Asif Azam Siddiqi

Last updated
Asif Azam Siddiqi
EducationPh.D.
Alma mater Texas A&M University
University of Massachusetts-Amherst
Carnegie Mellon University

Asif Azam Siddiqi is a Bangladeshi American space historian and a Guggenheim Fellowship winner. [1] He is a professor of history at Fordham University. [2] He specializes in the history of science and technology and modern Russian history. He has written several books on the history of space exploration.

Contents

Early life and education

Siddiqi was born to Hafiz G. A. Siddiqi, Vice-Chancellor of North South University in Dhaka and Najma Siddiqi, a retired professor of philosophy at Jahangirnagar University. [3] Siddiqi received his bachelor's and master's from Texas A&M University. He passed SSC from St Joseph Higher Secondary School, Dhaka. He then completed his M.B.A. from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst and received his Ph.D. from Carnegie Mellon University in 2004 under a National Science Foundation Fellowship to study Cold War science and technologies. [4]

Career

Siddiqi's first book Challenge to Apollo: The Soviet Union and the Space Race, 1945-1974 is widely considered [5] [6] [7] to be the best English-language history of the Soviet space program in print and was identified by The Wall Street Journal as "one of the five best books" on space exploration. [3] [8] [9] This book was later published in paperback in two separate volumes, Sputnik and the Soviet Space Challenge and The Soviet Space Race with Apollo.

Siddiqi's major contribution to space history scholarship has been to apply academic training, theory, and methodology to the study of Soviet space program history. Siddiqi utilized newly available archival materials from Russia, published works such as memoirs, and other sources and essentially pioneered Soviet space history scholarship in the post Cold War-era. Even current Russian-based space history tends to rely heavily upon memoirs and as a result, Siddiqi is acknowledged by Russian space officials as one of the few people conducting original archival research on the subject worldwide. His articles have been published in the leading Russian space journal Novosti kosmonavtiki (News of Cosmonautics) [10] as well as the official history journal of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Voprosy istorii estestvoznaniia i tekhniki (Problems in the History of Natural Sciences and Technology). He also regularly publishes pieces in the Moscow English language daily, Moscow Times. [11] [12]

He is a currently serving on the United States National Research Council's Committee on Human Spaceflight, tasked by Congress to evaluate and recommend options for the future of NASA's human spaceflight program.

Siddiqi is also the editor of the series Rockets and People which are the four volume English-language translation of the memoirs of Boris Chertok, a leading designer who worked under Sergei Korolev. These volumes are being published by the NASA History Division. [13]

He was featured in the NOVA WGBH-TV special Astrospies [14] broadcast in 2008, and has been featured in various media as a specialist in the history of spaceflight.

He has received the American Historical Association's Fellowship in Aerospace history, [15] the Eugene M. Emme Astronautical Literature Award, [16] the History Manuscript Award from the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, [17] and a National Science Foundation award for work on his Ph.D. dissertation. [18]

Works

Siddiq's most recent book The Red Rockets' Glare: Spaceflight and the Soviet Imagination, 1857-1957 (Cambridge, 2010) recovered the social and cultural roots of cosmic enthusiasm in the Russian context dating back to the 19th century. [19] He has published widely in many different journals, including the Osiris , Technology and Culture , History and Technology , Europe-Asia Studies , Acta Astronautica , Air & Space, [20] [21] Journal of the British Interplanetary Society , and Spaceflight. [22]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sputnik 1</span> First artificial Earth satellite

Sputnik 1 was the first artificial Earth satellite. It was launched into an elliptical low Earth orbit by the Soviet Union on 4 October 1957 as part of the Soviet space program. It sent a radio signal back to Earth for three weeks before its three silver-zinc batteries became depleted. Aerodynamic drag caused it to fall back into the atmosphere on 4 January 1958. The world's first observation was made at the school observatory in Rodewisch (Saxony).

<i>Luna 1</i> Soviet spacecraft

Luna 1, also known as Mechta, E-1 No.4 and First Lunar Rover, was the first spacecraft to reach the vicinity of Earth's Moon, the first spacecraft to leave Earth's orbit, and the first to be placed in heliocentric orbit. Intended as a Moon impactor, Luna 1 was launched as part of the Soviet Luna programme in 1959.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Space Race</span> US–USSR spaceflight capability rivalry

The Space Race was a 20th-century competition between two Cold War rivals, the United States and the Soviet Union, to achieve superior spaceflight capability. It had its origins in the ballistic missile-based nuclear arms race between the two nations following World War II and had its peak with the more particular Moon Race to land on the Moon between the US moonshot and Soviet moonshot programs. The technological advantage demonstrated by spaceflight achievement was seen as necessary for national security and became part of the symbolism and ideology of the time. The Space Race brought pioneering launches of artificial satellites, robotic space probes to the Moon, Venus, and Mars, and human spaceflight in low Earth orbit and ultimately to the Moon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sergei Korolev</span> Soviet aerospace engineer (1907–1966)

