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JFZ90
16th Dec 2014, 20:12
OK, its just been on BBC4, so you've missed it, but it is bound to be repeated.

Not Mil Aviation, but I'm sure many here would enjoy. It tells the story of the space race from the Russian side.

Interesting footage I've never seen before - lots of colour film, 2 N1 rockets in the same shot, and the cccp lunar lander tests - it had downward rockets to stop the bounce.

Worth a watch, no doubt on iPlayer.

KenV
16th Dec 2014, 20:31
LINK? URL?

JFZ90
16th Dec 2014, 20:39
BBC iPlayer - Cosmonauts: How Russia Won the Space Race (http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b04lcxms/cosmonauts-how-russia-won-the-space-race)

This is the link, but if you're outside the UK you'll need to hide/change your IP address to a UK one or it won't stream.

There are several free ways to do this. PM if you don't know how.

KenV
16th Dec 2014, 20:54
I live in the former Republic of Texas and cannot view this. So yes, I'm going to need some help.

Al R
16th Dec 2014, 21:50
Ken,

Is that the former Republic of Texas in the former offshoot of England? In that case, I'm sure we'll let you watch it on us! ;)

I enjoyed it. I read years ago that the CIA in Turkey was monitoring Soyuz One's descent with a failed parachute and heard Vladimir Komarov calmly say goodbye to his wife and then read off his instruments and offer some final in-flight impressions. The Soyuz 11 disaster was even more avoidable.

http://www.spacesafetymagazine.com/space-disasters/soyuz-11/crew-home-misfortunes-soyuz-11/

tartare
16th Dec 2014, 23:20
Al, NPR have this account - slightly more detail (http://www.npr.org/blogs/krulwich/2011/05/02/134597833/cosmonaut-crashed-into-earth-crying-in-rage) - and an interesting tale about Gagarin meeting Breshnev afterwards...

Al R
17th Dec 2014, 00:02
It doesn't bear thinking about. From that page, a slightly modified tale.

A Cosmonaut's Fiery Death Retold : Krulwich Wonders... : NPR (http://www.npr.org/blogs/krulwich/2011/05/03/135919389/a-cosmonauts-fiery-death-retold)

tartare
17th Dec 2014, 01:31
Intriguing.
What is it Churchill said about Russia - a mystery, wrapped in an enigma I think?

wiggy
17th Dec 2014, 06:09
I only stumbled across the programme by accident last night - I thought it was a bit of a gem.

As the OP said it contained interesting stuff with lots of rarely/"never before seen" footage and interviews with the likes of Alexei Leonov and Michael Foale...so if you're a space geek or have a interest in the history of space flight space it is well worth trying to catch via t'internet or on TV if it's repeated.

It was certainly nice to see the Soviet/Russian space programme being given some credit for what it has achieved over the years.

Hangarshuffle
17th Dec 2014, 07:52
Yes excellent programme, was going to put it on here when it started, but was so engrossing.
First rocket into space, first satellite, first dog, first man, first space walk.
Manned and futuristic orbitting space station.
The genius of Russian design and thinking applied with some very brave men.
Pretty shocking the bit with the 3 dead cosmonauts being given CPR though, maybe better leaving that out.

MAINJAFAD
17th Dec 2014, 08:32
For anybody who is interested in this program I would very strongly recommended this series of on line NASA publications called 'Rockets and people' by Boris Chertok, who was a deputy chief designer at Korolyov's Experimental Design Bureau (the series editor of the English version, Asif Siddiqi, is on the BBC program). It covers almost the complete Soviet missile and space program from 1945 through to the mid 1980's. Chetok was involved in the design of rocket and spacecraft control systems and was involved the investigations of both the Soyuz 1 and 11 disasters. Chetok doesn't pull any punches on any of the failures including his own. All 4 volumes are linked below.

