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The new Russian space programme By Brian Harvey
Planet. Space Sci., Vol. 44, No. 12, p. 1599, 1996
Pergamon
Copyright 0 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd Printed in Great Britain. All rights reserved 0032-0633/96 $15.00+0.00
Book Review
The New Russian Space Programme By Brian Harvey, Wiley-Praxis,
1996.
The first thing one notices about B. Harvey’s book is its rather misleading title since only a small number of pages are devoted to the post-glasnost epoch of space exploration in Russia. Coincidentally, the title of the first edition of the book Race into Space: the Soviet Space Programme published in 1988 was much more descriptive of the real contents of this otherwise excellent account of the history of space exploration in the (ex-) Soviet Union. The book begins with a historical review of the dreams and achievements of Russian rocketry pioneers starting at the end of the nineteenth century. Of particular interest are the chapters devoted to the golden age of Soviet spaceflight, from the late 1950s to the early 1980s including the little publicized (on the Soviet side) manned race to the Moon. Then follows a detailed account of the less well known civilian and military application satellite programmes (reconnaissance, intelligence, navigation, communications, meteorology, Earth resources, geodesy, astronomy, space sciences, biology, etc.). Next comes a chapter devoted to robotic exploration of the terrestrial planets (except Mercury). The coverage of these extraordinary Soviet missions is not as extensive as that dealing with manned spaceflight and propulsion systems. In particular, it would have been interesting to read more in-depth accounts of the planetary roving vehicles Lunakhod (still unmatched to this day) and its successor the Marsokhod. Also unmatched are the Venera landers on Venus which have provided all the in situ information we have of its inhospitable surface. Less successful Soviet/Russian attempts at exploring Mars have continued up to the present, including the ambitious Mars-96 mission to be launched in November 1996, which has kept scientific space research alive in the current times of worldwide dwindling budgets for space activities. The following chapters focus again on manned spaceflight. including space planes, shuttles and stations. Fascinating to read are the chapters on astronaut living in space and the space station Mir. Looking into the future, the last chapter deals with cooperation in space culminating in the International Space Station Alpha. It is particularly refreshing to read this account of manned space activities from a European perspective, noting that Eastern and Western European astronauts have travelled in space alongside their Russian colleagues on numerous occasions, a fact which would have been overlooked had this book been a typical U.S.-centric account.
The bibliography is comprehensive but proper credit should have been given to the pioneer in the West of Soviet spaceflight history, James Oberg from NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, who wrote very insightful books on the subject way before anybody else. Among others, he authored Red Star in Orbit and Uncovering Soviet Disasters: The Limits of Glasnost. Also missing is a series of recapitulative tables at the end of the volume listing all manned spaceflights, as well as the scientific missions on Earth’s orbit and to the planets, and providing a short summary of the goals of each mission, although most of this information exists elsewhere in the book. The book is authoritatively written, very informative and well documented, with good black and white photographs from the Russian Novosti press agency. To reach a higher degree of publishing, however, it would have been desirable to see some explanatory drawings of both manned and robotic spacecraft, a more careful presentation of the tables in the text, and possibly a few colour pictures to illustrate the Mir space station for instance and some vistas of Venus as imaged by Soviet spacecraft from orbit and from its surface. The political rationale for the manned race to the Moon does not seem to have been researched in depth for either the Soviet or the American side. However, the nature of the Soviet space programme during those secretive years comes to light, including its glorious accomplishments as well as its sad failures. Of particular relevance would have been to analyse the political considerations of the West to counter the Soviet challenge in space at that time, since our current politicians in most spacefaring nations are using the end of the Cold War as an excuse to decrease budgets devoted to space activities. In summary, B. Harvey’s book is highly recommended for all space enthusiasts, professionals and amateurs alike, who have a curious mind about the history of spaceflight in the country that pioneered it all and achieved basically all the “first” with the notable exceptions of man on the Moon and spacecraft beyond Venus and Mars. Russian plans of future space exploration are rather sketchy at present (except for the space station Alpha) given the economical uncertainties of the country. However, one would hope that the title The New Russian Space Programme would be entirely appropriate for the next edition of this book to report on a truly renewed programme of space exploration in the New Russia. Agustin F. Chicarro
European Space Agency Space Science Department Noordwijk, The Netherlands
Pergamon
Copyright 0 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd Printed in Great Britain. All rights reserved 0032-0633/96 $15.00+0.00
Book Review
The New Russian Space Programme By Brian Harvey, Wiley-Praxis,
1996.
