
How Soviet science magazines fantasized about life in outer space - Hooke
https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/soviet-space-graphics
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gumby
I'm struck by how different the art in the Soviet articles is from the
attempted-hyper-realism in Chesley Bonestell, Bob McCall, and Don Davis
typical in the west. The Soviet art is more evocative and poetic (or
alternatively, stylistically what might have appeared in advertising in the
west), while the US artists I mention made me imagine I could be visiting a
toroidal space station or be in orbit around Io.

~~~
c-smile
Well, these magazines were issued in enormous circulation numbers. Year 1933,
you would keep number of colors in illustrations as less a possible to make
them affordable, right?

In 1980ies, with more modern polygraphy technology, they used more rich
illustrations, check: [https://www.tested.com/science/space/456670-incredible-
space...](https://www.tested.com/science/space/456670-incredible-space-art-
russian-magazine-tekhnika-molodezhi/)

~~~
orbital-decay
_> The tankette, which would weigh not more than a few hundred pounds and
would be radio controlled from the earth, would explore the surface of the
moon and report its findings back to earth. Information so obtained would make
possible the next stage-the mastery of the Moon by man in the next 5 to 10
years._

Unlike Khlebtsevich, most people behind the manned Soviet space program
weren't so fond of the Moon back in 50s, though. Korolyov, Mishin etc believed
that a manned Moon mission would be a mistake. They bet on the Venus or Mars
flyby mission as the first step in the Solar System exploration, because the
deep space missions clearly needed the ability to build large spaceships in
orbit, and single launch missions would have taught them very little. In fact,
N-1 was originally planned and optimized for assembling a LEO manned space
station/spaceship (MPK/TMK) to be sent to Venus. AFAIK it was the JFK speech
that made Politburo switch the target, at the worst time possible.

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monomyth
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_cosmism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_cosmism)

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michalu
If you find this style of art interesting, I recommend this sci-fi movie
animated in Czechoslovakia:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fantastic_Planet](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fantastic_Planet)

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starik36
I remember reading a book as a kid in USSR about some child inventing a rocket
ship, flying to the moon and leading a communist revolution among the natives.

That book left a really big impression on me - it was truly entertaining.

P.S. Found it.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunno_on_the_Moon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunno_on_the_Moon)

~~~
Snelius
It's more like an "Aelita" by Aleksey Tolstoy about Mars :)

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tus88
Science or Science Fiction magazines?

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rimliu
That "Technology for the Youth" (Юный Техник) was magazine for teens with
focus on technology and DIY projects. You can find them here: [http://jt-
arxiv.narod.ru](http://jt-arxiv.narod.ru)

I've never seen "Знание — Сила" in real life so I cannot really comment on it.

There was also a very popular "Наука и Жизнь" (Science and Life) which was
more serious popular science and technology magazine.

~~~
itsyaboi
"Юный Техник" translates to "Young Technician", "Technology for the Youth"
would be "Техника для молодёжи"

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ailideex
And the novelty is? I mean, everyone fantasized about life in outer space -
why would the soviets not? Or is the novelty that it is amazing how the people
that wrote those magazines somehow eluded the gulags? Because the answer there
presumably is that they probably did not elude the gulags.

~~~
Ididntdothis
It’s interesting because in the west we didn’t hear much about what was going
on in the Soviet Union.

~~~
Mountain_Skies
Pity how much of that cultural content was lost during the post collapse years
of the USSR.

