Radioelectronics and space exploration

Citing the 23 years since Yuriy Gagarin's first radio transmission from outer space, the developments in radio communications and their role in mission control are summarized. Use of satellites for radio and television links with ground stations are an important part of information exchange. Construction and preventive maintenance activities by Soviet cosmonauts, use of radio technology for docking procedures and the reliability of such equipment, and the growing role of computer technology in space vehicles with human crews and pilotless craft are discussed. Automatic interplanetary vehicles that have landed on the moon, Mars and Venus, as well as artificial earth satellites, are facilitating weather and communication advances. Mock space equipment using radio and computer technology is of great importance for training cosmonauts. Despite all these practical applications, optimum utilization of automated equipment has yet to be achieved, and offers further challenge to Soviet and other engineers and technicians.