Sergei Pavlovich Korolev was the lead Soviet rocket engineer and spacecraft designer during the Space Race between the United States and the Soviet Union in the 1950s and 1960s. He invented the R-7 Rocket, Sputnik 1, and was involved in the launching of Laika, Sputnik 3, the first human-made object to make contact with another celestial body, Belka and Strelka, the first human being, Yuri Gagarin, into space, Voskhod 1, and the first person, Alexei Leonov, to conduct a spacewalk.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">R-7 Semyorka</span> First Intercontinental ballistic missile

The R-7 Semyorka, officially the GRAU index 8K71, was a Soviet missile developed during the Cold War, and the world's first intercontinental ballistic missile. The R-7 made 28 launches between 1957 and 1961. A derivative, the R-7A, was operational from 1960 to 1968. To the West it was unknown until its launch. In modified form, it launched Sputnik 1, the first artificial satellite, into orbit, and became the basis for the R-7 family which includes Sputnik, Luna, Molniya, Vostok, and Voskhod space launchers, as well as later Soyuz variants. Various modifications are still in use and it has become the world’s most reliable space launcher.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zond 5</span> 1968 Soviet spaceflight to circle the Moon, first lunar mission to carry animals

Zond 5 was a spacecraft of the Soviet Zond program. In September 1968 it became the first spaceship to travel to and circle the Moon in a circumlunar trajectory, the first Moon mission to include animals, and the first to return safely to Earth. Zond 5 carried the first terrestrial organisms to the vicinity of the Moon, including two tortoises, fruit fly eggs, and plants. The Russian tortoises underwent biological changes during the flight, but it was concluded that the changes were primarily due to starvation and that they were little affected by space travel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nedelin catastrophe</span> 1960 fatal Soviet launch pad disaster

The Nedelin catastrophe or Nedelin disaster, known in Russia as the Catastrophe at Baikonur Cosmodrome, was a launch pad accident that occurred on 24 October 1960 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Soviet Kazakhstan. As a prototype of the R-16 intercontinental ballistic missile was being prepared for a test flight, an explosion occurred when the second stage engine ignited accidentally, killing an unknown number of military and technical personnel working on the preparations. Despite the magnitude of the disaster, information was suppressed for many years and the Soviet government did not acknowledge the event until 1989. With more than 54 casualties, it is the deadliest disaster in space exploration history. The catastrophe is named for the Chief Marshal of Artillery Mitrofan Ivanovich Nedelin, who was the head of the R-16 development program and perished in the explosion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Friedrich Zander</span> Russian engineer

Georg Arthur Constantin Friedrich Zander, was a Baltic German pioneer of rocketry and spaceflight in the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union. He designed the first liquid-fueled rocket to be launched in the Soviet Union, GIRD-X, and made many important theoretical contributions to the road to space.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Space Age</span> Historical period started in 1957

The Space Age is a period encompassing the activities related to the space race, space exploration, space technology, and the cultural developments influenced by these events, beginning with the launch of Sputnik 1 on October 4, 1957, and continuing to the present.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Soviet space program</span> Space exploration program conducted by the Soviet Union from 1955 to 1991

The Soviet space program was the national space program of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), active from 1955 until the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Proton (satellite program)</span> Series of Soviet satellites

Proton ('proton') was a Soviet series of four cosmic ray and elementary particle detecting satellites. Orbited 1965–68, three on test flights of the UR-500 ICBM and one on a Proton-K rocket, all four satellites completed their missions successfully, the last reentering the Earth's atmosphere in 1969.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Group for the Study of Reactive Motion</span> Early Soviet rocket research bureau

The Moscow-based Group for the Study of Reactive Motion was a Soviet research bureau founded in 1931 to study various aspects of rocketry. GIRD launched the first Soviet liquid propellant rocket in August 1933. In November 1933 it was incorporated into the Reactive Scientific Research Institute.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boris Chertok</span> Soviet-Russian scientist and engineer (1912–2011)

Boris Yevseyevich Chertok was a Russian engineer in the former Soviet space program, mainly working in control systems, and later found employment in Roscosmos.

The Eugene M. Emme Award is an award given annually to a person or persons selected by a panel of reviewers from the American Astronautical Society History Committee to recognize "the truly outstanding book published each year serving public understanding about the positive impact of astronautics upon society." The award is in honor of Eugene M. Emme, NASA's first historian.

