Russian - Soviet Spaceflight and the Mir Space Station (American space encyclopedia series) (CD-ROM)

~ World Spaceflight News (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

This unique electronic book on CD-ROM has an outstanding collection of the finest documents available about the fascinating history of the space program of the Soviet Union and Russia, including the Mir Space Station and the recently concluded Shuttle Mir Phase 1 program. Exclusive reproductions of major NASA and Congressional documents provide nearly 4000 pages of invaluable technical material, with over 550 images, line drawings, and schematics of satellites, rockets, and launch facilities, and 200 tables and charts! The history of the program is chronicled in six superb Congressional Research Service reports to Congress, spanning the period from Sputnik to the late 1980s. The early reports were authored by a renowned Soviet space expert, the late Dr. Charles S. Sheldon. NASA documents provide a complete review of the Mir cooperative program, along with the training manual developed by the Johnson Space Center for the Mir complex. Several documents cover the historic 1975 Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (ASTP) mission. As another title in the World Spaceflight News American Space Encyclopedia CD-ROM series, it is truly an authoritative source for spaceflight enthusiasts!

From the Publisher

World Spaceflight News has covered spaceflight and the Space Shuttle program since 1983. In addition to our flagship publication, we produce printed and electronic Special Reports and NASA videos. Our "American Space Encyclopedia" CD-ROM series provides exclusive coverage of many spaceflight topics.

Product Details

• CD-ROM: 3850 pages
• Publisher: Progressive Management; 1 edition (March 22, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1893472035
• ISBN-13: 978-1893472037
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 4.9 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #2,793,910 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good source of documents on the Soviet space progam., June 4, 2000

By	Rogera Sauterer (Pell City, AL USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This CD is a collection of government and NASA documents about the Soviet Space Program, Mir, and the Shuttle-Mir flights, many which were long out of print, in Adobe PDF format. Especially valuable are the complete series of Congressional Research Service reports on the Soviet Space Programs. These out-of-print reports alone run to almost 2000 pages. These reports were at the time the best source in English on Russian space activities and are still valuable, though post-cold war revelations have added much new material that was simply conjecture at the time. Still, these reports are excellent, especially the most recent one. Also included is the Mir Hardware History, a recent and detailed analysis of the development and history of Soviet space stations, especially of Mir. It is one of the most highly regarded documents in English on this topic. The Mir station training manual, produced for shuttle-Mir astronauts, is a detailed look at the station and all of its systems. There is also the official Shuttle-Mir project report, which focuses on how the Mir and shuttle programs interfaced and the accomplishments of this project. Although it tends to gloss over problems such as fires in the spacecraft and collisions that endangered the entire crew, it presents the alternate point of view to books such as "Dragonfly" which tended to trash the Shuttle-Mir program as a waste of money and a needless danger for our astronauts. Additionally, there is both the Soviet and U.S. press kits for the 1975 Apollo-Soyuz flights and the official NASA history of the ASTP program, "The Partnership". Unfortunately, this document lacks the photos in the out-of-print original! Overall, however, a great resource for those interested in the Soviet space program, with the caveat that many of the older documents misread important aspects of Soviet space history, which was highly classified in those days. One hopes that World Spaceflight News will translate the definitive Russian histories of the Korolev design bureau and the Buran shuttle project some day, as these are currently the best sources on Soviet space history but are only available in Russian.