scholarly journals Participation of the Kharkiv Astronomical Observatory and its staff in the Soviet Space Program in 1960-ies

2021 ◽  
Vol 27 (5) ◽  
pp. 86-99
Author(s):  
M.A. Balyshev ◽  
◽  
Yu.Yu. Koval ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Lunar Surface ◽  
Chemical Properties ◽  
Lunar Soil ◽  
Astronomical Observatory ◽  
Space Program ◽  
History Of Astronomy ◽  
Sequence Of Events ◽  
Space Objects ◽  
Soviet Space ◽  
The 1960S

The article is devoted to the studying of documentary facts on the history of astronomy of the 1960s. Its purpose is to highlight the events related to the participation of the Kharkiv astronomical observatory in the Soviet space program in a certain period. The chronology of involvement of Kharkiv astronomers in programs on development and functioning of objects «V-67», «Е-7», «Е-8», «L-3», «М-69», creation of artificial Lunodrome, processing of photographic materials, that were obtained by spacecraft «Lunar orbiter 2», «Ranger 7», «Surveyor 1», «Luna-9», «Luna-12», «Luna-13», and «Zond-3» are considered. The directions of scientific research in projects «Altai», «Atlas», «Luks», and others of the Astronomical observatory of O.M. Gorky Kharkiv State University are analyzed. The main tasks that the Kharkiv astronomical observatory carried out in the 1960s were found next: photometric studies of details on the reverse side of the Moon; study of the physical, mechanical, and chemical properties of the lunar soil and its optical properties; photometric analysis of certain areas of the lunar surface; photometric calculations necessary for the design of orientation systems of automatic interplanetary stations; study of the luminosity of the lunar surface. The retro-information resources, which were firstly involved into consideration, provided a chronological sequence of events related to the participation of the University observatory in the development and functioning of artificial space objects during the given period. These resources helped to specify the achievements of Kharkiv astronomers in the Soviet program of space exploration and to prove (or clarify) some little-known facts.

scholarly journals From the First Satellite to Human Space Flights: the Space Project in the System of the Khrushchev Economy (Second Half of the 1950s – First Half of the 1960s)

2021 ◽  
pp. 17-28
Author(s):  
N. Yu. Pivovarov ◽  
◽  
Keyword(s):  
Central Committee ◽  
Space Program ◽  
Space Flights ◽  
Space Projects ◽  
Space Project ◽  
Direct Data ◽  
Soviet Space ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
Approximate Cost ◽  
The Cost

The development of the space industry became one of the priority areas of Soviet science and engineering in the second half of the 20th century. At the same time, the question of the cost of the Soviet space program remains open. The lack of direct data led to various kinds of speculation. The article analyzes the approximate cost of the Soviet space project in the first decade of its existence based on the declassified documents from the former archive of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the CPSU. The article shows from which budget items the Soviet space program was financed. The author demonstrates that the financing of the Soviet space program was organized not as an annual budget expenditure, but as expenses for the implementation of individual programs. Every year, the budget of the USSR was adjusted depending on the volume of work performed. In addition to direct financing, the necessary material and technical resources were allocated for the space projects. An approximate calculation shows that the USSR spent about 20.19 billion rubles in old prices in 1955–1960 and 98.8 million rubles in new prices in 1961–1964. In total, during in the first space decade, the USSR spent about 2 billion rubles in new prices and almost 20 billion rubles in old ones. Comparing with other items of expenditure during the same years, the author shows that the total expenditure on Soviet space program did not exceed 0.30%.

