DOI: 10.7256/2585-7797.2023.1.40459

Abstract: This study examines the materials of the Soviet, Russian and American press devoted to the program of the first Soviet-American space cooperation "Soyuz–Apollo", implemented in July 1975. The display of the preparation, implementation of the project and the results of the flight is the subject of this study. The source base of the research is the periodical press, namely articles of the Soviet (Russian) newspapers Izvestia and Pravda and the American The New York Times, which are located on the EastView resource and on the website of the New York Times archive. In this study, a set of analytical methods and computer technologies was used, including the method of content analysis. The novelty of the study is related to the task of comparing the press coverage of the participating states of information about the preparation, implementation of the project and the results of the flight. The relevance of the research lies in the approbation of new research methods and approaches when working with large full-text databases, including in a foreign language. The study revealed four aspects of the reflection of the Soyuz-Apollo program in the analyzed newspapers: cooperation in space, the impact of the project on international relations, the impact of the program on the further development of the world manned cosmonautics, as well as the role of Soviet and American participants of the program in its successful implementation.

DOI: 10.7256/2454-0609.2021.6.36762

Abstract: History marks the events that can be truly called the scientific and technological breakthroughs. One of such achievements is the flight of the first man into space in 1961. However, the flight of the austranot in the spacecraft is just a small part of this event. Behind it are those who developed the spacecraft, launch vehicle, braking system, life support system, lodgment, spacesuit and many other systems. This reviews and systematizes the sources of personal origin, such as diaries, memoirs and correspondence of the scholars, who were the pioneers of the Soviet cosmonautics, as well as works on the history of space exploration. The object of this research is the circle of scholars and engineers, members of the Council of Chief Designers of 1946–1967. The article relies on the materials from the library of the Russian State Archive of Scientific and Technical Documentation, Russian State Historical Library, as well as the collections of the Russian State Archive of Scientific and Technical Documentation, collection of the Memorial Museum of Cosmonautics, and archive of the Academician S. P. Korolev Memorial House Museum. The analysis employs the sources of personal origin, such as correspondence, diaries and memoirs of the designers, which contain mentioning of their work, as well as give assessment of the activity and personality of their colleagues.

DOI: 10.7256/2585-7797.2020.4.34350

Abstract: The article studies the interactions of the Chief Designers’ Council members by the network analysis method based on the prosopographic database covering the creators of Soviet cosmonautics. Personal contacts of cosmonautics creators were undoubtedly very important in the activities of senior managers of such a complex scientific and engineering industry as the Soviet cosmonautics was. These are professional relations of the Chief Designers’ Council members the article addresses. The source base of the research is the materials library of the Russian State Archive of scientific and technical documentation, the Russian State Public History Library, the Russian State Archive of scientific and technical documentation, the funds of the Memorial Museum of Cosmonautics and the archive of the Memorial House Museum of academician Sergey Korolev. The research novelty is the goal set to study professional communications of the Soviet space program creators on the basis of network analysis as well as the first attempt to collect and process a large array of texts of biographical and memoir sources (5500 abridged pages) associated with the Chief Designers’ Council using a set of quantitative methods. The main results of this study are networks of interactions that show who of the members of the 1946-1967 Chief Designers’ Council had a significant impact on the development of the Soviet cosmonautics and how communication links were distributed between them.