STAR-CROSSED ORBITS: Inside the U.S.–Russian Space Alliance

Inaccurate perceptions over the efficacy of the Russian space program long fueled the U.S.–Russian space race and are now driving current cooperation efforts, Oberg argues in this insider account. A self-described lifelong space nut and an expert on the Russian space program, Oberg shows that despite U.S. fear over the Soviet Union's achievements in space, the failed missions during communism's decay were nothing new: the U.S.S.R. had simply covered up their earlier mistakes, such as fires aboard Soviet space stations. And not surprisingly, these mistakes only multiplied as funding for the Soviet space program dried up in the late 1980s and early '90s. But Oberg has a larger ax to grind here—joint space efforts. Since the mid-1970s, the U.S. and the Soviet Union increasingly tried to cooperate in space; Oberg opposes this teamwork for two reasons, the first being that space cooperation didn't produce the mutual understanding it was supposed to. He's on solid ground here, particularly when he discusses the communist era. But what really seems to gnaw at him is that cooperation has become NASA's major justification for space missions. As he puts it, "If the Russians aren't involved, the project shouldn't occur" is the prevailing attitude. While Oberg includes interesting information about past and future space programs, he fails to provide enough fodder to convince the non–space enthusiast that pursuing new U.S.–manned flights to the moon or even Mars is worth the time or the money. (Nov.)