Soviet Cosmonaut Gagarin Signed Autobiography Book Road to Space 1961

Gagarin autobiography book, Road to Space (1961) signed by the first man in space-Yuri Gagarin as Gagarin.

"Road to space" published by "Pravda". Moscow, July,1961, 174 pp.

The Road to Space” is the autobiographical book of the world's first cosmonaut Yuri Alekseevich Gagarin, written in 1961. 

After the flight on April 12, 1961, the newspaper Pravda, represented by Nikolai Nikolaevich Denisov, invited Yuri Gagarin to publish his autobiographical notes. According to Denisov's recollections, Gagarin embarrassedly replied to this proposal:“Well, what a writer I am! And the biography is short ...”However, soon work on the notes began. As soon as the doctors after the research sent Gagarin to the hospital, Nikolai Denisov and Sergei Borzenko began to visit him together with editorial stenographer Veronika Ivanovna. They agreed with the cosmonaut about the following work schedule: Gagarin consistently recalled all the interesting facts that happened in his life, and Denisov and Borzenko literally prepared the story for publication. The writers talked with the cosmonaut's family and with the space "fellow soldiers" for a complete understanding of some aspects of the biography.Originally published by the Pravda publishing house.

Provenance:

The book was presented to the General Designer of NPO Iskra, laureate of the Stalin, Lenin and State Prizes Ivan Ivanovich Kartukov. The inscription and dates marked out by the receiver of the book.

Ivan Ivanovich Kartukov (1904—1991) was born on September 13 (27), 1904 in the city of Orel. He began his career at the age of 11, starting work as a mechanic's assistant at an ammunition factory in the city of Orel. In 1920, he volunteered for the Red Army. In 1926, he was sent to study at the Workers' Faculty in Leningrad, after which he was sent to study at the Bauman Moscow Higher Technical School. He combined his studies at the Bauman Moscow Higher Technical School with work as an aircraft weapons designer at TsAGI and the Ilyushin Design Bureau. After graduating from the institute, in 1933 he worked at Plant No. 39 named after Menzhinsky. In 1937, on the recommendation of S.V. Ilyushin and A.N. Tupolev, he was appointed Chief Designer of Aircraft Weapons at Plant No. 145. During the Great Patriotic War, he worked as the Chief Designer of Plant No. 445. The experimental design bureau he created and headed developed and introduced a number of models of special weapons that were effectively used by our army. In 1946, Experimental Plant No. 81 of the Ministry of Aviation Industry was created in Moscow, later the Iskra Machine-Building Plant. He worked as the Chief Designer at this enterprise from 1946 to 1987. During his work from 1946 to 1987, under his leadership, more than 200 special products were created on the orders of General Designers Korolev, Tupolev, Ilyushin, Sukhoi, Yakovlev, Mikoyan, Chelomey, Grushin, Bisnovat, Bugaisky, Seleznev, Toropov, Lyapin, Sokolovsky, Khokhlov, Severin. He participated in the creation of rescue systems for the crews of the Vostok, Voskhod, Soyuz spacecraft, aircraft and submarines. The propulsion system of the Soyuz rocket and space complex emergency rescue system, developed in the Iskra Design Bureau and which has already undergone several modifications, is widely known. Particular attention was paid to the work on creating gas generators used in submarine emergency rescue systems and aircraft engine starting systems. He trained and educated a whole galaxy of talented design engineers, technologists and testers who participated and are participating in the creation of new technology samples. Many of them became Laureates of state prizes and were awarded state awards. He is the author of more than 50 inventions.

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