The Soviet Space Race with Apollo
Winner of the Emme Award for Astronautical Literature, 2001 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.
512 pages, Paperback First published February 1, 2003
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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. A companion volume to the author's "Sputnik and the Soviet Space Challenge," this continues with the Soviet lunar program including the Soyuz spacecraft and N1 booster. HIGHLY recommended.
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June 16, 2024Overall I think this book (combined with the first volume) are a little too technical for a person with casual interest like myself. I’d have personally preferred a single volume book but if you’re a real rocketry nerd who wants to know all the details of every rocket this is probably perfect because the level of detail and research is incredible. That all being said the Soviet space program is a pretty interesting story and its achievements are truly astounding when you consider all the things they had to work against (the ravages of WWII, Stalin, hyper bureaucraticism, capricious politicians, underfunding etc.). the US getting to the moon is also an incredible achievement, but I’m left feeling that the Soviet program doesn’t get enough credit for reaching every other milestone before that. I’ve seen it said that the Cold War never ended, and I have to unfortunately agree (Case in point, the other day I saw Sally Ride referred to as the “first woman in space “ when that’s just not true). Anyway, it’s a good book and can see why it’s considered the definitive history on the subject.
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Este libro y su primera parte, Sputnik and the Soviet Space Challenge, 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.
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