Kosmos Moskau Berlin: Ein Bildband vom Besuch German Titows In Der DDR.

[TITOV, Gherman Stepanovich; John F. Kennedy; Walter Ulbricht].

Item Number: 133439

Berlin: Verlag Kultur Und Fortschritt, 1961.

First edition of this illustrated work on Russian cosmonaut Gherman Stepanovich Titov’s visit to East Germany following his accomplishment of becoming the second human to orbit the Earth. Quarto, original cloth, illustrated throughout. Association copy, signed by President John F. Kennedy and Titov on the title page. Additionally signed by Walter Ulbricht, de facto head of the East German government from 1950 to 1973, on page 6. On August 6, 1961, Gherman Stepanovich Titov became the second man to orbit the earth, after Yuri Gagarin, and the fourth man in space, after Yuri Gagarin and sub-orbital American astronauts Alan Shepard and Virgil Grisson. On April 29, 1962, he landed in the United States for a two-week official visit, and met with President Kennedy, Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson, and astronaut John Glenn, among others. In near fine condition. Rare and desirable signed by Kennedy and Titov.

The 20th century Space Race between the Soviet Union and the United States began in earnest on August 2, 1955, when the Soviet Union declared that they would launch a satellite "in the near future" in response to the the American announcement four days earlier of the intent to do the same. The competition gained public attention with the "Sputnik shock", when the USSR achieved the first successful artificial satellite launch on October 4, 1957 of Sputnik 1, and subsequently when the USSR sent the first human to space with the orbital flight of Yuri Gagarin on April 12, 1961. After President John F. Kennedy raised the stakes by setting a goal of "landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth", both countries worked on developing super heavy-lift launch vehicles, with the US successfully deploying the Saturn V, which was large enough to send a three-person orbiter and two-person lander to the Moon. Kennedy's Moon landing goal was achieved in July 1969, with the flight of Apollo 11, a singular achievement considered by the Americans as overshadowing any combination of Soviet achievements that have been made.