Sputnik and the Soviet Space Challenge

by Asif A. Siddiqi

Winner of the Emme Award for Astronautical Literature, 200 First published by NASA in 2000 as Challenge to Apollo , these two volumes are the first comprehensive history of the Soviet-manned space programs covering a period of thirty years, from the end of World War II, when the Soviets captured German rocket technology, to the collapse of their moon program in the mid-1970s. The spectacular Soviet successes of Sputnik--the first Earth satellite (1957) and Yuri Gagarin--the first man in space (1961) shocked U.S. leaders and prompted President John F. Kennedy to set the goal of landing a man on the moon before the end of the 1960s. The moon race culminated with the historic landing of Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on the moon in 1969 (coincidentally the first Soviet unmanned moon probe crashed on its surface while the American astronauts were at Tranquility Base). The epic story of the Soviet space program remained shrouded in secrecy until the unprecedented opening of top secret documents. Based almost entirely on these Russian-language sources and numerous interviews with veterans, Siddiqi's book breaks through the rumors, hearsay, and speculation that characterized books on the Soviet space program published during the Cold War years. Supplementing the text with dozens of previously classified photographs, he weaves together the technical, political, and personal history of the major Soviet space programs, providing the other side of the history of human space flight. Asif A. Siddiqi is a Ph.D. candidate in history at Carnegie Mellon University.

Genres: Space, History, Nonfiction, Science

574 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 2003

Reviews

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an incredibly dense book, but very informative on the early years of Soviet space program. It was very interesting, but could only be read in small chunks at a time, lest be overwhelmed.

[Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

If - like me - you were a fan of human spaceflight during the Apollo (and even early shuttle) years, and if - like me - you were equally curious about the Soviet spaceflight program, there was precious little information available.

Until now.

This is a very detailed look at the early years of Soviet spaceflight, including the hardware and the people, from the R-7 Semyorka ("Old Number Seven") booster that, in its numerous versions, has carried every manned Soviet/Russian spacecraft into orbit, to Sergei Korolev, the father of the Soviet spaceflight program.

HIGHLY recommended.

[Javier Casado · Rating 5 out of 5]

Este libro y su segunda parte, The Soviet Space Race with Apollo, representan la mejor obra existente en inglés sobre el programa espacial de la antigua URSS, desde sus inicios en los años 30 hasta los años 70. La obra más rigurosa y más documentada sobre el tema no escrita en ruso.

Eso sí... su amenidad por lo general brilla por su ausencia. Una obra más bien de referencia, sólo apta para los muy interesados.