Cosmonautics; A Colorful History

Format is approximately 8.75 inches by 11.25 inches. 212 pages, Illustrations (many in color). Beautiful book packed with information about the Russian /Soviet space program. Includes space pioneers, Soyuz, Unmanned Ships, Salyut, The Mir Complex and Module, Energia-Buran, Cosmodromes, Training Programs, Moon Program, Mir Station, and more! It is reported that the author skipped town, leaving a lot of folks who ordered expensive space tours from him holding the bag. The Soviet space program comprised several of the rocket and space exploration programs conducted by the Soviet Union from the 1930s until its collapse in 1991. Over its 60-year history, this program was responsible for a number of pioneering accomplishments in space flight, including the first intercontinental ballistic missile (R-7), first satellite (Sputnik 1), first animal in Earth orbit, first human in space and Earth orbit (Yuri Gagarin), first woman in space and Earth orbit (Valentina Tereshkova), first spacewalk (Alexei Leonov), first Moon impact, first image of the far side of the Moon and unmanned lunar soft landing (Luna 9), first space rover (Lunokhod 1), first sample of lunar soil automatically extracted and brought to Earth (Luna 16), and first space station (Salyut 1). Notable records included the first interplanetary probes to fly by Venus and Mars, respectively, Venera 3 and Mars 2 to impact the respective planet surface, and Venera 7 and Mars 3 to make soft landings on these planets.…