Staff Report (1962) Soviet Space Programs – Space Race, US Senate

$45.00

In stock

Description

Staff Report prepared for the use of the Committee of Aeronautical and Space Sciences, United States Senate. Soviet Space Programs: Organization, Plans, Goals and International Implications. (Committee of Aeronautical and Space Sciences, May 31, 1962)

Octavo. xi, 399 pages. Softcover, in green wraps printed in black.

Condition: VG. Darkening around the edges, sun fading at spine. Corners show some bumping.

In 1962 the United States was in a panic as the Soviet Union lead the race into space, beating the US with the first satellite into orbit, the first animal into space, the first man into space. What if they placed a nuclear weapon into space or – gasp – on the moon? What if they colonized the moon before us?

The fear was palpable. This report to the Senate was written in the midst of the beginnings of the Space Race, before it became more of a contest. When we were quite scared of where this was heading.  This is the time of Duck and Cover, of Vietnam, of missiles in Cuba.  This was serious.