Rockets and People Volume 1 Published

In January 2005, the NASA History Office released the first English-language edition of Rockets and People, Volume 1, a memoir by Soviet rocket engineer Boris Chertok that documents the early foundations of the USSR’s space program. The publication marked the first time that Chertok’s detailed recollections became widely accessible to English-speaking audiences, offering insight into Soviet aerospace developments from the 1930s through the immediate aftermath of World War II. Boris Chertok was a key figure in Soviet rocketry and worked closely with Sergey Korolev, the chief designer behind milestones such as Sputnik 1 and Yuri Gagarin’s 1961 spaceflight. In this first volume, Chertok recounts his early engineering career within the Soviet aviation industry during the 1930s, including work on electrical systems and control mechanisms. The narrative also provides a detailed account of Soviet technical efforts during and after World War II, particularly the mission to Germany where Soviet specialists examined and reverse-engineered the V-2 rocket developed by Nazi Germany. This operation involved collecting documentation, equipment, and expertise that would later influence the Soviet missile and space programs. The English edition was translated and edited under the direction of NASA’s History Division, making it part of a broader effort to document global space history through primary sources. The book serves as the first installment in a four-volume series, which collectively traces the evolution of Soviet space achievements, including the early satellite launches, the human spaceflight era, the competition with the United States during the Moon race, and later developments such as the Buran shuttle program. By making Rockets and People available through the NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS), the agency ensured open access to a significant historical document. The publication has since been used by researchers, historians, and aerospace professionals seeking firsthand perspectives on Cold War-era space development and the technical and organizational challenges faced by Soviet engineers.