RADIO PROPAGANDA REPORT - SOVIET OUTER-SPACE PROJECTS AND PROGRAMMING: AUGUST-NOVEMBER 1959

• Document Type: SPECIALCOLLECTION
• Collection: Lunik on Loan: A Space Age Spy Story
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 00476943
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 10
• Document Creation Date: October 10, 2019
• Document Release Date: October 17, 2019
• Publication Date: December 9, 1959

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TIAL
NLE MR Case No.
Document No.
RADIO
PROPAGANDA REPORT
SOVIET OUTER-;SPACE PROJECTS AND PROGRAMMING: AUGUST-NOVEMBER 1959
FOREIGN BROADCAST INFORMATION SERVICE
Current Developments Series
CD.159
9 December 1959
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Foreword
This is the fourth in a series of reports tracing Soviet
propaganda on outer-space developments since the sputnik
launchings. Prior reports in this series were:
RS.22 of 2 February 1959, "Moscow Propaganda on
Soviet Astronautics: Indications of Problems
and Forebasts-of-New-Achievewents"-
CD.141 of 13 May 1959, "Soviet Outer-Space Pro-
jects: Propaganda Anticipations of New Achieve-
ments"
CD.151 of 7 August 1959, "Soviet Outer-Space
Projects and Programming: May-July 1959"
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SOVIET OUTER-SPACE PROJECTS AND PROGRAMMIX: AUGUST-NOV5MBER 1959
Summnry
Moon Probes . . a a � � � � � �
� o o � o o ......... Pages 2-5
A moon-orbiting rocket (moon satellite) or a soft lmnding on the moon
(with the payload intact) may be the -next major Soviet space feat, if
propaganda forecasts materialize.
On 4 October, shortly after the successful earth-moon-earth rocket
launching, an astronomer said in a Moscow radio talk that "it is now
our task" to develop a permanent artificial satellite of the moon. A
subsequent broadcast explained that this would require a retro-rocket
device to slow down the rocket as it neared the moon.
A soft landing on the moon--which would also require a retro-roecet
device--was referred to in -a 10 November broadcast as "the next stage,
to come quite soon,"' in Soviet outer-space achievements.
Fnrth Satellites Pages 5-6
Artificial satellites that would serve as television relay stations
continue to be mentioned fairly prominently. References to observa-
tion satellites, on the other hand, have been absent from recent
propaganda. Solution of the satellite-recovery-problem, discussed
as a prerequisite to any manned-flight attempt, is portrayed as high
on the working agenda.
Manned Space Fliaht .
. ................ Pages 6-9
Contrary to Western press reports, Soviet media have not referred in
so many words to an astronaut-in-training program in the USSR (nor
have they acknowledged the existence of the U.S. Mercury Project).
Issue No. 42 of OGONEK in October--reported by the Western press to
have disclosed the names of three Soviet astronauts in training--
in fact named three participants in experiments concerned with penetrat-
ing the upper atmosphere, not outer space.
Nevertheless, the OGONEK article was one of three in the Soviet press
during October that described in detail, for the first time in Soviet
mass media, Soviet laboratory studies of the effects of speed, altitude,
and gravitational forces on the human organism.
All three articles conveyed the idea of new progress, although none
mentioned a manned-space-flight program as such. Thus the propaganda
has continued to be extremely cautious. Care has been taken both
to avoid raising premature expectations and to provide assurances
that manned flight will not be attempted until there is absolute
certainty of the astronaut's safe return.
"---CZtrINSE,Z,aL
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SOVIET OUTER-SPACE PROJECTS AND PROGRAMING: AUGUST-NOVEMBER 1959
� Soviet propaganda is cautious in discussing the timing of
projected outer-space experiments. No advunce notice of an
actual launching date has ever been given in the mass propa-
ganda. The most direct statement about the imminence of a
launching preceded by about two weeks the first Soviet
sputnik success of 4 October 1957: A PRAVDA editorial (17 Sep-
tember) said that "artificial earth satellites are now being
made ready fur launching." Subsequent -propaganda made it
clear that more earth-satellite launchings were impending,
but was vague about their- timing.
