Smithsonian Institution Archives

Soviet Space Medicine Videohistory Collection, 1989

Summary

Collection ID:
SIA.FARU9551
Creators:
Dates:
1989
Languages:
English
Physical Description:
6 videotapes and 1 audiotape (Reference copies). 7 digital .wmv files and .rm files (Reference copies).
Repository:
Smithsonian Institution Archives

Introduction

Introduction
The Smithsonian Videohistory Program, funded by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation from 1986 until 1992, used video in historical research. Additional collections have been added since the grant project ended. Videohistory uses the video camera as a historical research tool to record moving visual information. Video works best in historical research when recording people at work in environments, explaining artifacts, demonstrating process, or in group discussion. The experimental program recorded projects that reflected the Institution's concern with the conduct of contemporary science and technology.
Smithsonian historians participated in the program to document visual aspects of their on-going historical research. Projects covered topics in the physical and biological sciences as well as in technological design and manufacture. To capture site, process, and interaction most effectively, projects were taped in offices, factories, quarries, laboratories, observatories, and museums. Resulting footage was duplicated, transcribed, and deposited in the Smithsonian Institution Archives for scholarship, education, and exhibition. The collection is open to qualified researchers.

Descriptive Entry

Descriptive Entry
Cathleen S. Lewis, curator at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum (NASM), interviewed Oleg Gazenko, Evgenii Shepelev, and Abraham Genin about their research and participation in the Soviet aviation and space medicine program prior to 1964, as well as their work at the Institute. Lewis was primarily interested in documenting early work in the fields of aviation and space medicine. She also visually documented museum exhibits about the Institute's work in space exploration.
Session one took place at the museum of The Institute for Biomedical Problems. Cathleen Lewis and Andreas Tamberg (interpreter) conducted a group discussion with Gazenko, Genin, and Shepelev. In session two, Gazenko narrated a tour of the museum gallery of IMBP, which showed the use of animals in space exploration. In session three, Genin narrated a tour of the museum gallery of manned space exploration, which documented the development of the spacesuit, parachute systems, and factors for life maintenance in space.
In session four, Gireeva and Magedov led tours in the Institute's Primate Space Flight Training Facility, where they discussed primate training and conditioning in preparation for space flight. Session five documented interior and exterior shots of IMBP, without narration. Finally, an audio interview with Shepelev described his work in space medicine.
This collection consists of five videotaped interview sessions, totalling approximately 5:00 hours of recordings and 86 pages of transcript. Also included is one audio interview, totaling approximately 1:15 hours of audiotape and 19 pages of transcript.
All sessions were conducted in Russian with some English translation. Sessions were transcribed verbatim in Russian and were then translated to English.

Historical Note

Historical Note
The Institute for Biomedical Problems (Institut mediko-biologicheskikh problem, IMBP) was founded in 1963 to undertake the study of space medicine. It is located in Moscow, USSR, and consists of a Primate Space Flight Training Center, research laboratories and a small museum.
Oleg Gazenko attended The Second Moscow Medical School and The Military Medical Academy in Leningrad. He was a director of the IMBP (1967-1987) and was a specialist in gravitational physiology. He was a member of the first group of Soviet scientists to study the gravitational effects of acceleration and weightlessness on-board Soviet sounding rockets in the late 1940s and early 1950s. Gazenko participated in cooperative projects with the Life Sciences Division of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and oversaw preparation and evaluation of cosmonauts for long duration spaceflights.
Abram Moiseevich Genin attended The Second Moscow Medical School and The Central Institute for Advanced Training of Doctors in Moscow. A specialist in biophysics, Genin's early work dealt with biophysical problems of aviation, especially the mechanics of decompression disease. Genin also worked on the factors of life support in space: cabin pressure, weightlessness, and gravitational effects on the blood circulation.
Evgenii Shepelev attended The Second Moscow Medical School and specialized in the physiological effects of artificial environments. This work was essential for the successful execution of the Soviet space station program and would be critical for sending people to Mars. Shepelev used himself as the subject of the first Soviet isolation experiments in the late 1950s and early 1960s.
Irina Gireeva and Vladimir Magedov were also interviewed. Gireeva was an animal technician at the center; Magedov directed computer operations in the building.

Administration

Author
Finding aid prepared by Smithsonian Institution Archives

Using the Collection

Prefered Citation
Smithsonian Institution Archives, Record Unit 9551, Soviet Space Medicine Videohistory Collection

More Information

Notes

Oral Histories


Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Gazenko, O. G. (Oleg Georgievich) Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Gireeva, Irina Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Magedov, Vladimir Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Shepelev, Eugenii Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Genin, A. M. (Abram Moiseevich) Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Lewis, Cathleen S., 1958- , interviewer Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Institute for Biomedical Problems (Rossiĭskai︠a︡ akademii︠a︡ nauk) Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Primate Space Flight Training Facility (U.S.S.R.) Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Research Topic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Science -- History Topic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Women -- History Topic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Astronautics Topic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Biology Topic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Space medicine Topic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Oral history Topic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Interviews Topic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Technology -- History Topic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Videotapes Genre/Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Audiotapes Genre/Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Transcripts Genre/Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

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