The Wrong Stuff: How The Soviet Space Program Crashed And Burned, Strausbaugh - B+

           "The race for space between the US and the USSR was a severely uneven match." The US had the best of the German rocket engineers, and all of their plans. Add in the US's industrial might with the destruction in the Soviet Union, and the US had a substantial lead. Nonetheless, the Soviets achieved the first satellite, the first man in space, the first woman in space, the first spacewalk, and the first object on the moon. The Soviet program was run by Sergei Korolev, the Chief Designer. They built their space city at Baikonur in Kazakhstan. "Between the loneliness, the hideous conditions, and the pressure to get the Cosmodrome built fast, mental and physical breakdowns were regular occurrences." From this hellhole that everyone who ever worked there despised, the Soviets launched Sputnik on October. 4, 1957. Although it was a pivotal moment of the Cold War, Sputnik was the size of a beachball and carryied a short wave radio. The American press coined the phrase "space race." In September 1959, a Soviet probe crashed on the moon, and Yuri Gagarin became the first man in space in April, 1961. Gagarin was an international hero, the "space Elvis," everywhere but in the US.

         By the mid-sixties, the Soviets were in trouble. They did not have the wherewithal to build larger rockets and bigger capsules to take the next step and lift man beyond the earth. The military was clamoring for more missiles, and Brezhnev was more inclined to focus on national defense. In the two years the US flew ten Gemini missions, the Soviets did not fly once, and Korolev died. In early 1967, Soyuz I burned up on reentry killing its cosmonaut. Gagarin died in a plane crash. They were able to send capsules to the moon, but not control their return. It was all over in July, 1969. This book is an eye opening delight. I never knew how slapdash and dangerous the Soviet program was. Thanks to Dave Gutowski for the recommendation.