Welcome to the Soviet Space Saga, a podcast of nine episodes (plus an introduction) where I tell one of the most fantastic stories in modern history! My name is Alex Deva. I am a novelist, and I work as an IT Architect. I live in Sweden. My website is alxx.se and, if you like the way I tell stories, you can look up my books. In this introductory episode, I set the scene and welcome you to enter the amazing saga of the Soviet space programme. Thank you so much for listening! Here are my sources for this podcast: “Beyond”, Stephen Walker, 2021, ISBN 9780008372507 “Korolev”, James Harford, 1997, ISBN 9780471327219 “Challenge to Apollo: The Soviet Union and the Space Race, 1945 - 1974”, Asif A. Siddiqi, 2000 “Soviet and Russian Lunar Exploration”, Brian Harvey, 2007, ISBN 0387739769 “Packing for Mars”, Mary Roach, 2010, ISBN 9780393339918 “Riding rockets”, Mike Mullane, 2006, ISBN 9780743296762 “Скрытый космос”, Nikolai Petrovich Kamanin, http://militera.lib.ru/db/kamanin_np/index.html Kamanin’s Diaries, http://www.astronautix.com/k/kamanindiaries.html Sounds from space, http://www.svengrahn.pp.se/sounds/sounds.htm YouTube links: “Королёв Сергей Павлович”, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZkVzzdWBzw “Сергею Королеву 110 лет”, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GxxhSqxms_4 “Спутник. Русское чудо. Документальный фильм”, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IBEiKPcLmJ4 “Лайка во Вселенной”, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7QJejGbk20 “Luna 10 in Soviet newsreel”, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHcv5QZqImE “The Motherland hears, the Motherland knows”, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YD7MZ_n58Lo “Gagarin - Informes de la Agencia TASS, 12 de abril de 1961”, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VnFxR3dQJY “JFK Press Conference #9 (April 12, 1961)”, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNuNj3F8HAw The Soviet Space Saga is a podcast written and produced by me, Alex Deva. I've also composed and produced the original music in the podcast.