The NASA History Division is pleased to announce the availability of a landmark new book, "Rockets and People" by Boris Chertok. This memoir by a towering figure in Soviet/Russian space history was originally published in Russian and has now been specially translated and edited for publication in the NASA History Series. This book is the second of four volumes of Chertok's insightful reminiscences on his 60-year career in aviation and space.

Much has been written in the West on the history of the Soviet space program, but few Westerners have read direct first-hand accounts of the men and women who were behind the many Russian accomplishments in exploring space. The memoir of academician Boris Chertok, translated from the original Russian, fills that gap.

Chertok began his career as an electrician in 1930 at an aviation factory near Moscow. Thirty years later, he was deputy to the founding figure of the Soviet space program, the mysterious "Chief Designer" Sergey Korolev. Chertok's 60-year-long career and the many successes and failures of the Soviet space program constitute the core of his memoirs, Rockets and People. In these writings, spread over four volumes (volumes two through four are forthcoming), academician Chertok not only describes and remembers, but also elicits and extracts profound insights from an epic story about a society's quest to explore the cosmos.

Boris Chertok (Борис Черток) (b. March 1, 1912) is a prominent Soviet and Russian rocket designer, responsible for control systems of a number of ballistic missiles and spacecraft. Author of a four-volume book Rockets and People, the definitive source of information about the history of the Soviet space program. (From wikipedia)

Download Rockets and People, Volume II: Creating a Rocket Industry

PDF version, 3.5MB, 383Pages.

Boris Chertok (Author), Asif Siddiqi (Series Editor)
The NASA History Series, National Aeronautics and Space Administration
NASA History Division, Office of External Relations
Washington, DC, June 2006
NASA SP-2006-4110

Introduction to Volume II:

As with Volume I, Boris Chertok has extensively revised and expanded the material in Volume II from the original Russian text. In this volume, Chertok takes up his life story after his return from Germany to the Soviet Union in 1946. At the time, Stalin had ordered the foundation of the postwar missile program at an old artillery factory northeast of Moscow.

Chertok gives an unprecedented view into the early days of the Soviet missile program. During this time, the new rocket institute known as NII-88 mastered V-2 technology and then quickly outgrew German technological influence by developing powerful new missiles such as the R-2, the R-5M, and eventually the majestic R-7, the world’s first intercontinental ballistic missile. With a keen talent for combining technical and human interests, Chertok writes of the origins and creation of the Baykonur Cosmodrome in a remote desert region of Kazakhstan.

He devotes a substantial portion of Volume II to describing the launch of the first Sputnik satellite and the early lunar and interplanetary probes designed under legendary Chief Designer Sergey Korolev in the late 1950s and early 1960s. He ends with a detailed description of the famous R-16 catastrophe known as the “Nedelin disaster,” which killed scores of engineers during preparations for a missile launch in 1960.

Working on this project continues to be an extraordinary honor and pleasure. I owe a debt of gratitude to many for their hard work in bringing these stories to the English-speaking world. As before, I must thank historian Steve Garber, who supervised the entire project at the NASA History Division. He also provided insightful comments at every stage of the editorial process. Similarly, thanks are due to Jesco von Puttkamer for his continuing support in facilitating communications between the two parties in Russia and the United States. Without his enthusiasm, sponsorship, and support, this project would not have been possible.

Many others at NASA Headquarters contributed to publication of these memoirs, including NASA Chief Historian Steven J. Dick, Nadine J. Andreassen, William P. Barry, and others. Heidi Pongratz at Maryland Composition oversaw the detailed and yet speedy copyediting of this book. Tom Powers and Stanley Artis at Headquarters acted as invaluable liaisons with the talented graphic design group at Stennis Space Center. At Stennis, Angela Lane handled the layout with skill and professional grace, Danny Nowlin did an expert job proofreading this book, and Sheilah Ware oversaw the production process. Headquarters printing specialists Jeffrey McLean and Henry Spencer professionally handled this last and crucial stage of production.

As series editor, my work was not to translate, a job that was very capably done by a team at award-winning TechTrans International, Inc., based in Houston, Texas.

Their team included: Cynthia Reiser (translator), Lydia Bryans and Laurel Nolen (both editors), Alexandra Tussing and Alina Spradley (both involved in postediting), Trent Trittipo, Yulia Schmalholz, and Lev Genson (documents control), Daryl Gandy (translation lead), Natasha Robarge (translation manager), and Elena Sukholutsky.

I would also like to thank Don P. Mitchell, Olaf Przybilski, Peter Gorin, Dr. Matthias Uhl, and T. V. Prygichev for kindly providing photographs for use in Volume II. Finally, a heartfelt thank you to Anoo Siddiqi for her support and encouragement throughout this process.

As the series editor, my job was first and foremost to ensure that the English language version was as faithful to Chertok’s original Russian version as possible. At the same time, I also had to account for the stylistic considerations of English-language readers who may be put off by literal translations. The process involved communicating directly with Chertok in many cases and, with his permission, taking liberties to restructure paragraphs and chapters to convey his original spirit. I also made sure that technical terms and descriptions of rocket and spacecraft design satisfied the demands of both Chertok and the English-speaking audience. Finally, I provided many explanatory footnotes to elucidate points that may not be evident to readers unversed in the intricacies of Russian history.

Readers should be aware that all of the footnotes are mine unless cited as “author’s note,” in which case they were provided by Chertok.

Asif A. Siddiqi
Series Editor
June 2006

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