the gourganes group
Above: The Gourganes Group installed as solo exhibition at the Maison des arts de Laval, Laval, Quebec, November 27, 2016–February 5, 2017. Photos by Guy L'Heureux.
THE GOURGANES GROUP
The year 2017 marks twenty-seven years since the disappearance of Georgi Federovich Ouspenski, Soviet engineer par excellence and director of the most secret space program in the U.S.S.R.’s history.
From research conducted in Tunguska, Siberia, during the 1970s, Ouspenski developed new theories and technologies to allow Soviet space missions to travel much farther than ever imagined possible. But such extended missions, he determined, would require the construction of a lunar cosmodrome.
Ouspenski undertook a program to survey possible base locations on the Moon’s dark side using the U.S.S.R.’s famous Luna missions as a cover. A location was selected, and the first base, named Dukh (Russian: “spirit”), was quietly constructed at Poincaré Crater.
The Dukh cosmodrome served as home base for at least two-dozen extended space missions, manned and unmanned, to the Gourganes Group, a cluster of obscure, previously disregarded asteroids. In addition to photographing and mapping the asteroids, the missions conducted mineral surveys and even small-scale mining operations of rare elements.
In 1988, Soviet authorities cancelled the Gourganes program, denying its existence and erasing evidence of it. Dismissed and discredited, Ouspenski found himself no longer able to find work in his field. He reinvented himself as a humble writer of science-fiction, and penned six pulp novels prior to his mysterious disappearance in 1992.
It is unknown why the Soviet authorities cancelled Ouspenski’s program, and none of his subsequent writings make mention of it. But the central themes of his books—encounters between cosmonauts and extraterrestrials, and research that probes too closely to the secrets of the origins of terrestrial life—have led to conjecture.
The end of the Cold War saw the release of thousands of classified documents, but nothing concerning the Gourganes program. It is unclear what evidence remains in closed Russian archives. And the Dukh base on the Moon’s dark side, shuttered but likely intact, keeps its secrets.
Public evidence of the Gourgenes missions is scant. My exhibit presents a selection of these materials, courtesy of the Ouspenski Foundation, Pohjoisesplanadi, Helsinki.
The year 2017 marks twenty-seven years since the disappearance of Georgi Federovich Ouspenski, Soviet engineer par excellence and director of the most secret space program in the U.S.S.R.’s history.
From research conducted in Tunguska, Siberia, during the 1970s, Ouspenski developed new theories and technologies to allow Soviet space missions to travel much farther than ever imagined possible. But such extended missions, he determined, would require the construction of a lunar cosmodrome.
Ouspenski undertook a program to survey possible base locations on the Moon’s dark side using the U.S.S.R.’s famous Luna missions as a cover. A location was selected, and the first base, named Dukh (Russian: “spirit”), was quietly constructed at Poincaré Crater.
The Dukh cosmodrome served as home base for at least two-dozen extended space missions, manned and unmanned, to the Gourganes Group, a cluster of obscure, previously disregarded asteroids. In addition to photographing and mapping the asteroids, the missions conducted mineral surveys and even small-scale mining operations of rare elements.
In 1988, Soviet authorities cancelled the Gourganes program, denying its existence and erasing evidence of it. Dismissed and discredited, Ouspenski found himself no longer able to find work in his field. He reinvented himself as a humble writer of science-fiction, and penned six pulp novels prior to his mysterious disappearance in 1992.
It is unknown why the Soviet authorities cancelled Ouspenski’s program, and none of his subsequent writings make mention of it. But the central themes of his books—encounters between cosmonauts and extraterrestrials, and research that probes too closely to the secrets of the origins of terrestrial life—have led to conjecture.
The end of the Cold War saw the release of thousands of classified documents, but nothing concerning the Gourganes program. It is unclear what evidence remains in closed Russian archives. And the Dukh base on the Moon’s dark side, shuttered but likely intact, keeps its secrets.
Public evidence of the Gourgenes missions is scant. My exhibit presents a selection of these materials, courtesy of the Ouspenski Foundation, Pohjoisesplanadi, Helsinki.
