Review of 'Salyut - The First Space Station' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
To say that this is an in-depth book would be an understatement. It is certainly more focused on the people involved than the technology itself. There are no schematics, detailed design information, etc. However the depth that is gone into with respect to the various engineers, cosmonauts, administrators, etc. is profound. In the case of the Soyuz 11 mission to Salyut, the first real mission to the first Salyut, there is even a day by day breakdown complete with personal diary entries from the three cosmonauts. I found the flow to be a bit difficult to get into until hitting the missions but by the time we get to the Soyuz 10/11 part and beyond there is plenty of drama to carry the story through under its own momentum. This is not a book for someone with a passing interest in the topic though. It is dense, dry, and thorough. …
To say that this is an in-depth book would be an understatement. It is certainly more focused on the people involved than the technology itself. There are no schematics, detailed design information, etc. However the depth that is gone into with respect to the various engineers, cosmonauts, administrators, etc. is profound. In the case of the Soyuz 11 mission to Salyut, the first real mission to the first Salyut, there is even a day by day breakdown complete with personal diary entries from the three cosmonauts. I found the flow to be a bit difficult to get into until hitting the missions but by the time we get to the Soyuz 10/11 part and beyond there is plenty of drama to carry the story through under its own momentum. This is not a book for someone with a passing interest in the topic though. It is dense, dry, and thorough. It is more than just a look at the program itself. For major people you get their entire history through childhood, personal, life, and even a "where are they now" at the end of the book (or at least what their personal lives looked like after they left the space program).