About the book: 2003 / The book tells about the life and work of its author in astronautics, about many events with which he, his comrades and colleagues found themselves connected.V. S. Syromyatnikov is a world-famous designer of mechanisms and engineering systems for spacecraft. He began working at the design bureau of S.P. Korolev, the founder of practical cosmonautics, a year and a half before the launch of the first satellite. He took an active part in many domestic and international projects. Personal experience and interaction with the main characters of the events described, as well as professional acquaintance with published and unpublished materials, gave him the opportunity, on a documentary basis and at the same time, in an unconventional and emotional way, to talk about the development of domestic cosmonautics and American astronautics from the first practical steps to the last time. Part 1 covers the first two decades of space exploration, from the mid-50s to 1975. The book is illustrated with photographs from the author’s collection and other private collections. For the general reader.