Remembering the Space Age. - Black Vault Radio Network (BVRN)

CreatING MeMOrIeS: MYth, IDeNtItY,
aND CULtUre IN the rUSSIaN SpaCe aGe
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The unveiling of a monument to the chief designer of rocket engines Valentin
Glushko at the Alley of Space Heroes in Moscow, October 4, 2001. (Photo from the
author’s collection)
between Korolev and the chief rocket engine designer Valentin Glushko, or
the equally famous and equally bitter rivalry between Korolev and his main
domestic competitor in the space race, the chief designer of cruise missiles
Vladimir Chelomei. a loyal team of followers gathers around each of these
historical fgures, and they construct their own versions of history, trying
to invalidate their opponents’ accounts. Korolev’s defenders accuse Glushko
of refusing to build rocket engines for Korolev’s lunar rockets, and blame
Chelomei for siphoning of a large part of resources of the lunar program,
all this resulting in the Soviet loss in the lunar race. But the rivals have their
own stories to tell. From their perspective, Korolev is often portrayed as a
ruthless competitor and a clever political operator. For example, Khrushchev’s
son Sergei, who had worked for Chelomei, has suggested that Korolev had
“focused his energy on what he did best—the elimination of his rivals.” 70 a
group of russian space industry dignitaries are posing in front of Glushko’s
70. Sergei Khrushchev, “how rockets Learned to Fly: Foreword,” in Von hardesty and Gene
eisman, Epic Rivalry: The Inside Story of the Soviet and American Space Race (Washington, DC:
National Geographic, 2007), p. xviii.