[FPSPACE] Microfiche of Soviet space studies, early 1970s

[Jim Oberg]

Microfiche of Soviet space studies, early 1970sA lot of these materials from that era have been pulped and shredded, and probably survive in only a small number of accessible copies if at all. But before assigning this to some hapless $6/hr grad student, maybe try to develop a table of contents, or at least an overview of which publications are covered, from what dates. 

A lot of files that I've kept from those years have, I now believe, been 'overtaken by events' including access to Russian prime sources. Some last-word histories (viz., Siddiqi) have also been produced, further diminishing the utility of translated materials, at least in our lifetimes.

Even within the US program, I've seen so much historical raw material lost through decay, non-thinking destruction, mis-filing, end-of-program bulldozing of archives, etc., that I cringe at the thought of any more accidental losses. But we can't keep EVERYTHING -- or can we?

Jim O
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Susan Kaltenbach 
  To: fpspace at friends-partners.org 
  Cc: susan at atomicsupermen.com 
  Sent: Monday, October 18, 2004 9:15 PM
  Subject: [FPSPACE] Microfiche of Soviet space studies, early 1970s




  While "organizing" my office, I unearthed a set of JPRS microfiche I bought several years ago. I've been planning to scan them to digital images and/or OCR.  

  My question for our space historians:  Are these documents relevant enough to be digitally preserved, or can they continue to "rot" in my desk drawer until I finally remember to buy a microfiche reader? It looks like a few universities might have this fiche, the Goddard Library has hard copies, etc.

  I'm researching methods and costs. There are thousands of page images to be scanned. This is probably a big undertaking and I am simply naive about the resources involved. However, I bought them for my personal grins; if the world doesn't need them, I'll still enjoy them. : )

  I look forward to your suggestions. 

  Susan Kaltenbach 
  susan at atomicsupermen.com 

  _ _ _ _ _ _ 

  They are: 

  Flight of Soyuz 10, September 1971 
  Lunokhod 1 A New Step in Space Exploration, October 1971 
  Interkosmos 4 Space Observations and Instruments, June 1972 
  Russian Report to COSPAR 15th Session Held in Madrid Spain in 1971, July 1972 
  Mars 2 and 3 Interplanetary Stations of the USSR, October 1972 
  Interkosmos Satellites Study Cosmic Rays, January 1973 
  Mars 2 and 3 Engineering and Research Results, May 1973 
  Conquest of Outer Space in the USSR. Official Announcements by TASS and Material Published, 1973 
  Soviet Satellite Geodesy, Basis and Status of Soviet Laser Geodesy, May 1974 

  And... copies of Soviet (Bloc) Research in Geophysics Astronomy and Space, October 1972 to March 1975 

  - - - - - - - - 
  From Indiana University Bloomington Libraries' Joint Publications Research Service (JPRS) Web site (http://www.indiana.edu/~libgpd/guides/jprsgw.html):

    "JPRS reports are translations of books, reports, articles, and entire issues of serials in the sciences and social sciences, mostly from Communist or Third World countries. They were prepared by linguists under contract to the Joint Publications Research Service, an agency of the U.S. government set up in 1957 to provide translations for government research units, until the late 60's when they were transferred to the Foreign Broadcast Information Service."



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