The wrong stuff : how the Soviet space program crashed and burned / John Strausbaugh.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Strausbaugh, John, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Astronautics--Soviet Union.

Astronautics.

Astronautics and state--Soviet Union.

Astronautics and state.

Space race--Soviet Union.

Space race.

Space race--United States--History--20th century.

Physical Description:

262 pages ; 25 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

New York : PublicAffairs, 2024.

Summary:

"A witty, deeply researched history of the surprisingly ramshackle Soviet space program, and how its success was more spin than science. In the wake of World War II, with America ascendant and the Soviet Union devastated by the conflict, the Space Race should have been over before it started. But the underdog Soviets scored a series of victories--starting with the 1957 launch of Sputnik and continuing in the years following--that seemed to achieve the impossible. It was proof, it seemed, that the USSR had manpower and collective will that went beyond America's material advantages. They had asserted themselves as a world power. But in The Wrong Stuff, John Strausbaugh tells a different story. These achievements were amazing, yes, but they were also PR victories as much as scientific ones. The world saw a Potemkin spaceport; the internal facts were much sloppier, less impressive, more dysfunctional. The Soviet supply chain was a disaster, and many of its machines barely worked. The cosmonauts aboard its iconic launch of the Vostok 1 rocket had to go on a special diet, and take off their space suits, just to fit inside without causing a failure. Soviet scientists, under intense government pressure, had essentially made their rocket out of spit and band aids, and hurried to hide their work as soon as their worldwide demonstration was complete. With a witty eye for detail and a gift for storytelling, John Strausbaugh takes us behind the Iron Curtain, and shows just how little there was to find there"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Three stooges in space

The power couple

A flea-bitten canaveral

Sputnik, Flopnik, and your little dog, too

Khrushchev's charm offensive

The comrade who fell to Earth

Shee-ut

The Cosmonette

Space ghosts

Clown cars in space

Not not knocking on Heaven's door

This Devil ship!

Red man falling

Hello, Goodbye.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 261-262).

ISBN:

9781541703346

1541703340

OCLC:

1401907581