The Soviet Space Program

Science News ◽  
1971 ◽  
Vol 99 (18) ◽  
pp. 303
Author(s):  
Everly Driscoll
Keyword(s):  
Space Program ◽  
Soviet Space

scholarly journals 2.2.4 Lunar Soil Movement Registered by the Apollo 17 Cosmic Dust Experiment

1976 ◽  
Vol 31 ◽  
pp. 233-237 ◽  
Author(s):  
Otto E. Berg ◽  
Henry Wolf ◽  
John Rhee
Keyword(s):  
Lunar Surface ◽  
Lunar Soil ◽  
Cosmic Dust ◽  
Dust Particles ◽  
The Moon ◽  
Normal Impact ◽  
Soil Movement ◽  
Impact Parameters

In December, 1973, a Lunar Ejecta and Meteorites (LEAM) experiment was placed in the Taurus-Littrow area of the moon by the Apollo 17 Astronauts. Objectives of the experiment were centered around measurements of impact parameters of cosmic dust on the lunar surface. During preliminary attempts to analyze the data it became evident that the events registered by the sensors could not be attributed to cosmic dust but could only be identified with the lunar surface and the local sun angle. The nature of these data coupled with post-flight studies of instrument characteristics, have led to a conclusion that the LEAM experiment is responding primarily to a flux of highly charged, slowly moving lunar surface fines. Undoubtedly concealed in these data is the normal impact activity from cosmic dust and probably lunar ejecta, as well. This paper is based on the recognition that the bulk of events registered by the LEAM experiment are not signatures of hypervelocity cosmic dust particles, as expected, but are induced signatures of electrostatically charged and transported lunar fines.

scholarly journals Cosmonaut Gossip

Aspasia ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 61-80
Author(s):  
Erica L. Fraser ◽  
Kateryna Tonkykh
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Production ◽  
Space Program ◽  
Soviet Space

The diaries of Nikolai P. Kamanin, a well-placed official in the early Soviet space program in charge of cosmonaut selection and chaperoning, have been an important source for historians since their publication in the 1990s. This article reevaluates the diary entries from 1961 to 1965, using the framework of gossip. The diaries’ salacious tales of infidelity, drinking, and other violations of communist morality provide cultural historians with as much insightful material as the parallel technological entries have done for historians of science and space engineering. The cosmonaut gossip that Kamanin records comprised a mix of knowledge production and moralizing that built and reinforced his self-fashioning among the Soviet elite. Furthermore, reading the diaries (a private text) through the lens of gossip (a public act) helps us see how socialist masculinity was forged in part through the specific hybridized private-public performances required of elite men.

POSSIBILITIES OF STUDYING THE LUNAR SOIL AND COMPARING THE COMPOSITIONS OF LUNAR AND TERRESTRIAL CLINOPYROXENES

2021 ◽  
Vol 27 (7) ◽  
pp. 6-17
Author(s):  
Z. Golitsyna ◽  
◽  
A. Kirdyashkin ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Lunar Surface ◽  
Experimental Studies ◽  
Compositional Analysis ◽  
Lunar Soil ◽  
The Moon ◽  
Initial Composition ◽  
Basic Model ◽  
Lunar Rocks ◽  
Celestial Bodies ◽  
Temperature And Pressure

The problem of compositional analysis of extraterrestrial crystalline rocks in the study of celestial bodies is considered. Since most of the bodies, terrestrial planets and their surrounding objects may contain clinopyroxenes, it is possible to study the temperature and pressure of rock formation in certain areas according to the state of these minerals, and the studies can be carried out identically to the geothermobarometry of Earth rocks. The paper presents the results of experimental studies of clinopyroxene compositions of the basic model system CaO-MgO-Al2O3-SiO2 in the pressure range of 12...30 kbar and temperatures of 1325...1650 °C, which can be assumed as conditions for the formation of lunar rocks. The development of the necessary experimental data obtained in terrestrial conditions will help in the future to conduct remote studies of the Moon and other celestial bodies without the need to deliver soil to Earth. The revealed clinopyroxenes can be analyzed with existing geothermometers and geobarometers obtained for different ranges of P-T conditions. The possibility of creating a new geothermobarometer based on the distribution of minals or cations in clinopyroxene specifically for lunar rocks is not excluded. The main features and possible instrumentation of the apparatus intended for the study of the lunar surface are described. The study of different areas of the lunar surface will determine where the country rocks are located most closely to the surface. Analysis of silicate components of the lunar rocks will make it possible to get closer to the solution to the problem of initial composition of the lunar mantle

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