The first thing one notices about B. Harvey’s book is its rather misleading title since only a small number of pages are devoted to the post-glasnost epoch of space exploration in Russia. Coincidentally, the title of the first edition of the book Race into Space: the Soviet Space Programme published in 1988 was much more descriptive of the real contents of this otherwise excellent account of the history of space exploration in the (ex-) Soviet Union. The book begins with a historical review of the dreams and achievements of Russian rocketry pioneers starting at the end of the nineteenth century. Of particular interest are the chapters devoted to the golden age of Soviet spaceflight, from the late 1950s to the early 1980s including the little publicized (on the Soviet side) manned race to the Moon. Then follows a detailed account of the less well known civilian and military application satellite programmes (reconnaissance, intelligence, navigation, communications, meteorology, Earth resources, geodesy, astronomy, space sciences, biology, etc.). Next comes a chapter devoted to robotic exploration of the terrestrial planets (except Mercury). The coverage of these extraordinary Soviet missions is not as extensive as that dealing with manned spaceflight and propulsion systems. In particular, it would have been interesting to read more in-depth accounts of the planetary roving vehicles Lunakhod (still unmatched to this day) and its successor the Marsokhod. Also unmatched are the Venera landers on Venus which have provided all the in situ information we have of its inhospitable surface. Less successful Soviet/Russian attempts at exploring Mars have continued up to the present, including the ambitious Mars-96 mission to be launched in November 1996, which has kept scientific space research alive in the current times of worldwide dwindling budgets for space activities. The following chapters focus again on manned spaceflight. including space planes, shuttles and stations. Fascinating to read are the chapters on astronaut living in space and the space station Mir. Looking into the future, the last chapter deals with cooperation in space culminating in the International Space Station Alpha. It is particularly refreshing to read this account of manned space activities from a European perspective, noting that Eastern and Western European astronauts have travelled in space alongside their Russian colleagues on numerous occasions, a fact which would have been overlooked had this book been a typical U.S.-centric account.
The bibliography is comprehensive but proper credit should have been given to the pioneer in the West of Soviet spaceflight history, James Oberg from NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, who wrote very insightful books on the subject way before anybody else. Among others, he authored Red Star in Orbit and Uncovering Soviet Disasters: The Limits of Glasnost. Also missing is a series of recapitulative tables at the end of the volume listing all manned spaceflights, as well as the scientific missions on Earth’s orbit and to the planets, and providing a short summary of the goals of each mission, although most of this information exists elsewhere in the book. The book is authoritatively written, very informative and well documented, with good black and white photographs from the Russian Novosti press agency. To reach a higher degree of publishing, however, it would have been desirable to see some explanatory drawings of both manned and robotic spacecraft, a more careful presentation of the tables in the text, and possibly a few colour pictures to illustrate the Mir space station for instance and some vistas of Venus as imaged by Soviet spacecraft from orbit and from its surface. The political rationale for the manned race to the Moon does not seem to have been researched in depth for either the Soviet or the American side. However, the nature of the Soviet space programme during those secretive years comes to light, including its glorious accomplishments as well as its sad failures. Of particular relevance would have been to analyse the political considerations of the West to counter the Soviet challenge in space at that time, since our current politicians in most spacefaring nations are using the end of the Cold War as an excuse to decrease budgets devoted to space activities. In summary, B. Harvey’s book is highly recommended for all space enthusiasts, professionals and amateurs alike, who have a curious mind about the history of spaceflight in the country that pioneered it all and achieved basically all the “first” with the notable exceptions of man on the Moon and spacecraft beyond Venus and Mars. Russian plans of future space exploration are rather sketchy at present (except for the space station Alpha) given the economical uncertainties of the country. However, one would hope that the title The New Russian Space Programme would be entirely appropriate for the next edition of this book to report on a truly renewed programme of space exploration in the New Russia. Agustin F. Chicarro
European Space Agency Space Science Department Noordwijk, The Netherlands