A Day in Astronomy: Letter to General Secretary Brezhnev

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image: USSR 1991 Yuri A. Gagarin Stamps.

The U.S. has plenty of issues regarding the pace of its space programs in the face of Chinese achievements, as noted multiple times in posts on this site. We should not see this as anything new. U.S. politicians and citizens had plenty of similar complaints during the space race with the USSR, and we also have evidence of similar complaints within the USSR.

For instance, on this day in 1965, Yuri Gagarin, the first man in space, wrote a letter with other cosmonauts to the USSR’s General Secretary Brezhnev with a list of concerns. The letter stated, in part:

The USA have not only caught up with us, but even surpassed us in certain areas. The flights of space vehicles Ranger-7, Ranger-8, Mariner-4, Gemini-5, and others are serious achievements of American scientists. This lagging behind of our homeland in space exploration is especially objectionable to us, cosmonauts, but it also damages the prestige of the Soviet Union and has a negative effect on the defense efforts of the countries from the socialist camp…Why is the Soviet Union losing its leading position in space research? A common answer to this question answer is as follows: the USA have developed a very wide front of research in space; they allocate enormous funds for space research. In the past 5 years they spent more than 20 billion dollars, and in 1965 alone 7 billion dollars. This answer is basically correct. It is well known that the USA spend on space exploration much more than does the USSR.

The letter covers other issues, including battles between the various organizations involved in space affairs as well as a stated preference by some for robotic flights rather than manned-flights.

It is an interesting reminder that the same issues constantly crop up to potentially cripple space initiatives, and today’s leader in space can quickly fall behind.

A Day in Astronomy: The Discovery of Phobos

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): Mar’s moon Phobos. (NASA / JPL-Caltech / University of Arizona)

On this day in 1877, American astronomer Asaph Hall discovered the Martian moon Phobos while at the US Naval Observatory in Washington, D.C. He had discovered Mar’s other moon Deimos six days earlier.

Oddly enough, the idea of two moons orbiting Mars was first proposed in 1726 by Jonathan Swift in his tale Gulliver’s Travels. In the book, astronomers on the flying island of Laputia were noted to have

… discovered two lesser stars, or satellites, which revolve around Mars, whereof the innermost is distant from the center of the primary exactly three of his diameters, and the outermost five: the former revolves in the space of ten hours, and the latter in twenty-one and a half.

All Professor Hall had to do was confirm the work of the Laputian astronomers.

A Day in Astronomy: China Launches a Puppy into Orbit

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): Shan Shan (left) and Xiao Bao. (South China Morning Post)

On this day in 1966, China launched a male puppy named Xiao Bao (meaning Little Leopard) into space. He was used to test the effects of space and was safely recovered after the flight.

Thirteen days later a female puppy named Shan Shan (meaning Coral) was also launched into space. She too was safely recovered.

This is a much better tale than that of Laika, the dog that the USSR sent into orbit in 1957. As stray dog from the streets of Moscow, she only lasted a few hours after the launch, eventually dying of hyperthermia.

Image (Credit): Laika in a training capsule before her mission to space. (Sputnik / Alamy)

A Day in Astronomy: Beginnings and Ends

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): ValentinaTereshkova just before boarding her Vostok 6 capsule. (NASA)

On this day in 1963, Valentina Vladimirovna Tereshkova from the USSR became the first woman in space. She flew solo on the Vostok 6 for three days. It was her first and last time in space. Her importance as a symbol for women and the USSR meant she would never fly again lest something happen to her.

She was quoted as saying:

They forbade me from flying, despite all my protests and arguments. After being once in space, I was desperately keen to go back there. But it didn’t happen.

On this same day in 1977, German-American Wernher von Braun passed away. As the chief designer of the Saturn rockets that took men to the Moon, he was to see all of the Apollo missions before his death.

He is also quoted as saying:

I’m convinced that before the year 2000 is over, the first child will have been born on the moon.

It is unlikely he would have believed that it would be another 50 years before we found our way back to the Moon.

Image (Credit): Braun standing next to the first stage of the Saturn V booster he helped design. (NASA)

A Day in Astronomy: President Kennedy’s Call to Put a Man on the Moon

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): The full Moon. (NASA)

On this day in 1961, President John F. Kennedy addressed a joint session of Congress and called for landing a man on the Moon. An excerpt from that address is provided below:

First, I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth. No single space project in this period will be more impressive to mankind, or more important for the long-range exploration of space; and none will be so difficult or expensive to accomplish. We propose to accelerate the development of the appropriate lunar space craft. We propose to develop alternate liquid and solid fuel boosters, much larger than any now being developed, until certain which is superior. We propose additional funds for other engine development and for unmanned explorations–explorations which are particularly important for one purpose which this nation will never overlook: the survival of the man who first makes this daring flight. But in a very real sense, it will not be one man going to the moon–if we make this judgment affirmatively, it will be an entire nation. For all of us must work to put him there.