This book review was originally posted to my ko-fi page.
Science - 🔬🔬🔬🔬
Difficulty- 📖📖📖📖
In a sentence? To those who know everything about Apollo, a new space program appears.
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Sputnik launched on October 4, 1957, propelling the space race forward with the goal of showcasing the scientific superiority of Communist nations. Soviet Russia held many of the "firsts" of the space challenges.
First artificial Earth Satellite: Sputnik, October 4, 1957
First on the Moon: Luna 2 probe, September 14, 1959
First animals to successfully orbit the Earth: Belka & Strelka, August 19, 1960
First man in space: Yuri Gagarin, April 21, 1961
First woman in space: Valentina Tereshkova, June 16, 1963
First spacewalk: Alexei Leonov, March 18, 1965
First remote-controlled rover on another celestial body: Lunokhod 1, November 17, 1970
This book was interesting because it contrasts with my knowledge of the US space program. America focused on piloted rockets, and Russia focused on controlled rockets. The humans inside were more a piece of propaganda, riding the various Voshkod and Soyuz into Earth's Orbit. America outrightly refused for women to fly, but Russia used one woman to fly into space as a political message. America launched its rockets live, whereas Russia reported successes the day after (failures typically went unreported). What fell apart for the USSR was when leaders passed away, which stopped the vision of the space program.
Organized by year, with notes of where the US space program was at that point in time, this book clearly shares inside stories about the program and honest clarity with failures on Roscosmos' part.
It's most similar to a history book, so it's not for everyone. But if you have the chance to learn about another space program, take this down from the shelf.
