The “Hidden Figure” in the Sputnik Design Team

Article

“The “Hidden Figure” in the Sputnik Design Team” by Brian Harvey
Published in Quest Volume: 28 #4 (2021)

Abstract

One of the most tantalizing, grainy photographs from the early days of the space age was the design team that built the first Sputnik.  Published in 1970, it included one woman member, whose name was given (Lydia Soldatova), but little more. Team leader Mikhail Tikhonravov was well-known, as were some of the others such as Gleb Yurevich Maksimov, but she was not. Thanks to the current declassification program in the Russian federal archives, RGANTD, we can now fill in some of the blank pages.

Citation

Harvey, Brian. “The ‘Hidden Figure’ in the Sputnik Design Team.” Quest: The History of Spaceflight Quarterly 28, no. 4 (2021): 38-39.