Cosmonauts to Brezhnev in Top Secret 1965 Letter: Soviet Woes and US Gains in Space

On 22 October 1965, a letter was sent to Leonid Brezhnev about the challenges facing the Soviet Union’s once all-powerful space program. The letter that hit Brezhnev’s desk was probably worth his attention for two reasons: first, it carried the classified “Top Secret,” and second, it was signed by seven cosmonauts, well-known across the globeContinueContinue reading “Cosmonauts to Brezhnev in Top Secret 1965 Letter: Soviet Woes and US Gains in Space”

Genesis of COSMOS 110: Exposing 4-Legged Cosmonauts in Space to Radiation Belts for 22 Days

Today’s document is actually a packet of documents, written 60 years ago on the cusp of a Soviet space experiment to study the effects of long-term radiation exposure of one-cell organisms and “biochemically and biologically important matter.” The experiment would take place as part of the Cosmos 110 flight program, to be launched approximately oneContinueContinue reading “Genesis of COSMOS 110: Exposing 4-Legged Cosmonauts in Space to Radiation Belts for 22 Days”

Details of Publication of New Declassified Soviet Space Program Documents

The Roskosmos website already boasts an impressive cache of declassified documents from the earliest days of space travel research through the latter days of Soyuz. On 16 March, they revealed a new addition to this archive, one featuring information (including photographic- and video-based) on the 21+ day space flight of the Soviet dogs Veterok andContinueContinue reading “Details of Publication of New Declassified Soviet Space Program Documents”