011-09-25

Total Pages: 343

ISBN-13: 082297746X

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The launch of the Sputnik satellite in October 1957 changed the course of human history. In the span of a few years, Soviets sent the first animal into space, the first man, and the first woman. These events were a direct challenge to the United States and the capitalist model that claimed ownership of scientific aspiration and achievement. The success of the space program captured the hopes and dreams of nearly every Soviet citizen and became a critical cultural vehicle in the country's emergence from Stalinism and the devastation of World War II. It also proved to be an invaluable tool in a worldwide propaganda campaign for socialism, a political system that could now seemingly accomplish anything it set its mind to. Into the Cosmos shows us the fascinating interplay of Soviet politics, science, and culture during the Khrushchev era, and how the space program became a binding force between these elements. The chapters examine the ill-fitted use of cosmonauts as propaganda props, the manipulation of gender politics after Valentina Tereshkova's flight, and the use of public interest in cosmology as a tool for promoting atheism. Other chapters explore the dichotomy of promoting the space program while maintaining extreme secrecy over its operations, space animals as media darlings, the history of Russian space culture, and the popularity of space-themed memorabilia that celebrated Soviet achievement and planted the seeds of consumerism.

Soviet Robots in the Solar System

Soviet Robots in the Solar System PDF

Author: Wesley T. Huntress, JR.

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2011-06-28

Total Pages: 462

ISBN-13: 1441978984

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Soviet Robots in the Solar System provides a history of the Soviet robotic lunar and planetary exploration program from its inception, with the attempted launch of a lunar impactor on September 23, 1958, to the last launch in the Russian national scientific space program in the 20th Century, Mars 96, on November 16, 1996. This title makes a unique contribution to understanding the scientific and engineering accomplishments of the Soviet Union’s robotic space exploration enterprise from its infancy to its demise with the collapse of the Soviet Union. The authors provide a comprehensive account of Soviet robotic exploration of the Solar System for both popular space enthusiasts and professionals in the field. Technical details and science results are provided and put into an historical and political perspective in a single volume for the first time. The book is divided into two parts. Part I describes the key players and the key institutions that build and operate the hardware, the rockets that provide access to space, and the spacecraft that carry out the enterprise. Part II is about putting these pieces together to enable space flight and mission campaigns. Part II is written in chronological order beginning with the first launches to the Moon. Each chapter covers a particular period when specific mission campaigns were undertaken during celestially-determined launch windows. Each chapter begins with a short overview of the flight missions that occurred during the time period and the political and historical context for the flight mission campaigns, including what the Americans were doing at the time. The bulk of each chapter is devoted to the scientific and engineering details of that flight campaign. The spacecraft and payloads are examined with as much technical detail as is available today, the progress is described, and a synopsis of the scientific result is given.

The Soviet Space Programme

The Soviet Space Programme PDF

Author: Ronald Humble

Publisher: London [England] : Routledge

Published: 1988

Total Pages: 184

ISBN-13:

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This book presents a comprehensive overview of the programme from its beginnings up to the present, emphasising in particular the degree to which the Soviet space programme is orientated towards military capabilities.

Sputnik and the Soviet Space Challenge

Sputnik and the Soviet Space Challenge PDF

Author: Asif A. Siddiqi

Publisher:

Published: 2003

Total Pages: 527

ISBN-13: 9780813026275

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Based on new Russian sources, Siddiqi's book reveals the truth about the Soviet space program to tell a technical, political, and personal history of the major Soviet initiatives. Photos & illustrations.

The Space Race

The Space Race PDF

Author: Deborah Cadbury

Publisher: Fourth Estate

Published: 2005

Total Pages: 404

ISBN-13: 9780007212996

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From the author of 'The Seven Wonders of the Industrial World' comes the shocking but true story behind the space race -- and the ruthless, brilliant scientists who fuelled it.

Soviet Space Culture

Soviet Space Culture PDF

Author: E. Maurer

Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan

Published: 2011-01-01

Total Pages: 323

ISBN-13: 9781349324378

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Starting with the first man-made satellite 'Sputnik' in 1957 and culminating four years later with the first human in space, Yuri Gagarin, space became a new utopian horizon. This book explores the profound repercussions of the Soviet space exploration program on culture and everyday life in Eastern Europe, especially in the Soviet Union itself.

Soviet Space Dogs

Soviet Space Dogs PDF

Author: Olesya Turkina

Publisher: Fuel Pub

Published: 2014

Total Pages: 237

ISBN-13: 9780956896285

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Tells the true stories of Laika, Belka, Strelka, and the other space dogs who were sent on experimental space flight explorations by the Soviet Union between 1951 and 1956.

U.S.-Soviet cooperation in space.

U.S.-Soviet cooperation in space. PDF

Author:

Publisher: DIANE Publishing

Published: 1985

Total Pages: 114

ISBN-13: 142892356X

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Space holds a fascination for all of us. For many, it represents a final physical frontier, a place to explore the very essence of knowledge, to experiment with new technology, and to seek new levels of human adaptation and change. As the major spacefaring nation on our planet, the United States has taken special pride in our achievements in space. Discoveries in space science have already added immensely to our fund of knowledge. U.S. scientists have moved quickly to take advantage of new opportunities for learning, and the future of scientific work in space is virtually unlimited. Given the promise of space, an additional issue comes to the fore. How can the United States proceed in space in relation to the other principal spacefaring nation and superpower, the Soviet Union? What is to be gained or lost by working together in space? With regard to science in particular, can the two countries benefit from joint efforts? Can the two countries cooperate as well as compete? Since the beginning of the space age, the two countries have been examining these questions. This study was requested by Senators Matsunaga, Mathias, and Pell as a means to shed light on the subject at the time of the 10th anniversary of the major U.S.- Soviet cooperative endeavor, the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project. OTA is pleased to be able to provide this technical memorandum, outlining the principal issues of the debate, the history of cooperation, and the experience of France, another country involved in space cooperation with the U.S.S.R. Additional OTA documents that may be of interest include Civilian Space Stations and the U.S. Future in Space, Salyut: Soviet Steps Toward Human Presence in Space, and International Cooperation and Competition in Civilian Space Activities. OTA studies in the areas of technology transfer are cited in the text.