More recently, the pattern of propaganda anticipation of moon
shots has been inconsistent. It was made clear in propa-
ganda throughout 1958 that moon probes held a high priority,
and it was predicted at the end of the year (two days
before the cosmic rocket launching) that the USSR would
send a rocket around the moon in 1959. Yet there was a lull
rather than a rise in anticipatory comment about moon probes
in the months preceding Lonik II. The type of launching
that was to materialize in Lunik III was forecast explicitly,
but the prediction as to its imminence ("the day is not far
distant") was carefully imprecise.
Thus the propaganda, although unspecific about timing, has
continued to present what has proved to be a fairly accurate
general picture of space project priorities. It has indi-
cated which projects were in the forefront of the space
research program and has at times, though not consistently,
hinted at imminent developments. Boasts about Soviet capa-
bilities and predictions of future accomplishments have been
relatively free of exaggeration and misrepresentation--a
circumspection that has served to enhance the credibility
of the propaganda media with regard to the Soviet space re-
search program. In discussing manned space flight Moscow
has been especially careful to avoid arousing premature
expectations.
A. PreTaratory Propaganda for Luniks II and III
In the period under review, the USSR achieved two outer-space rocket
firings within a month: a moon-impact shot on 12 September and a
"round the moon" shot on 4 October.
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For a full year beginning in May 1958--after the lduaching of Sputnik
III--propaganda looked toward. rockets Wadi, would -impact, circumnavigate,
or orbit the moon as a coning development in Soviet apace exploration.
During that period, moon shots were given the greatest amount of propa-
ganda attention among- future Soviet outer-pace Twojecte.
In a French-language broadcast on 31 December 1958, Radio Nbscow pre-
dicted that the USSR would "undoubtedly" send a rocket "around the
moon" in 1959. This prediction was followed almost immediately by
the 2 January launching toward the moon of the rocket that eventually
went into orbit around the sun.
After the 2 January rocket launching, another 'moon shot was pictured
in the propaganda for some months as the most imminent of Soviet space
experiments. Discussions of prospective moon probes continued to
figure prominently in the propaganda up to May of this year. (Moscow
media did not, however, carry the prediction attributed by Peking's
New China News Agency to Soviet scientist Khlebtsevich that a rocket--
presumably Soviet--would impact the moon before 1960.)
Between May 1959 and the firing of Lunik II on 12 September, forecasts
of a moon shot became very infrequent and noncommittal as to timing.
But the fact that the media singled out no other Soviet space experi-
ment as more imminent than a moon shot indicated that there had been
no basic change in project plauning.
Although there was no resumption of propaganda looking toward an early
moon shot in the weeks just preceding the Lunik II launching, voluminous
propaganda following that success contained anticipations of Lunik III.
Among the many forecasts of yet another moon shot was this statement
in a Moscow home service talk on 23 SepLember:
It can be expected that a space rocket will be launched
with television equipment that will be able to transmit
pictures of the ... external appearance of the moon as
the rocket approaches its surface .... The day is not far
distant when a rocket with television equipment will be
able to fly round the moon, photograph it, and send the
pictures back to earth.
This broadcast preceded by 11 days the launching of the rocket that
transmitted pictures of the other side of the moon to earth.
B. Propaganda Hints of Coming Developments
Further Soviet moon probes are depicted in the propaganda as being
close at hand, as are launchings of more advanced earth satellites.
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Rocket flights to Venus and Mars, while said to be well within the
capabilities of present Soviet technology, are portrayed �as more
remote undertakings because of such special coneiderations as the
need to await a favorable launching time* and: to solve the problem
of super-long-range radio communications. Although the propaganda
has recently-spoken enthusiastically about the rapid strides of
Soviet scientists toward putting a man in outer space, the attain-
merit of this goal �sUill represented as fairly distant.
1. Moon Rockets
The two moonjrocket projects that are portrayed as,most feasible�
forthe near future are (1) a moon-orbiting rocket (satellite of the
moon) and (2) a soft landing on the moon's surface. -
Astronomer Kukarkin, frequently a spokesman on outer-space topics,
told the Soviet domestic radio audience on 4 October--shortly after
the announcement of the firing of the earth-moon-earth rocket--
that a moon-orbiting rocket would come next:
It is now our task to achieve a speed near the moon which
will turn the rockets last stage or the container into
a permanent artificial satellite of the moon. Such a
satellite could yield information permanantly, while the
third Soviet space rocket will yield valuable information
only for a time and will then return to earth.
