#soviet space program
Fictional mission / Space That Never Was / Alternate timeline
Two cosmonauts conducting a spacewalk to replace damaged piece of equipment mounted on the outer hull of the Ambition 2 spacecraft.
Ambition 2 / Mars-Phobos
In the mid 80s, international cooperation between USSR, USA, Japan and a few European countries resulted in a follow-up to successful Ambition 1 mission from a few years earlier. This time the goal was to visit and explore one of Mars moons, Phobos, in hope to find a suitable place for a permanent base on its surface, which would be built by the crew of Ambition 3, mission that would launch in late 1980s.
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As always, prints of my artworks are available in my print shop at Artstationand at Displate.com
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Russian landing on the moon. All drawn by Serge Gracieux
Beautiful drawings of events in an alternate timeline.
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2 JAN 1959: Officially, the Soviets had no interest in landing a man on the moon. Officially. In reality, they were taking small steps and making giant leaps every day. The Luna 1 spacecraft, pictured above, was meant to crash into the moon and send back reams of data. Instead, the probe missed its target, much to the chagrin of Korolev and Khrushchev.
Accomplishments
- came within 6,000 kilometers of the moon, a record for the day
- on missing the moon, it entered orbit around the sun–the first “man made planet”
- most reliable measurements of the solar wind
- released a sodium cloud while 120,000 kilometers from earth. The glowing trail was visible from earth, making it the first “artificial comet”
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Feeling so embarrassed. These dogs are actually Veterok and Ugolyok (Little Breeze and Little Lump of Coal) who made their successful flight in 1966.
Legendary Belka & Strelka (Стрелка–pronounced closer to “StrAY-elka”) became Heroes of the People. Unlike their poor predecessor, they went into space and actually returned unharmed.
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“Right from the very beginning, Yuri Gagarin has been keeping a watchful eye, as it were, on the International Space Station Expeditions, as his portrait is in pride of place in the Russian Zvezda module.”
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Мир праху твоему, Алексей Архипович Леонов (30 мая 1934 — 11 октября 2019)
I’m absolutely heartbroken about Alexei Leonov’s death yesterday. You were one of my favorite cosmonauts. Fly high and rest easy, Major General Leonov. You’re up in space with all of the other heroes too now. Thank you for your service and courageous actions for science and technology.
Happy birthday to Soviet cosmonaut and the first spacewalker, Alexei Leonov! Today, Leonov turns 85! ❤️
With Valery Bykovsky’s death last month (on the same day as Gagarin’s death), Alexei Leonov and Boris Volynov are the last two remaining cosmonauts from the Air Force Group 1 selection, the first cosmonauts team
Soyuz-4/5, 1969
Komarov shortly before the Soyuz-1 mission that would end his life
Got to go to the National Air and Space Museum in DC today as an early birthday gift, here are some of my favorite Soviet (& US) gems! + an Apollo 11 and Apollo 13 pin I got :)
I usually don’t post my art on tumblr, but considering today is the 58th anniversary of Gagarin’s flight, here’s my attempt at a painting of Yuri
Leonid Kizim, 1984, Soyuz T-10
Sergei Korolev and Valentin Glushko, two Soviet rocket engineers that had a big impact on the Soviet Space Program, were both arrested by the NKVD and tortured in the Gulag during Stalin’s Great Purge in 1938. They were both freed in 1944, but the charges against Korolev didn’t drop until 1957. Although they did work together in building rockets, they didn’t get along very well
54 years ago today on March 18, the Soviet Union launched Vokshod-2 into space, with the pilot being Alexei Leonov and the commander being Pavel Belyayev. Leonov became the first man to spacewalk, that lasted for a total of 12 minutes.
Happy 92nd birthday to Vladimir Komarov!
One of my favorite cosmonauts, he was originally selected for the first cosmonauts in 1960, but would later be removed due to not being able to meet the age, height, and weight requirements. But he would contribute to the designs for Voskok and Voskhod, and his friends have been quoted of saying that he was a great friend and had a brilliant mind. Korolev himself said that if Komarov met the age, height, and weight requirements back in 1960, he would’ve undoubtedly chosen Komarov for Vostok-1.
His life was almost as short as Yuri’s, he died only a month after his 40th birthday. But he’ll always be remembered as someone who was brave, someone who tried to save their friend from dying. We will never forget the things Komarov accomplished during his short lived life. ❤️❤️
Vladimir Komarov during his Cuba visit in 1965
Happy 85th birthday to Yuri Gagarin, the first man in space!
Personally one of my favorite historical figures, Yuri was the reason why I became so interested in the Space Race/the history of space exploration. He was a down to earth and caring person, and befriended almost everyone he met. His spaceflight was the start of a new era for science and technology, and he’ll always be remembered for that. Although he died at the age of only 34, his legacy still lives on over 50 years after his spaceflight, and his legacy will continue to live on. ❤️❤️❤️
On July 25, 1984, Svetlana Savitskaya became the first woman to spacewalk. She flew two space flights: Soyuz T-5/Soyuz T-7 and Soyuz T-12. It was during Soyuz T-12 that she did a spacewalk. Cosmonaut Vladimir Dzhanibekov and her conducted an EVA outside on the Salyut-7 space station, and they spent over 3 hours outside the spacecraft. Happy Internaitonal Women’s Day!
Happy 82nd birthday to the first woman in space, Valentina Tereshkova! С днём рождения !
Cosmonaut Yegeny Khrunov, backup pilot for Voskhod-2 (1965)
A young Yuri Gagarin
Also, a happy 75th birthday to cosmonaut/flight engineer Alexander Serebrov. He held the record for the most number of spacewalks, 10, until cosmonaut Anatoly Solovyev beat his number with a total of 16 spacewalks. Serebrov contributed to the deigns for the Salyut-6, Salyut-7, and Mir space stations, and a “space motorcycle” named Icarus. He was quite the man!
Happy birthday to the first Asian and Vietnamese man in space, Phạm Tuân!! He turns 72 today
Cosmonauts Alexei Leonov and Pavel Belyayev training for Voskhod-2
