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The presentation of “The Ukrainian Space” encyclopedia by A-BA-BA-HA-LA-MA-HA Publishers

Leonid Kadeniuk, Eduard Kuznetsov, Ivan Malkovych, Serhiy Hrabovs’ky, Valeriy Cherednychenko during the presentation

”The Ukrainian Space” is a unique edition about the world astronautics and a significant Ukrainian contribution to the conquest of the endless Space. This was mainly discussed at the presentation of an encyclopedia “The Ukrainian Space” by A-BA-BA-HA-LA-MA-HA Publishers that took place within “The World Space Week” held by the UNO.

The participants of the presentation were:

• Leonid Kadeniuk, the first cosmonaut of the Independent Ukraine
• The co-authors of the encyclopedia: Serhiy Hrabovs’ky, Valeriy Cherednychenko, Ivan Malkovych,
• together with Eduard Kuznetsov, the deputy director of the National Space Agency of Ukraine
• and Mykola Mitrakhov, the head of “Space-Inform Centre”.

E. Kuznetsov took the word

“During the first decades of the space era the Ukrainian scientists, constructors and missile engineers were involved in every significant space project: the launch of the first artificial Earth satellite, the first human spaceflight, near-Earth orbit flight programs, flights to the Moon and to planets of the Solar System. Unfortunately, all the achievements of the Soviet space technology have lately been somehow miraculously “privatized” solely by Russia. Russia tends to forget that actually plenty of the Soviet space success has also been the Ukrainian space success, for among the Chief and General Structural Engineers there were circa 20 Ukrainians. Thanks to our space geniuses — Y. Kondratiuk, S. Koroliov, V. Hlushko, M. Yangel, V. Chelomey, G. Lozyno-Lozynky etc. we have every reason to be proud of the Ukrainian past and present space achievements,” Ivan Malkovych, the head of A-BA-BA-HA-LA-MA-HA Publishers said. “That is to say, this September’s Lviv Publishers’' Forum brought two awards for the book.”

M. Mitrakhov, L. Kadeniuk, E. Kuznetsov, I. Malkovych, S. Hrabovs’ky, V. Cherednychenko

Serhiy Hrabovs’ky said that this edition serves as a renovation of such a significant genre as science fiction literature. “For as much as two centuries science fiction has been one of the major factors of the advancement of science as a social institution,” S. Hrabovs’ky emphasized.

The first cosmonaut of the Independent Ukraine signs the first Ukrainian space encyclopedia “The Ukrainian Space”

Leonid Kadeniuk, the first cosmonaut of the Independent Ukraine, characterized the encyclopedia as an extremely interesting book not only for children, but also for all those keen on Space. “There is plenty of facts in this book that even I wasn’t aware of. This is a truly breathtaking book.”

A couple of days earlier, on October 6th, 2009, the director-general of the National Space Agency of Ukraine Oleksandr Zinchenko introduced “The Ukrainian Space” encyclopedia to the President of Ukraine Victor Yushchenko. Particularly, the significance of this book for upbringing the young generation of the Ukrainian space conquerors was emphasized at the meeting.

Video from the presentation

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7 facts of the Ukrainian space:

1. According to the leading French space magazine, among the five greatest Soviet Chief and General Structural Engineers there were four Ukrainians: S. Koroliov, M. Yangel, V. Chelomey and V. Hlushko.
2. Serhiy Koroliov’s favorite song was a famous Ukrainian song “I am looking at the sky and thinking why I can’t fly like a falcon?..” This song became one of the incentives that roused the space interest of the future creator of the first Rocket which took a human to space. When Koroliov launched the Rocket with the first Ukrainian cosmonaut Pavlo Popovych onboard, Popovych sang there the Chief Structural Engineer’s favorite song “I am looking at the sky…” for him.
3. Among over thirty Soviet Chief and General Structural Engineers there were circa 20 Ukrainians.
4. The first Soviet Rocket launch facility “Kapustin Yar” had been built and guided for over 30 years by a Ukrainian, Vasyl Vozniuk (born in Vinnytsia region). Koroliov also instructed him to find a place for a new, more powerful launch area, later known as “Baikonur Cosmodrome”. Moreover, General M. Hryhorenko from Luhansk region, Ukraine, had been in charge for its construction.
5. It so happened that the two most prominent Structural Engineers of the anti-ballistic missile systems (ABM), born in two neighboring regions of Ukraine (Zaporizhzhya region and Dnipropetrovs’k region respectively) were fighting for the two biggest states: Hryhoriy Kysun’ko was developing Soviet ABM, and Edward Ginzton was creating ABM for the USA.
6. A unique RT-70 radio telescope in Yevpatoria takes part in international deep space investigations. It is able to catch, for example, a light from a match lit on the Moon.
7. Nowadays the leading Ukrainian space enterprises actively take part in over 50 big international space projects. The carrier rocket of the ESA “Vega” is equipped with the superpower Ukrainian jet engine. Ukraine together with the USA and Russia is creating the “Taurus-II” space rocket system which is to be launched from the US launching facilities in order to deliver cargo to the International Space Station.