Soviet Space Propaganda, part 2

More art intended to promote the Soviet Union and communism.

Dec 27, 2024

Introduction.

Apologies for the long time since the last post, real life got in the way… I have 3 technical posts in the pipeline, one on the N1 versions planned for the 2 launch lunar missions under Mishin, new Salyut 4 details, and one for the Soyuz ABV.

You can get a MUCH more regular fix of Soviet Space and other Space Graphics by following me on Blue Sky!

And I’m also active on Mastodon.

On with the show! Please note you can click on the images to see a full sized version. Almost all images have been enlarged with AI software.

Soviet Space Propaganda, Part 2.

This post is largely dedicated to a second tranche of Soviet Propaganda Posters.

The text reads: “With the wonderful “horse” we will go around the hole Moon!

The text reads: “In the name of peace and progress, for the glory of our Motherland!”

Some were aimed squarely at everyday life, like this one:

In this next one, a probe that missed the Moon and went into orbit around the Sun is described as “The Tenth Planet”!

Worker in front of a map the Solar System.

Text: “The Tenth Planet - Symbol of the Victory of Communism!”

And another direct one:

A whole bunch of soldiers charge forward.

The text reads: “Sons of October, Pioneers of the Universe!”

Let’s have something more directly spacey.

The American shuttle traces the outline of a bomb.

The word is simply “No!” The Soviet Union saw the US shuttle as primarily a military vehicle - one reason that Buran was properly funded, unlike the Lunar program. This was not as silly as it might appear - it could overfly Moscow with a large payload shortly after launching, and the American Air Force had direct involvement in defining the shuttle’s capabilities.

I like this one a lot! The text reads “We are ahead on the Cosmic March!”

The next one features the first seven crewed spacecraft of the Soviet Union:

The text reads: ”To the fatherland, Cosmonauts glory!”

Again judging by the number of cosmonauts, this next one was published right after the flight of the first “Voskhod” spacecraft.

Note the monument to the conquerors of space, and the figure of Tsoilkovsky lower left. “Long live the USSR, Motherland of cosmonautics!”

Spaceplane and satellites ascending over the USSR.

Commemorating several things in one poster here…

Top left: “Glory to Soviet Science”, the rocket is labelled as the first Vostok, and the lower right text reads “Glory to Soviet Man, the First Cosmonaut!”

The flag reads “Friendship”. Note the Tsiolkovsky space station top left!

I’m struggling with an elegant translation for this one. “Heroic Work! - The path to cosmic victory!”

I know quite a few spaceship modellers like my substack, so this last one is just for you!

Text reads: “From student models to spacecraft!”

Again note the blue Tsoilkovsky space stations, upper left.

The previous post on Propaganda art can be found here, in case you want more.

This editions cool image:

Energia Rocket being erected at the launch pad.

Lovely image via the Energia Buran Archive, better quality than I have seen before, showing the Energia Rocket being erected on the “Grasshopper“ transporter.