In a foreign-language broadcast on 13 October, science magazine editor
V. Livantovskiy made a similar statement about Soviet intentions:
Now that we have successfully launched several space
rockets, we can attempt something new. It would be
interesting to launch a man-made satellite of the moon.
But a rocket moving by inertia could not settle into a
permanent eliptical orbit around the moon. A small
rocket engine would have to be switched on for a few
seconds near the moon to slow down the rocket. Then
the weak gravitation of the moon could pull in the rocket
to make it a satellite of that body.
* According to A. Sternfeld in the 18 September SOVIET RUSSIA, rockets
to the moon can be launched on any day, but interplanetary' flights
itrequire that the planet be in a definite position, and hence are con-
nected with the so-called navigational season,"
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In a broadcast to North America an 2 November, Kukarkin was more
emphatic though less precise about plans-for more
rockets an -interplanetary stations will definitely
be sent in the direction of-the moon. These will take
more photos of the moon from different angles. Of special
interest will be color photos, not only of the moon but
also of other planets.
The possibility of a soft landing on the moon as the next development
in Soviet outer space exploration was-advanced by mathematician
K. Shestoskiy, according to a 10 November Moscow broadcast to North
America. In answer to a question as to what Soviet scientists planned
next in exploring outer space, Shestoskiy said he believed that
the next stage,to cote quite soonlwill be the creation of
another automatic station which would be landed on the
moon:intact.
2. Earth Satellites
Although the USSR has not launched an earth satellite since May 1958,
earth-satellite projects of various kinds have continued to be featured
in comment speculating on coming developments in Soviet outer-space
research. Of earth-satellite projects discussed earlier in the year,
only reconnaissance satellites are no longer singled out for comment.
Foremost among satellite projects mentioned in recent propaganda are
television relay stations and satellite-recovery experiments. ,Scientist
Siforov, for example, wrote in the 9 October IZVESTIA.of the imminent
use of sputniks for telecasts that would blanket vast areas of the
earth's surface. "The day is not far off," he said, "when several
rockets will raise sputnik-based relay stations to an altitude of 40,000
kilometers, and television signals will be relayed far and wide."
Professor S. Katayev, in an IZVESTIA article on 6 November, saw prospects
�for solving telecasting problems by means of earth-oriented satellite
relay stations:
Only one satellite-borne transmitting station is necessary
to have a telecast reach every part of Soviet territory.
Such a sputnik, put into an approximately circular orbit in
the equator plane some 36,000 kilometers above the earth,
will hang above the earth's surface, as it were, given
equality of the angular velocity of the sputnik and the
earth.
Soviet scientific commentators point out that solution of the satellite-
recovery problem is prerequisite to any manned flight attempt. Implying
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that the reovery problem is high on the working agenda of space
scientists, President of the USSR Academy of Medical Sciences Bakulev
was quoted by TASS on 4 October as saying, "It is obvious that one
of the next stages in conquering space will be the return of an
ejected space station to earth.*
An exceptionally detailed discussion of the recovery problem was car-
ried by the Mbscow radio on 12 September. In a talk to foreign
audiences on the possibility of launching manned satellites, N.Varvarov
made these remarks about the problem of recovery
Current research is aimed at recovering the whole sputnik)
both the shell and its contents, or at least the jettisoned
equipment in cases when the data recorded by the scientific
instruments in question cannot be transmitted to earth by
radio.
There are two known methods for retarding the speed of
a descending space ship: by countering its motion with
the reverse propulsion of a jet engine, and by utiliz-
ing the retarding force of air resistance. The first
method requires a lot of fuel, and the second is dangerous
because the flying ship gets too hot. It is likely that
a solution will be found in a rational combination of
both methods.
