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03132aam a22003738i 4500 001 C9B2E80A515D11EF936FFB115CECA4DB 003 SILO 005 20240803010057 008 240122t20242024nyu b 000 0 eng 010 $a 2023046976 020 $a 1541703340 020 $a 9781541703346 035 $a (OCoLC)1401907581 040 $a DLC $b eng $e rda $c DLC $d OCLCO $d TOH $d JCX $d COO $d PAU $d SILO 042 $a pcc 043 $a e-ur--- 050 00 $a TL789.8.S65 $b S77 2024 082 00 $a 629.40947 $2 23/eng/20240128 100 1 $a Strausbaugh, John $e author. 245 14 $a The wrong stuff : $b how the Soviet space program crashed and burned / $c John Strausbaugh. 250 $a First edition. 264 1 $a New York : $b PublicAffairs, $c 2024. 300 $a 262 pages ; $c 25 cm 520 $a "A witty, deeply researched history of the surprisingly ramshackle Soviet space program, and how its success was more spin than science. In the wake of World War II, with America ascendant and the Soviet Union devastated by the conflict, the Space Race should have been over before it started. But the underdog Soviets scored a series of victories--starting with the 1957 launch of Sputnik and continuing in the years following--that seemed to achieve the impossible. It was proof, it seemed, that the USSR had manpower and collective will that went beyond America's material advantages. They had asserted themselves as a world power. But in The Wrong Stuff, John Strausbaugh tells a different story. These achievements were amazing, yes, but they were also PR victories as much as scientific ones. The world saw a Potemkin spaceport; the internal facts were much sloppier, less impressive, more dysfunctional. The Soviet supply chain was a disaster, and many of its machines barely worked. The cosmonauts aboard its iconic launch of the Vostok 1 rocket had to go on a special diet, and take off their space suits, just to fit inside without causing a failure. Soviet scientists, under intense government pressure, had essentially made their rocket out of spit and band aids, and hurried to hide their work as soon as their worldwide demonstration was complete. With a witty eye for detail and a gift for storytelling, John Strausbaugh takes us behind the Iron Curtain, and shows just how little there was to find there"-- $c Provided by publisher. 505 0 $a Three stooges in space -- The power couple -- A flea-bitten canaveral -- Sputnik, Flopnik, and your little dog, too -- Khrushchev's charm offensive -- The comrade who fell to Earth -- Shee-ut -- The Cosmonette -- Space ghosts -- Clown cars in space -- Not not knocking on Heaven's door -- This Devil ship! -- Red man falling -- Hello, Goodbye. 504 $a Includes bibliographical references (pages 261-262). 650 0 $a Astronautics $z Soviet Union. 650 0 $a Astronautics and state $z Soviet Union. 650 0 $a Space race $z Soviet Union. 650 0 $a Space race $z United States $x History $y 20th century. 941 $a 1 952 $l XXPH787 $d 20240803011037.0 956 $a http://locator.silo.lib.ia.us/search.cgi?index_0=id&term_0=C9B2E80A515D11EF936FFB115CECA4DB 994 $a C0 $b IWBInitiate Another SILO Locator Search