[FPSPACE] Boris Chertok's Rockets and People, Vol. III: Hot Days of the Cold War

[Asif Siddiqi]

Peter,

You wrote:

> I’m afraid I must take issue with your comments below.  When one  
> reads your “series introduction” comments, one does not come away  
> with the impression that “These are simply memoirs and suffer from  
> the same problem that all memoirs do, ie for the most part they  
> represent a particular point of view.”

Actually, none of the passages you excerpt suggest that I think that  
Chertok's memoirs are the "gold standard" (a phrase I've never used  
anywhere but which you seem to attribute to me!). In fact, if you read  
the introduction closely, you'd find that I highlight the inherent  
problems and limitations of memoirs. I note, for example, that:

"The richness of Chertok's writing should not obscure the fact that  
this is a memoir written by a historical participant, not a tome  
authored by a professional historian. In other words, the opinions  
presented here are by definition subjective and thus prone to the same  
kinds of limitations inherent in any recollection, especially one made  
over four decades after the events." (p. xxiii)

This doesn't mean that I don't find Chertok's memoirs valuable -- on  
the contrary, they are extremely valuable, mainly because they provide  
a detailed view of a senior designer's experience at the apex of R&D  
in the Soviet space program. And yes, of course, Chertok's memoirs  
have errors! It is, after all, a memoir. A historian's job is to  
compare his work with others and make some informed judgements about  
how to tell his/her story.

As to your other points, any professional historian (i.e., one trained  
through higher education) will be the first to admit that ALL sources  
need to be put into context, whether it's something that Yuri Andropov  
wrote in his diaries or whether it's a passing comment made by a tour  
guide in Star City. There are no "gold standard" (your phrase) sources  
in the study of history. There are only sources that are more and less  
reliable but in the end all need to be put into context, analyzed,  
etc. This is a challenge not only for documents from Russia but from  
anywhere in the world, i.e., the problem is not unique to Soviet space  
history but to ALL history. This is the precise reason why there are  
(quite excellent) editorial essays in each of NASA's Exploring the  
Unknown volumes which collect primary documents. These essays provide  
important context.

About archival documents on the Russian/Soviet space program: I have  
worked in many different archives in Russia and therefore can speak  
from experience. It is true that at the design bureau level (i.e.,  
Energia, Khrunichev, NPO Mashinostroyeniye, etc.,) archival documents  
are nearly impossible to come by. But some enterprising researchers  
have indeed overcome this obstacle -- I am thinking of Vadim  
Lukashevich who worked hard to obtain many documents on Spiral and  
Buran. We are also fortunate to have a few published collections of  
documents from these organizations and a plethora of official  
organizational histories but obviously these are only the very tip(s)  
of the iceberg.

 From a Communist Party/governmental level, however, I can assure you  
that archival documents on many aspects of the Soviet space program  
are available and accessible, at least until the year 1965. I know  
because I have collected thousands of documents on policy (i.e., not  
R&D and design) at the VPK, Central Committee, and ministry levels. My  
forthcoming book on the origins of Sputnik are based on these. At some  
point in the future, when I have some time off from my day job, I hope  
to publish them or at least put them on-line.

> And if we go back to the notion that Soviet space was a security- 
> classified endeavor, then Russia-based scholars are going to have to  
> find a mechanism to get the material declassified.  I am not aware  
> of such a mechanism where Russian citizens or scholars can wander  
> over to a Russian government bureaucratic office and request that  
> certain things be looked for (and then the subsequent effort made to  
> declassify them).

Actually, there are such mechanisms in Russian archives, especially if  
you are searching for information on family members.

You mention two "gold standards" (again, that phrase) in Russian space  
history:

> I think that there are two that come to mind that may fulfill this  
> definition.  One would be the technical notations of Vasiliy  
> Mishin.  Which Asif is aware of, but who does not have full access  
> to a complete set.

Nice to see that you know with such conviction what I have and what I  
don't.  ;)

Best,

Asif


Assistant Professor of History
Fordham University
441 E. Fordham Road, Bronx, NY 10458
office: (718) 817-3939
fax: (718) 817-4680
e-mail: siddiqi at fordham.edu
http://www.fordham.edu/academics/programs_at_fordham_/history_department/faculty/asif_siddiqi_70084.asp

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