... Sir, Maxim Vadisiavovich Tarasenko, a leading Russian independent space researcher was killed by a hit-and-run driver in May. ... In 1992, he published his ground-breaking book Military Aspects of the Soviet Cosmonautics - the first ever independent Russian study on the Soviet military programmes, which immediately became a best-seller and was sought by Russian-speaking space and weapons experts all round the world. ... US National Air & Space Museum . Volunteer Researcher . ...