Vol 1 covers Chetok early life and his time in Germany hunting down V2 material and personnel. Link (http://history.nasa.gov/SP-4110/vol1.pdf)

Vol 2 covers the development of Soviet missiles from 1947 through to the R7 and the early lunar probes Link (http://history.nasa.gov/SP-4110/vol2.pdf)

Vol 3 covers the flight of Gagarin through to the Soyuz 1 and the death of Gagarin. Link (http://history.nasa.gov/SP-4110/vol3.pdf)

Vol 4 covers the Soviet Moon program and Space Stations up to Mir. Link (http://history.nasa.gov/SP-4110/vol4.pdf)

MPN11
17th Dec 2014, 10:01
Thanks, JFZ90 ... that's written off the rest of this morning for me :D

Wander00
17th Dec 2014, 10:47
Only just this morning...............

212man
17th Dec 2014, 13:57
I thought the account of the first space walk was amazing when the suit expanded, gloves and boots started slipping off, too big to fit back into the hatch. No problem - just let some air out!:uhoh::ok:

Bevo
17th Dec 2014, 16:12
MAINJAFAD - Thanks for the links. Very interesting reading.

MAINJAFAD
17th Dec 2014, 17:56
Just watched this again as it is a repeat of a program shown a short while back on BBC 2. Seems this version has been almost chopped in half, as the BBC2 broadcast was 1 1/2 hours long and had a lot more on the selection of Gagarin over Titov for the first flight and Alexey Leonov covering of the problems that Voskhod 2 had after the space walk. Still a good program though.

wiggy
17th Dec 2014, 21:37
MAINJAFAD

Thanks for those links....looks like that's my bedtime reading sorted out for the foreseeable future.

212man

I think both "sides" seriously underestimated how difficult working outside a spacecraft in a pressurised suit would really be. After Leonov's spacewalk almost all American Gemini astronauts, bar Ed White, had serious problems on their "space walks" indeed they really didn't have a problem free EVA until Buzz Aldrin's on the last Gemini flight, Gemini 12.

tdracer
18th Dec 2014, 00:03
Being a space geek I'd really like to see it - if anyone notices it on youtube or similar site that can be accessed from this side of the pond, please let me know. I tried to access BBC stuff before and it simply doesn't work :(
Buzz Aldrin is largely credited with figuring out how to work in space - including training in a neutral buoyancy pool of water. I got to meet Buzz and Alexey Leonov (and a bunch of other astronauts and flight controllers) at a Museum of Flight event a couple years back. Definitely one of the highlights of my life.

MAINJAFAD
18th Dec 2014, 00:40
tdracer, you lucky man. Somebody did put the 1 1/2 hour version on it up on youtube, but its been blocked. I wouldn't be surprised if it ends up as an episode of Nova on PBS.

JFZ90
18th Dec 2014, 19:42
Great links Mainjafad

I thought I was broadly aware of rockets & missile history, but this opened whole new chapters.

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MAINJAFAD
18th Dec 2014, 19:56
JFZ, Cracking find, Russian version of below (I've got to admit that I learnt quite a lot as well, thus my recommendation).

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By the way, the Russian Cosmonaut program at the start was run by the Air Forces, thus Mil Aviation is a very apt location for this thread.

steamchicken
19th Dec 2014, 15:59
Chertok makes the really interesting point that although the cosmonaut program was run by the Air Force, the rocket program (to begin with) was run by the artillery arm and a lot of the industrial contractors were either used to building guns, or else automotive or even navy* stuff.

It was only when the rival projects with Chelomey's OKB 52 started up that the aviation industry got involved, and the reason why OKB 52 got on so quickly was that their contractors knew what they were doing. Chertok mentions the first time he got to have a look at an UR500, which was built by the Moscow-suburb aircraft plant where he did his apprenticeship in the 1920s - he was amazed by how good the fit and finish was compared to his own lot's R7 Semyorka, and by implication, how many of the failures OKB 1 sweated blood over were probably down to manufacturing quality control.

*Fire-control, not shipbuilding, but still...

MAINJAFAD
19th Dec 2014, 20:20
Indeed Stream, the build quality on the land system fire control stuff was a bit lacking in quality control. The electronics within though had some interesting concepts which quite impressed me when I worked on a Russian bit of kit.