Page from Brothers of the Cosmos, 1969, featuring images of Valentina Tereshkova, 1963 [left];Konstantin Feoktistov, Vladimir Komarov, and Boris Yegerov, 1964 [top right]; and Komarov with his son, 1964 [bottom right], all by Baturin and V. Zhiharekno

V.A. Komarov|Boris Yegerov|Valentina Tereshkova|V. Zhiharekno|Konstantin Feoktistov|V. M. Baturin

1969 · Gelatin silver prints · Photographs

This personal album, assembled by a cinematographer hired to document cosmonaut training, offers an intimate view of the triumphant visual culture surrounding the Soviet space program. Until the mid-1960s, the Soviet Union appeared to be winning the space race. Under the direction of the pioneering rocket engineer Sergei Korolev, the program achieved a string of headline-making "firsts." They were the first to send into orbit an earthborn creature (the canine cosmonaut Laika in 1957), a man (Yuri Gagarin in 1961), and a woman (Valentina Tereshkova in 1963). These and other Soviet space pioneers appear in the album's pages.

Artist

V.A. Komarov|Boris Yegerov|Valentina Tereshkova|V. Zhiharekno|Konstantin Feoktistov|V. M. Baturin

Date

1969

Medium

Gelatin silver prints

Department

Photographs

Credit line

Joyce F. Menschel Fund, 2019