Race Into Space: The Soviet Space Programme (Library of Space Science and Space Technology)

It was time for Alexei Leonov to climb back in after his first spacewalk. . . 'First of all, the movie camera which had been recording all his movements snagged. It would not go back in the airlock and instead got wedged in the entrance. By the time he had forced it in, Alexei Leonov was sweating profusely and producing more perspiration than the suit could absorb. Then, much worse, he could not get back in himself. His suit ballooned to the point where he just would not fit. He pushed and pushed, all to no avail. Sweat had covered his eyes; wearing a helmet he could not clear it. He was using up air fast. His heart was pounding madly. He reduced his suit pressure from 0.4 atmospheres to 0.3. No good. Down to 0.27, the permissible limit. Still would not fit. He faced disaster. . .'And did he get back in? How little we know of that half of the history of space exploration that belongs to the Russians. This book recounts the thrilling and dramatic events of the Soviet space programme, from its earliest beginnings with the theoreticians of the nineteenth century to the establishment of the Mir orbital space station in 1986. Because information about the projects was only released cautiously, and sometimes misleadingly at the time, Brian Harvey's detailed account comes as a revelation. He tells an enthralling story of high political drama, massive scientific effort, brilliant technological inventiveness and sheer human courage and resourcefulness. Race Into Space will appeal to everybody fascinated by tales from the frontiers of human experience; it reawakens the wonder felt when the first Sputnik circled the Earth; and it has the power to inspire the next generation of scientists and technologists. -- Brian Harvey has undertaken a tremendous amount of research, and in this book he presents his findings in a way which is both authoritative and readable. Even if you consider yourself an expert, you will find here facts that you did not previously know.