Books - Soyuz

Product Description:
In SOYUZ: A UNIVERSAL SPACECRAFT, authors Rex Hall and Dave Shayler review the development and operations of the reliable Soyuz family of spacecraft, including lesser-known military and unmanned versions.

While most works on Soviet/Russian space operations focus on space station activities, the story of the Soyuz spacecraft has been largely neglected. An integral element of Salyut and Mir space station operations, the small ferry has been the mainstay of cosmonaut transportation since 1967. In addition, since 1978 the unmanned freighter version called Progress has provided a means in which to regularly re-supply a space station and so prolong its orbital lifetime. Using authentic Soviet and Russian sources this book is the first known work in the west dedicated to revealing the full story of the Soyuz series, including a complete listing of vehicle production numbers.



Customer Review: Must Read on Soviet Spaceflight:
I would say that this book, along with the authors' Rocket Men and David Harland's Mir are the three most important books on the Soviet Space program and it's equipment. For almost 40 years the Soyuz has been the workhorse of the Soviet/Russian space program, this book chronicles the first 36 years. Both the human side and hardware are covered.

Customer Review: complete coverage of Soyuz and Progress flights:
This book provides an overview of the Soyuz hardware and Soyuz flights up through the Soyuz TMA, with in-depth coverage of many early flights. It also includes a substantial chapter on the Progress. There are numerous black and white illustrations and photographs.

Note that book does not focus on operations on-board the Salyut, Almaz, Mir or ISS stations, only on getting there/back and docking.

Customer Review: Very Informative, But What a Rough Read!:
This book adds a lot of insight into how the Soviet and now Russian Space programs developed and refined Soyuz. It will leave you with a solid knowledge of what a workhorse it is - not as sexy as the Shuttle - more like a crew cab pickup truck that just gets better and better with every version release. The majority of the book has great relevant technical detail with some good yarn spinning to add flavor. The functional relationship between Soyuz and Salyut, MIR and ISS is nicely detailed in this book.

With that said, it's a shame the authors released it with out more editing. There is one section that clearly was published in draft form with the notations left in for further clarification or to add more information at a later date. It is actually kind of amusing that the authors where using a shorthand at one point that was meant to be searched and replaced - and they didn't - thus they share there cute nickname for the Russians.

The authors should be applauded for the hard work they put into researching and assembling this book. The publisher should be spanked for not finding them a couple of hungry graduate engineering assistants to help turn this into something more readable

Customer Review: Long-awaited reference book on Soviet Russian Spaceflight:
The Soviet/Russian space program has already operated 4 space stations ( Salyut-series, Mir, ISS ). This book by BIS president Rex D. Hall focuzes on the story of the Soyuz spacecraft which has been used to bring both visitors and resident crews to the Space Stations. An integral element of Salyut , Mir and Internatioanl Space Station ISS operations, the small ferry has been the mainstay of cosmonaut transportation since 1967. In addition, since 1978 the unmanned freighter version called Progress has provided a means in which to regularly re-supply a space station and so prolong its orbital lifetime.
Using authentic Soviet and Russian sources this book is the first known work in the west dedicated to revealing the full story of the Soyuz series. The book describes Mission Hardware and Support Docking Missions from 1966 - 70 , the 1971-81 Soyuz Manned Ferry, the 1978 onwards Progress Cargo-Resupply Ferry , the 1979 - 86 Soyuz T manned ferry, the updated Soyuz TM, 1986 - 2002 to Mir and the very latest Soyuz TMA which has become the vehicle to bring crews to ISS since the accident of shuttle Columbia.
An excellent reference work (it includes a complete listing of vehicle production numbers ), the only minus I see is that this book is not available in Hardcover ...
Philip CORNEILLE

Product Description:
This remarkable book is a unique insight into the people involved in the development of the Salyut space station and the crews assigned to operate it. It describes the rotation between the crews, analyses the decision to send the back-up crew on Soyuz 11 and recounts the intrigues and difficult relationships between all the personalities involved - politicians, CKBEM managers, designers, generals and cosmonauts. Biographies of the Soyuz 11 cosmonauts are published for the first time in English and the longest manned space mission of the time is described before Grujica Ivanovich gives a unique summary of the most tragic day in the Soviet/Russian manned space program. An investigation into the cause of the tragic deaths of the Soyuz 11 cosmonauts precedes a description of the post-Salyut era, showing how the legacy of the first space station has survived for decades.The first two chapters provide the history of the first Soviet space station projects Almaz, Soyuz-R, MKS and DOS from 1964 to1970 and cover the selection of DOS-1 crews in 1971, their training and crew rotations. Chapter 3 launches the Salyut space station with its first crew to occupy the first space station, while Chapter 4 portrays the drama of the Soyuz 10 mission in April 1971, which failed to dock with Salyut due to a broken docking probe element, culminating a dramatic night return to the Earth. The following two chapters describe the State Commission's decision to replace the original crew of Soyuz 11 two days before the launch in June 1971 and introduce cosmonauts Dobrovolysky, Volkov and Patcayev. The launch of Soyuz 11, its docking with Salyut and the first days aboard the space station are described in Chapter 7 and the fire which almost curtailed the mission and led to Dobrovolsky and Volkov's deteriorating relationship is then covered.The final stages of the mission, including the problems with the hatch before Soyuz 11 separated from the Salyut space station, are explained before the author details the separation of the orbital and service modules and the tragic mistake made by the cosmonauts. Chapter 10 describes the normal landing of Soyuz 11, the discovery of and attempts to revive the dead cosmonauts. and includes the first interview with one of the rescuers. The author then demonstrates how detailed analysis found that, after separation from the orbital module, the internal pressure in the descent module dropped from 920mm to zero in 112 seconds due to the premature opening of one of the valves. Without spacesuits, the cosmonauts had only 15-20 seconds to close the valve and save their lives. An attempt by Dobrovolsky sadly failed.Further investigation identified numerous problems which contributed to the tragedy, including the valve technology, leaking of personal protection equipment, problems with the hatch and omissions in crew training, as well as confusion between the cosmonauts. The last chapters describe the Post-Salyut era. After three single modular stations, in 1986 the USSR launched the base module of the third generation space station Mir, which has six docking probes. In the following years, Mir grew rapidly and was extended with five additional scientific modules to become a true space outpost continually occupied by humans, the dream of space pioneers. The service module Zvezda, a modified Salyut/DOS-1, currently serves as a core for the International Space Station. The book ends with memories of all those affected by the DOS program and the tragedy of the heroic Soyuz 11 crew and looks forward to a continuation of the historic mission of Salyut.

Product Description:
This digital document is an article from Macmillan Reference USA Science Library: Space Sciences, brought to you by Gale®, a part of Cengage Learning, a world leader in e-research and educational publishing for libraries, schools and businesses. The length of the article is 792 words. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser. From the history of space exploration to the future of space business, this set offers a broad survey of the space sciences. Includes biographies of scientists and the space-related job market.

Product Description:
During a field trip to the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum, Lucy and Kevin time travel to the 1975 Apollo-Soyuz Test Project and find themselves as Alexei Leonov and Thomas Stafford enacting the historic first rendezvous in space.