[FPSPACE] Re: Challenge to Apollo

[Dennis Newkirk]

Let me add to the many accolades already presented here and no doubt yet to
be made for Asif Siddiqi's wonderful book "Challenge to Apollo".

Years ago, Asif was kind enough to allow me to read a few sample chapters
which were very interesting, but since then Asif has finely crafted the
book into a great history and a wonderfully entertaining read. I've been
busy savoring the first several chapters and in addition to features that
have already been noted, the book details the organization and
disorganization of the early years of Soviet spaceflight better than
anything I've read before. It tells in great and entertaining detail the
relationships of many individuals responsible for the space and missile
programs - not just 2 or 3 big names repeated in many earlier books. And, I
think it relates how US space program events influenced Soviet planning and
politics far better that previous books - not just the US did this so the
Soviets did that. Well, I could go one telling you about this, but I'd
rather go back to reading the book...

If you have a healthy interest in the history of spaceflight in general,
you should read this book.

------------------------
Dennis Newkirk - rusaerog@mcs.net
Editor of the Russian Aerospace Guide http://www.mcs.net/~rusaerog
Author of the Almanac of Soviet Manned Space Flight

-----------
The book is:

Asif A. Siddiqi, Challenge to Apollo: The Soviet Union and the Space Race,
1945-1974 (Washington, D.C.: NASA SP-2000-4408)

1,011 pp.

The book is available from:

http://bookstore.gpo.gov/index.html

Please type "Challenge to Apollo" in the search box and all the necessary
information should come up.

The book is a complete history of the Soviet piloted/manned space program
from 1945 to 1974. It begins with the origins of the Soviet ballistic
missile program in 1945 and then continues to the suspension of the N1
project in 1974. It covers programs such as VR-190, the antipodal bomber,
early suborbital porgrams, Vostok, Voskhod, TOS, TMK, Raketoplan,
Kosmoplan, Soyuz (various incarnations), Zond, Spiral, N1-L3, UR-700,
Aelita, Salyut/DOS, Almaz, and many others.

The book is not simply a technical work - I've tried to include two aspects
of Soviet space history that are usually given short-thrift - the human
story, and the institutional background. So hopefully those who want to
know what the 7K-OK-T or N1F-V3 is will be as interested in it as those who
simply want to read an interesting story. I've included a lot of stuff (and
I mean a lot) on both the people who ran the program and also the
institutions which were created to run the program (various Special
Committees, etc.). Hopefully this book will fill a gap in the English
literature on these hitherto unknown aspects of the Soviet space program.

I think NASA will make a formal announcement soon which I'll try and post.

Thanks for interest!

Asif Siddiqi


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