3. Manned Space Flight
Soviet propaganda looking toward manned space flight continues to be
cautious and circumspect. Emphasizing the health and safety problems,
Soviet scientific spokesmen reiterate earlier admonitions against
too much haste in preparing for manned flights. In a SOVIET AVIATION
article on 15 September--shortly after the successful moon-impact
shot--Prof. Kukarkin, vice president of the International Astronomical
Union, reiterated the now-standard assurance that "no man will fly
in space rockets until his life, health, and safe return to earth
are guaranteed." This,Kukarkin said, is the reason for the intensive
Soviet program of experiments with animals.
Similarly, President of the USSR Academy of Medical Sciences Bakulev
wrote in the 9 October MEDITSINSKIYRABOTNIK that "manned flights be-
yond the earth's atmosphere will be possible only when Soviet scientists
are absolutely certain that the health and life of the space-ship
crew is not in danger.*
TASS on 10 October quoted Professor Sedov as saying that the *necessary
technical conditions for manned space flights have not yet been created."
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Sedov emphasized that it not be easy to organize" manned
flights to other celestial bodies and that "any haste is out of
the question." Mathematician K. Shestoskiy expressed a similar
view, according to a Moscow broadcast to foreign audiences on
10 November. .Stressing that "it is most important not to rush
into launching a man into outer space," Shestoskiy said there
will be "a whole series of preliminary unmanned flights," and
"that is the next stage in our work."
No Direct Reference to Astronaut-in-Training Program: Contrary to
Western press reports, Soviet media have not yet directly referred
to an existing astronaut-in-training program in the USSR (nor have
they acknowledged the existence of the U.S. Mercury Project). Issue
No. 42 of the popular weekly OGONEK--reported in the Western press
in mid-October to have disclosed the names of three astronauts in
training--actually referred to experiments concerned with penetra-
tion of the upper atmosphere, not outer space. The experiments
may in fact be related to a man-in-space project, but the article
did not say so.
Nevertheless, the OGONEK article was one of the first in the Soviet
press to discuss in detail laboratory studies of the effects of
speed, altitude, and in particular G-forces on the human organism.
Similar articles, similarly accompanied by photographs of test
chambers and men in protective flying gear, were carried in the
14 October SOVIET AVIATION and the 21 October KOMSOMOLSKAYA PRAVDA.
Like the OGONEK article, they made no direct reference to the
outer-space program. Thus, while the publication of these articles
may be intended to convey the impression that the USSR is moving
rapidly toward solution of the problems involved in putting a man
into outer space, an apparent effort is being made not to encourage
premature expectations of a manned space flight attempt.
Soviet scientists at international meetings have for the most part
made guarded statements entirely consistent with the propaganda
media's circumspection, and have even explicitly denied stories
about Soviet astronauts in training.* One Soviet scientist,
* According to a 26 November New York TIMES report on the meeting
of the American Rocket Society in Washington last month, Soviet
rocket experts attending the meeting declared "that the Soviet
Union had no man-in-space program as such, but rather only a general
research program into the problems of apace flight." When asked
about "stories that had emanated from the Soviet Union concerning
Soviet astronauts-in-training," Prof. A.A. Blagonravov reportedly
"dismissed the stories as the result of journalistic imagination."
At a press conference held in connection with the Washington meet-
ing, Professor Sedov reportedly said that the USSR had no plan or
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however--Academician Andrei Kuznetsov, who headed the Soviet delega-
tion to the Second World Congress of Aviation and Space Medicine--
did lead reporters to believe his country had trained a man for
space flight: REUTER& quoted him as having said in Rome on 29 Oc-
tober, "I cannot tell you for certain and it is only my personal
opinion, but I believe the man himself is ready." Soviet media
did not report this remark. In general they have steered clear of
citing any remarks, even cautious ones, about the imminence of
manned space flight.
target date for placing a man in space in the near future. He was
said to have stressed that the problems of assuring the safe return
of a man from space were "a long way from practical solution." This
statement was consonant with a remark by Sedov at a London press
conference on 1 September. Sedov denied that the USSR had tested
any capsules for manned flight and told reporters that it was impos-
sible at that time to predict when a manned space flight could be
undertaken. He also .denied that the USSR had selected any "special
men" to train for a manned space probe.
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