Bookvica

Soyuz-Apollon [i.e. Apollo-Soyuz]

[Rebrov, M., Gilberg, L.]

Moscow: Mashinostroenie, 1975. Item #655

[1], 72 pp., [12] plates. 21,5x17 cm. Near fine.

Association copy: signed on the title page by four Soviet cosmonauts: Anatoly Filipchenko (from the backup crew of Apollo–Soyuz, 2 spaceflights) , Vasily Lazarev (2 spaceflights), Vitaly Sevastyanov (2 spaceflights), Alexei Gubarev (2 spaceflights). The book comes from a collection of Vladimir Korshunov, a journalist who specialized in astronautics and was close with Soviet spacemen. The copy is supplemented with his badge for access to the Apollo-Soyuz spacecrafts signed on 22 July 1975 by six cosmonauts, including Vladimir Shatalov (3 spaceflights), Alexey Eliseev (3 spaceflights ) , Georgy Shonin (1 spaceflight ).

A very rare first edition describing the organization of the experimental space mission Apollo-Soyuz which was published in May of 1975, shortly before the flight itself. The very first project of collaboration between the Soviet Union and the United States which ended the Space race was conducted in July of 1975. The significance of the flight was twofold. It was incredibly important politically because the countries that were involved in the Cold War together created an international space field, and technically, the promising idea consisted of the docking of two dissimilar ships in outer space. The crews had got access to the both spacecrafts and tested the rescue program.

The book contains a lot of visual materials - the details of pre-flight crew training and official events which were reflected in 30 photographs made in Houston and Baikonur. There are 3 drawings depicting the construction of ships and the design of the flight and the Apollo-Soyuz emblem as well. An original design of the book was produced by the artist V. Prokhorov, each section of the book begins with a light-blue page and marked by a little emblem.

The book was written by two authors. The first one is Mikhail Rebrov (1931-1998) who was preparing for a journalist's flight into space in 1965 until that project was closed after Sergei Korolev’s death in 1966. The second author is Lev Gilberg (born in 1923), the journalist worked in ‘Mashinostroenie’ publishing house as editor-in-chief of literature on aviation and astronautics. The book was edited by Vladimir Shatalov who took part in the organization of Apollo-Soyuz flight. They overview the space achievements of the both sides, describe the construction and the capabilities of the ships, the goals of upcoming flight. A very interesting and colorful collection of information and photographs on the Apollo-Soyuz project published right before its realization.

The only copy located at the George Washington University.

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