My interest, for me, came full circle in 1996 when I visited the cosmonauts' training
centre known as Star City for the very ®rst time, and I have subsequently returned a
number of times. On these visits I have had the honour and privilege of interviewing a
large number of cosmonauts covering the entire spectrum of the Soviet/CIS manned
space¯ight programme, asking them how they became a cosmonaut, as well as their
trials and tribulations, successes and failures. I now call a number of them friends.
Little did I realize that momentous day back in 1961 how my sparked interest in
space¯ight history would one day set me on a road that eventually led to the gates of
Star City, and the chance to meet, interview and even befriend many of the men and
women whose names and exploits had meant so much to me all those years ago.
I would have to say that my proudest moment came when I was laying ¯owers on
the graves of the cosmonauts in the Kremlin Wall and Novodevichy cemetery along
with their families and friends on Cosmonautics Day in 2001; it was 40 years to the day
since Yuri Gagarin became the world's ®rst human space traveller.
We trust that this book does bring to a wider world the story of those men who
were, or could have been, pioneers of our new frontier of space.
xxviii About the authors
Acknowledgements
With more decades of interest in space exploration between us than both authors
would care to acknowledge, much of the extensive research carried out for this book
required little more eort than simply reaching out for a particular book or ®le in our
respective studies. But as always there are a multitude of unanswered questions, and it
is wonderfully reassuring to know that there is always a host of good people out there
ready and eager to assist where they can: perhaps in a large way, perhaps even in a
very small way, but on each and every occasion very much appreciated. Worthy of
particular appreciation are those unsolicited messages that usually began with a
salutation, and something like, ``I came across this and wondered if it might be useful
to you for your book.'' Almost invariably, yes, it was.
Our individual helpers need to be acknowledged with gratitude. They are,
alphabetically, Michael Cassutt, John B. Charles, Kyra Collins, Francis and
Erin French, Dr. Vladimir Golyakhovsky, Bart Hendrickx, Ivan Ivanov, Anne
Lenehan, Tom Neal, James Oberg, Alex Panchenko, Tony Quine, David M. Scott
(not the astronaut), David Shayler, and last, but certainly not least, to our Dutch
chum Bert Vis. A vast amount of information and quotes in this book are the result of
Bert's many investigative forays into Star City, where he is now widely recognized,
admired and treated as a trusted friend for his work in interviewing cosmonauts,
engineers, designers and other folks over many years in order to transcribe and retain
for posterity a social history of the entire Soviet/CIS space programme. Speci®cally
for this book, Bert interviewed Marina Popovich in Star City, Moscow, and
Alexei Leonov at a space conference in Edinburgh, Scotland. Our thanks also go
to those two people for graciously consenting to be interviewed.
We would also like to oer profuse thanks to Elena Esina, curator of the museum
in the House of Cosmonautics in Star City, who always comes up trumps as a friendly
liaison person with the residents and workers at that remarkable place. We also
acknowledge the sta of the Yuri Gagarin Training Centre and the cosmonauts of
the Air Force detachment, without whom this book would de®nitely not have been
possible.
Kudos also to the sta and work done at Novosti Kosmonavtiki, Russia's
leading magazine on space exploration, and to the amazing Spacefacts website
(www.spacefacts.de) so capably administered by Joachim Becker. Many thanks as
always to the Council and Sta of the British Interplanetary Society in London for
once again allowing us access to their extensive library and photo archive.
And ®nally, our love and thanks go to our respective First Ladies, Pat and Lynn,
for their ongoing but sometimes strained patience and understanding of our shared
passion for space¯ight history.
xxx Acknowledgements
Figures
Major-General Alexei Leonov . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
xiv
Nelyubov's grave in Zaporozhe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
xviii
Nelyubov's alternative gravesite in Kremovo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
xx
The replacement gravesite at Zaporozhe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
xx
Gagarin on transfer bus prior to launch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
xxi
Launch of the ®rst Sputnik . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2
Chief designer Sergei Korolev . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
5
The ®rst Sputnik satellite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
6
Eisenhower and Nixon in 1952 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
7
The loss of Explorer 1 on the launch pad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
9
Pickering, Van Allen and von Braun with a model of Explorer 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
10
Mikhail Tikhonravov and Sergei Korolev. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
14
Gagarin in ¯ight training . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
19
Fighter pilot Alexei Leonov. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
21
Leonov at the controls of a turboprop aircraft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
24
General Nikolai Kamanin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
28
Kamanin, Korolev and Yazdovsky . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
28
Korolev, Karpov and Nikitin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
29
Ivan Anikeyev . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
31
Anikeyev in a Moscow store . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
32
Pavel Belyayev . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
33
Belyayev suit ®tting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
34
Valentin Bondarenko . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
36
The town of Kharpov during the war. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
37
Valery Bykovsky . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
38
Bykovsky in training . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
39
Valentin Filatyev . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
40
Filatyev playing table tennis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
41
Yuri Gagarin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
42
Gagarin during parachute training . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
44
Dostları ilə paylaş: |