SPACE EXPLORATION
I have been an observer and participant in robotic exploration of the solar system from its beginnings in the 1960s. As a result, I became a student of its history, particularly of the Soviet Union’s lunar and planetary exploration program. The USSR program was a nearly invisible competitor throughout the Cold War era, and formed a mysterious backdrop to the US program. As the US proceeded on its own program of exploration, it was always looking over its shoulder at a dark and sinister stalker.
It was only after the fall of the Soviet Union that we were able to finally uncover much of what happened beyond that curtain of secrecy. And had we known at the time, we would have been remarkably impressed with their boldness and a bit scared of their capabilities. The US space program in the open was a nearly continuous success while beyond closed doors the Soviet program was riddled with failures among some remarkable achievements.
Robotic Exploration Publication Highlights
W. T. Huntress, V. I. Moroz, and I. Shevalev, “Lunar and Planetary Robotic Exploration Missions in the 20th Century”, Space Science Reviews, 107 (3-4), 541-649 (2003). Errata
Describes the history of robotic lunar and planetary exploration in the 20th Century, the missions attempted, their goals, and their fate. It is a tale of patience to overcome obstacles, courage to try the previously impossible, and persistence to overcome failure - a tale of both fantastic accomplishment and debilitating loss. The article describes how the enterprise developed and evolved step-by-step from a politically driven competition to intense scientific investigations and international cooperation.
W. T. Huntress, Jr., and M. Ya. Marov, Soviet Robots in the Solar System: Mission Technologies and Discoveries, Springer-Praxis, New York, 2011. Russian translation FIZMATLIT, Moscow, 2013.
A complete description of the USSR’s entire robotic scientific space exploration program from its inception in the 1950s to its demise in the 1990s, presenting detailed technical information on the spacecraft, instruments carried, mission objectives, flight events, and results obtained.
W. T. Huntress, Jr., Update and Corrections to Soviet Robots in the Solar System, manuscript 2020.
This short manuscript corrects a few errors and recognizes new information revealed since publication in 2011 of Soviet Robots in the Solar System, most particularly about the goals of the first 3MV test flights in 1963-64.
W. T. Huntress, Jr., ed., The Next Steps in Exploring Deep Space, Universities Press (India) Private Limited, Hyderabad, 2007, 146.
This report by a number of scientists and engineers articulates a vision for the scientific exploration of space in the 21st Century. Compelling scientific, cultural and political imperatives are described that lead to a logical, systematic, evolutionary and sustainable architecture for robotic and human expansion into the solar system. A stepping-stone approach is proposed for the incremental development of space transportation using the Moon, Lagrange Points, Near-Earth Objects, and Mars leading to future regular spaceflight traffic throughout the inner solar system.