Soviet Russia’s Space Program During the Space Race: The History and Legacy of the Competition that Pushed America to the Moon

by Charles River Editors

*Includes pictures*Profiles the various space missions the Soviets conducted during the 1950s and 1960s*Includes footnotes, online resources and a bibliography for further reading*Includes a table of contents"“This is MoscowThis is Moscow callingOn the 12th of April, the Soviet Union orbited a spaceship around the Earth with a man on boardThe astronaut is a Soviet Major Gagarin, Yuri AlekseyevichThe World's first cosmonautThe first to open the door into the unknownThe first to step over the threshold of our homelandThe whole planet knew him and loved him"Of all the goals the Bolshevik Revolution aimed to bring about, perhaps nowhere were Russian promises delivered on more than in the success of the Soviet Space program of the 1950s and 1960s. As a result of Russian innovation and technology, but also due to incredible drive to modernize and compete with the United States for world power, Russia was finally and triumphantly modernized in the eyes of her own people and the world. Neil deGrasse Tyson recognized the Soviet legacy in space in his Space Chronicles, citing the Soviets’ “important measure[s] of space first spacewalk, longest spacewalk, first woman in space, first docking in space, first space station, longest time logged in space.”In fact, the Soviet Union spent much of the 1950s leaving the United States in its dust (and rocket fuel). President Eisenhower and other Americans who could view Soviet rockets in the sky were justifiably worried that Soviet satellites in orbit could soon be spying on them, or, even worse, dropping nuclear bombs on them. Dovetailing off their success developing intercontinental ballistic missiles, the Soviets were the first to make enormous advances in actual space exploration, and on the night of October 4, 1957, the Soviets prepared to launch “Object D” atop one of its R-7 rockets. As the world’s first ICBMs, R-7 rockets were built primarily to carry nuclear warheads, but “Object D” was a far different payload. “Object D” and the R-7 rocket launched from a hastily constructed launch pad, and within minutes it entered orbit. It took that object, now more famously known as Sputnik-1, about 90 minutes to complete its orbit around the Earth, speeding along at 18,000 miles per hour while transmitting a distinct beeping noise by radio. Eventually, the Space Race produced some of the most iconic moments of the 20th century, including the landing of the first men on the Moon, and today, the race is widely viewed poignantly and fondly as a race to the Moon that culminated with Apollo 11 “winning” the race for the United States. In fact, it encompassed a much broader range of competition between the Soviet Union and the United States that affected everything from military technology to successfully launching satellites that could land on Mars or orbit other planets in the Solar System. Moreover, the notion that America “won” the Space Race at the end of the 1960s overlooks just how competitive the Space Race actually was in launching people into orbit, as well as the major contributions the Space Race influenced in leading to today’s International Space Station and continued space exploration. Soviet Russia’s Space Program During the Space The History and Legacy of the Competition that Pushed America to the Moon chronicles the history of Russia’s space development and the competition it fostered. Along with pictures of important people, places, and events, you will learn about the Russian space program like never before, in no time at all.

57 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 10, 2015

About the author

Charles River Editors is an independent publisher of thousands of ebooks on Kindle, Nook, Kobo, and Apple iBookstore & provider of original content for third parties.

Reviews

[Uber Hund · Rating 2 out of 5]

Of the Excel spreadsheets documenting early Soviet manned spaceflight, this is certainly one of them, except in something that resembles narrative form.

[Bucky F · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the history of space programs and especially the Soviet program. I learned a lot about individual missions but also about the history of Soviet/Russian scientific focus, starting from Peter the Great. I admire the cultural commitment they have to funding and celebrating some of the most important work that has ever been done in the history of mankind. I wish America would do that more, but it seems that for Russia and America both, it comes down the specific leader to decide whether we should advance or not. I enjoyed learning more about Yuri Gagarin and Valentina Tereshkova, as well as little bit about Alexei Leonov, one of my favorite artists. I wish it was more clear about the chronology of events, as in later chapters it seemed to skip around a bit—they talk about how Gagarin dies in a plane crash, then soon after how he had criticisms of the Soyuz 1 mission. The book reminded me that I really appreciate being in a country with freedom of the press, where we are aware of our own government’s failures (most of the time) instead of the total secrecy of the failures of the Soviet government.

[Ken Hamner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting history.