Rockets and People
Rockets and People by Boris Chertokby Boris Chertok
Shares rank 12 of 25 memoirs by recommenders
Recommended as a first-hand history of the Soviet space program, written by an engineer who worked on it. Reviewers point to it as a starting point for the subject.
Recommended as a first-hand history of the Soviet space program, written by an engineer who worked on it. Reviewers point to it as a starting point for the subject.
4 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 4
- criticize it
- 0
- approval share
- 100%
Recommended in 2 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 4 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- Nobody criticizes itNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 2 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Firsthand history of Soviet space program
“I highly recommend English translation of memoirs of Boris Chertok to anyone interested in the history of Soviet space program.”
Comment from 6 Sep 2026 in “Private German rocket makes history, reaches orbit from European soil” “You should probably read something on the Soviet space program (starting with Rockets and People, for example)”
Comment from 15 Sep 2026 in “A rough guide for going back to the Moon” Good starting point on the subject
“You should probably read something on the Soviet space program (starting with Rockets and People, for example)”
Comment from 15 Sep 2026 in “A rough guide for going back to the Moon”
Other memoirs people recommend
The four most recommended other memoirs, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Careless Peopleby Sarah Wynn-Williams | 106 | 24 | 82% | 12 | — | Approved |
| Man's Search for Meaningby Viktor Frankl | 13 | 2 | 87% | 9 | — | Approved |
| Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!by Richard Feynman | 11 | 7 | 61% | 6 | — | — |
| Down and Out in Paris and Londonby George Orwell | 9 | 1 | 90% | 8 | — | — |
| Rockets and Peopleby Boris ChertokThis page | 4 | 0 | 100% | 2 | — | — |
What people said
2 of the 4 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“You should probably read something on the Soviet space program (starting with Rockets and People, for example)”
“I highly recommend English translation of memoirs of Boris Chertok to anyone interested in the history of Soviet space program.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.