Abstract
Memories of the space age occupy a prominent place in contemporary Russian culture. In the year 2007 alone, the Russians celebrated the 150th anniversary of the space visionary Konstantin Tsiolkovskii, the 120th anniversary of the Soviet rocketry pioneer Fridrikh Tsander, and the 50th anniversaries of the first intercontinental ballistic missile (R-7) and of the Sputnik launch on top of the same rocket. However, the most spectacular were the celebrations of the centennial of the legendary Chief Designer Sergei Korolev, whose historical persona tied together all the other commemorations: Tsiolkovskii (see Figure 8.1) Open image in new window 8.1 K. E. Tsiolkovskii (Matchbox label) Open image in new window 8.2 F. A. Tsander (Matchbox label) was remembered largely as someone who inspired Korolev, Tsander (see Figure 8.2) was remembered as Korolev’s mentor: the R-7 missile was designed by Korolev, and Korolev was also responsible for the launch of Sputnik and of all the first Soviet cosmonauts from 1961 to 1965. Korolev has been the main protagonist of almost any historical narrative of the Soviet space programme.
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