The A. Verville Fellowship is an American senior scholarship established in the name of aviation pioneer Alfred V. Verville at the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum. The Verville Fellowship is a competitive nine- to twelve-month in-residence fellowship for researching the history of aviation. The fellowship includes a $50,000 stipend with limited additional funds for travel and miscellaneous expenses.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andronik Iosifyan</span> Soviet aerospace engineer

Andronik Gevondovich Iosifyan was a Soviet engineer of Armenian ethnicity in the field of electronics and later moving towards working on aeronautics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leonid Voskresensky</span> Soviet rocket engineer

Leonid Alexandrovich Voskresensky was a Soviet engineer in the Soviet space program, and long-time associate of Chief Designer Sergei Korolev. He served as launch director for Sputnik and for the first crewed space flight, Vostok 1. The lunar crater Voskresenskiy is named in his honor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Soviet rocketry</span> Soviet rocketry (1921 to 1991)

Soviet rocketry commenced in 1921 with development of Solid-fuel rockets, which resulted in the development of the Katyusha rocket launcher. Rocket scientists and engineers, particularly Valentin Glushko and Sergei Korolev, contributed to the development of Liquid-fuel rockets, which were first used for fighter aircraft. Developments continued in the late 1940s and 1950s with a variety of ballistic missiles and ICBMs, and later for space exploration which resulted in the launch of Sputnik 1 in 1957, the first artificial Earth satellite ever launched.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reactive Scientific Research Institute</span> Early Soviet rocket laboratory

Reactive Scientific Research Institute was one of the first Soviet research and development institutions to focus on rocket technology. RNII developed the Katyusha rocket launcher and its research and development were very important for later achievements of the Soviet rocket and space programs.

During World War II, Nazi Germany developed rocket technology that was more advanced than that of the Allies and a race commenced between the Soviet Union and the United States to capture and exploit the technology. Soviet rocket specialists were sent to Germany in 1945 to obtain V-2 rockets and worked with German specialists in Germany and later in the Soviet Union to understand and replicate the rocket technology. The involvement of German scientists and engineers was an essential catalyst to early Soviet efforts. In 1945 and 1946 the use of German expertise was invaluable in reducing the time needed to master the intricacies of the V-2 rocket, establishing production of the R-1 rocket and enabling a base for further developments. However, after 1947 the Soviets made very little use of German specialists and their influence on future Soviet rocketry was marginal.

References

  1. ↑ "Current Fellows". John Simon Guggenheim Foundation. Retrieved 20 April 2016.
  2. ↑ "Asif Siddiqi". Fordham University. Archived from the original on 3 December 2011. Retrieved 20 April 2016.
  3. 1 2 "SAJAforum" . Retrieved 20 April 2016.
  4. ↑ "Biography of Asif A. Siddiqi on NASA". NASA. Retrieved 20 April 2016.
  5. ↑ "Asif Siddiqi". Los Angeles Review of Books. Retrieved 20 May 2022.
  6. ↑ "THE SOVIET SPACE RACE WITH APOLLO". University Press of Florida. Retrieved 20 May 2022.
  7. ↑ "The best books on the Soviet space program and the space race". Shepherd.com. Retrieved 20 May 2022.
  8. ↑ William Burrows (30 December 2006). "Five Best". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 20 April 2016.
  9. ↑ "Wall Street Journal Names Professor's Book Among Top Five". Fordham University. Retrieved 20 April 2016.
  10. ↑ Asif Siddiqi (June 2007). Королёв - взгляд с Запада [Korolev - A view from the West]. Novosti kosmonavtiki (in Russian). Retrieved 30 November 2016.
  11. ↑ Asif Siddiqi (28 September 2007). "Space Odyssey: Fifty years after Sputnik streaked into the sky, a book by Matthew Brzezinski reconstructs the dawn of a new age". The Moscow Times. Archived from the original on 2007-12-25.
  12. ↑ Asif Siddiqi. "CONTEXT - This Week in Arts and Ideas". The Moscow Times.[ permanent dead link ]
  13. ↑ "NASA - NASA Completes Publication of Boris Chertok's Rockets and People Memoir Series" . Retrieved 20 April 2016.
  14. ↑ "NOVA - Official Website - The Space Race Today". PBS . Retrieved 20 April 2016.
  15. ↑ "AHA Awards and Prizes" . Retrieved 20 April 2016.
  16. ↑ "FindArticles.com - CBSi" . Retrieved 20 April 2016.
  17. ↑ "AIAA History Manuscript Award". American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. Archived from the original on 9 August 2011. Retrieved 20 April 2016.
  18. ↑ "NSF Award Search: Award#0137857 - Dissertation Research: The Rockets' Red Glare: State, Society, and Technological Innovation in the Soviet Union, 1917-1957" . Retrieved 20 April 2016.
  19. ↑ Asif A. Siddiqi (26 February 2010). "The Red Rockets' Glare". Cambridge University Press. Retrieved 20 April 2016.
  20. ↑ "History, Travel, Arts, Science, People, Places - Air & Space Magazine" . Retrieved 20 April 2016.
  21. ↑ "History, Travel, Arts, Science, People, Places - Air & Space Magazine". Archived from the original on 16 January 2013. Retrieved 20 April 2016.
  22. ↑ "Asif Siddiqi Curriculum Vitae" (PDF). Fordham University.
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