The Impact Of American And Russian Cosmism On The Representation Of Space Exploration In 20th Century American And Soviet Space Art

This thesis argues that there is a popular culture of space exploration characteristic of a wider Russia; its roots lie in pagan times and it grew through Orthodox Christianity and Soviet Communism to the twenty-first century, where it is actively promoted by Russia and neighbouring nations. The key influences stem from Nikolai Fedorov, Kontsantin Tsiolkovsky, Friedrich Tsander and Yuri Gagarin. The narrative of the twentieth-century Soviet space programme is considered from this perspective and the cultural importance of Tsiolkovsky to this programme is acknowledged. This is an alternative perspective to the commonly-held Western view of the "Space Race". The manipulation of imagery and ritual of space exploration by Russia and other neighbouring nations is examined, and the effect on the "collective remembering" in modern Russia of key events in Russian space exploration is tested.

Starting with the first man-made satellite 'Sputnik' in 1957 and culminating four years later with the first human in space, Yuri Gagarin, space became a new utopian horizon. This book explores the profound repercussions of the Soviet space exploration program on culture and everyday life in Eastern Europe, especially in the Soviet Union itself.

The launch of the Sputnik satellite in October 1957 changed the course of human history. In the span of a few years, Soviets sent the first animal into space, the first man, and the first woman. These events were a direct challenge to the United States and the capitalist model that claimed ownership of scientific aspiration and achievement. Into the Cosmos shows us the fascinating interplay of Soviet politics, science, and culture during the Khrushchev era, and how the space program became a binding force between these elements.

*Includes pictures *Profiles the various space missions the Soviets conducted during the 1950s and 1960s *Includes footnotes, online resources and a bibliography for further reading *Includes a table of contents ""This is Moscow This is Moscow calling On the 12th of April, the Soviet Union orbited a spaceship around the Earth with a man on board The astronaut is a Soviet citizen: Major Gagarin, Yuri Alekseyevich The World's first cosmonaut The first to open the door into the unknown The first to step over the threshold of our homeland The whole planet knew him and loved him" Of all the goals the Bolshevik Revolution aimed to bring about, perhaps nowhere were Russian promises delivered on more than in the success of the Soviet Space program of the 1950s and 1960s. As a result of Russian innovation and technology, but also due to incredible drive to modernize and compete with the United States for world power, Russia was finally and triumphantly modernized in the eyes of her own people and the world. Neil deGrasse Tyson recognized the Soviet legacy in space in his Space Chronicles, citing the Soviets' "important measure[s] of space achievement: first spacewalk, longest spacewalk, first woman in space, first docking in space, first space station, longest time logged in space." In fact, the Soviet Union spent much of the 1950s leaving the United States in its dust (and rocket fuel). President Eisenhower and other Americans who could view Soviet rockets in the sky were justifiably worried that Soviet satellites in orbit could soon be spying on them, or, even worse, dropping nuclear bombs on them. Dovetailing off their success developing intercontinental ballistic missiles, the Soviets were the first to make enormous advances in actual space exploration, and on the night of October 4, 1957, the Soviets prepared to launch "Object D" atop one of its R-7 rockets. As the world's first ICBMs, R-7 rockets were built primarily to carry nuclear warheads, but "Object D" was a far different payload. "Object D" and the R-7 rocket launched from a hastily constructed launch pad, and within minutes it entered orbit. It took that object, now more famously known as Sputnik-1, about 90 minutes to complete its orbit around the Earth, speeding along at 18,000 miles per hour while transmitting a distinct beeping noise by radio. Eventually, the Space Race produced some of the most iconic moments of the 20th century, including the landing of the first men on the Moon, and today, the race is widely viewed poignantly and fondly as a race to the Moon that culminated with Apollo 11 "winning" the race for the United States. In fact, it encompassed a much broader range of competition between the Soviet Union and the United States that affected everything from military technology to successfully launching satellites that could land on Mars or orbit other planets in the Solar System. Moreover, the notion that America "won" the Space Race at the end of the 1960s overlooks just how competitive the Space Race actually was in launching people into orbit, as well as the major contributions the Space Race influenced in leading to today's International Space Station and continued space exploration. Soviet Russia's Space Program During the Space Race: The History and Legacy of the Competition that Pushed America to the Moon chronicles the history of Russia's space development and the competition it fostered. Along with pictures of important people, places, and events, you will learn about the Russian space program like never before, in no time at all.

Korash has background in both space policy and international relations, has been a journalist in both Russia and the US, was considered a candidate for cosmonaut when the Soviet Union broke up, and was involved in the 1993 joint Shuttle-Mir missions. He traces the Soviet/Russian view of the shift from competition to cooperation with the US space program. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

In the Stream of Stars is the first book to bring together rarely seen soviet and American space art. Features essays by Alan Bean, Alexei Leonov, and others, plus introductory essay by Ray Bradbury, and over 200 full-color reproductions. Full-color throughout author's tour.

The inherent contradictions of the Space Age -- the mixture of technologies high and low, of nostalgia and progress, of pathos and promise -- are revealed in Kosmos, Adam Bartos's astonishing photographic survey of the Soviet space program. Bartos's fascination with this subject led him to seek out places like the bedroom where Yuri Gagarian slept the night before his history-making flight into space, located in the Baiknour Cosmodrome, the one-time top-secret space complex in the Kazakh desert. Kosmos presents 94 of Bartos's photographs, rich with the incongruities of the history, science, culture, and politics of the Space Age.