Brian Harvey recounts for the first time the definitive history of
scientific Russian space probes and the knowledge they acquired of
the Earth, its environment, the Moon, Mars and Venus. He examines
what Russian Space Science has actually achieved in furthering our
knowledge of the Solar System, focusing on the instrumentation and
scientific objectives and outcomes, the information gained and
lessons learnt. Boxes and charts are used extensively in order to
convey in an easily understandable manner for the non-scientific
reader the problems and issues addressed and solved by Soviet space
science. The book opens with the story of early space science in
Russia, which started when the first Russian rockets were fired
into the high atmosphere from Kapustin Yar in the late 1940s.
Instruments were carried to measure and map the atmosphere and
later rockets carried dogs to test their reactions to
weightlessness. In order to beat America into Earth orbit, two
simpler satellites than originally planned were launched, Sputnik
and Sputnik 2, which provided some initial information on
atmospheric density, while the following Sputnik 3 carried twelve
instruments to measure radiation belts, solar radiation, the
density of the atmosphere and the Earth s magnetic field. The
author recounts how, by the 1960s, the Soviet Union had developed a
program of investigation of near-Earth space using satellites
within the Cosmos program, in particular the DS (Dnepropetrovsky
Sputnik), small satellites developed to investigate meteoroids,
radiation, the magnetic fields, the upper atmosphere, solar
activity, ionosphere, charged particles, cosmic rays and
geophysics. Brian Harvey then gives the scientific results from
Russian lunar exploration, starting with the discovery of the solar
wind by the First Cosmic Ship and the initial mapping of the lunar
far side by the Automatic Interplanetary Station. He describes Luna
10, which made the first full study of the lunar environment, Luna
16 which brought soil back to Earth and the two Moon rovers which
travelled 50 kms across the lunar surface taking thousands of
measurements, soil analyses and photographs, as well as profiles of
discrete areas. Chapters 4 and 5 describe in detail the scientific
outcomes of the missions to Venus and Mars, before considering the
orbiting space stations in Chapter 6. Space science formed an
important part of the early manned space program, the prime focus
being the human reaction to weightlessness, how long people could
stay in orbit and the effects on the body, as well as radiation
exposure. Chapter 7 looks at the later stage of Soviet and Russian
space science, including Astron and Granat, the two observatories
of the 1980s, and Bion, the space biology program which flew
monkeys and other animals into orbit. The final chapter looks
forward to a new period of Russian space science with the Spektr
series of observatories and a range smaller science satellites
under the Federal Space Plan 2006-2015.
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