ASTEROIDS IN THE GOURGANES GROUP
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The “Space Man” of Chernogorsk
Local citizen inherits remains of secret USSR space program From Vecherniy Novosibirsk (Novosibirsk, Siberia, newspaper), June 4, 2009
by Milorad Utkin Mikhail Platonov had never stepped outside the borders of his native Siberia, and so he didn’t think much about things like spies, spooks and space travel. But when he discovered a small cache of photographs and other items among his father’s things, Platonov found himself drawn into a new life of secret agents, a classified Soviet-era space program and a mysterious asteroid group millions of miles from Earth. “Up until four years ago, I think I may have lived the most boring life imaginable,” said Platonov, an archivist at the Katanov Khakass State University’s Institute of Philology, in Abakan. But that changed in 2005, after his father, Oleg, a caretaker at a local school and daycare centre, passed away and bequeathed his small house and yard to his only son. Before his death, Oleg had also mentioned a collection of items out in the backyard shed, just some things he had salvaged from the old school before it was torn down in 2002. The younger Platonov thought nothing of it at the time. But when Mikhail began to clear out the shed, he discovered some curious things: a waterproof steel case containing photographs of space asteroids and what appeared to be scientific documents. A box of ceramic tiles glazed in colourful designs, possibly forming a larger image on an outer-space theme. A few collector’s edition packages of Soviet postage stamps, decorated with rocket ships, cosmonauts and asteroids. And a half-dozen science-fiction novels penned by one Georgi F. Ouspenski. Platonov had never heard of Ouspenski. Platonov loaded the items in his car and drove from “Cherno” to Novosibirsk to have the cache assessed by a professional antique dealer. “The dealer told me the items were junk,” said Platonov. “But I don’t think he knew what he was talking about. Or maybe he did. He certainly mentioned it to someone, because as I found out, some people were definitely very interested in these objects.” To Mikhail Platonov’s amazement, just a week after his visit to the antique dealer, two secret service (FSB) agents turned up at his door asking questions. “They wanted to see the stuff from the shed and to ask what I knew about it. I showed them the items and let them take a bunch of photographs.” The agents then went on their way, but it was only the start of something much larger. There followed two years of interviews with FSB agents and other state officials. “I kept telling them I didn’t know anything—but I did actually learn a few things from some of the agents. For one thing, Platonov was shocked to learn that his small cache was all that remained of one of the most secret space programmes in Soviet history, which during the 1980s had run a series of manned and unmanned missions to the Gourganes Group, an obscure formation of space asteroids. For another, the demolished school where his father had worked was once the programme’s administrative headquarters. “It seems that after they cancelled the program and vacated the headquarters building, it was turned into a school. As caretaker, my father knew the building inside and out. I guess he found some stuff that the program administrators left behind.” One day, Platonov checked his calendar and realized it had been more than six months since he’d last talked with a government agent. “Maybe they just forgot about me. Or else they’re fine with me owning all this stuff. Either way, it seems to me that these are very historically important items, which need to be preserved. It’s an important piece of our history.” Asked what he planned to do to preserve the items, Platonov responded that he didn’t know just yet, but he’d had some enquiries from a historical foundation in Helsinki, Finland. “For now, I’ve been reading Ouspenski’s books. They’re quite good—all about cosmonauts flying out to these asteroids and meeting extraterrestrials who share with them all this secret knowledge about how the universe works. It’s absurd stuff, to be sure—but entertaining. And it does make me wonder about what the real cosmonauts were up to up there.” The Science-Fiction Novels of Georgi F. Ouspenski
Title: D Is for Deuterium
Rear-cover blurb: All of Alpha Centauri’s cleverest scientists will tell you: one neutron makes all the difference. Title: The Life Machine Rear-cover blurb: Cosmonaut Pyotr Karpov knew that the Vale of Maurus held many secrets—maybe even the secret of life itself. But to learn them, he would need to risk his own! Title: The Red Asteroid Rear-cover blurb: When Mission Commander Ovechkin ordered an emergency landing on the Red Asteroid, all kinds of possibilities ran through his mind. But he was not ready for what he found there … a workers’ paradise of a special kind! Title: Dionysius’ Dream, Apollo’s Nightmare Rear-cover blurb: Sometimes the worlds of material and dream overlap. In these conditions, advanced societies can emerge. But for the people in such societies, life can be a series of troubling bargains. Title: Goodbye, Comrade Zhirov Rear-cover blurb: With repairs to the spacecraft nearly complete, Zhirov’s safety cable gave way. “Help me, comrades!”, he called to them through the comms. But there was nothing they could do. The cosmonauts knew they would never see Zhirov again. Yet fate had a surprise in store… Title: Sixty Seconds to Landing Rear-cover blurb: Some people are unhappy with life. For them, sixty years is a very long time. But readers, if you dare to find out what it means to live a lifetime in just sixty seconds, open these pages… |
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