Publisher's Synopsis
This work describes how imaginative innovators and theoreticians in the late 19th century provided the foundations of the Soviet space effort. Their vision of building space stations in orbit round the earth by linking different components together proved a lasting influence. From diverse sources the author has gathered items of relevance, which, when pieced together, have produced an exciting account of the sequence of events. After their catastrophic defeat in the race to the moon, the USSR slowly reshaped its programme and turned to the building of space stations. Automatic probes collected moon samples, drilled the rocks of Venus and flew up to Halley's Comet. By 1988, the Soviet Union had established a permanent orbital space station, Mir, and a new generation of rockets enabled the USSR to move into a position of technological supremacy for the 1990s.;This book tells the story of these achievements, along with the inevitable setbacks, disappointments and disasters. It examines the equipment, the organization and philosophy of the Soviet Space Programme; it discusses the comparatively little known military and scientific programmes, and looks at the designers, planners and cosmonauts who took part.
