Finding out how the different spacecrafts were made

[DanielGutierrez]

Homework Statement: Actually I'm in my last year of Material Engineer, and I have been asked to choose a topic for studying the evolution of the materials involved. With some emphasis on surface.
Homework Equations: ---

Hey everyone, I'm in my last year of Material Engineer, and I have been asked to choose a topic for studying the evolution of the materials involved. With some emphasis on surface. So I picked Spacecrafts, I tried to choose the "most important" ones in the history, and I have some problems to find which materials are involved and also the manufacture, maybe because of the space race...
So here is what I got,
For the first Sputnik I and II -> I found that was Aluminum 2024 T6 (http://asm.matweb.com/search/SpecificMaterial.asp?bassnum=MA2024T6)
Also, I found some sprays of EVA in the surface, and polish, for having a perfect mirror surface.
Apolo 11-> Easy on NASA web (https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/ spacecraft /display.action?id=1969-059A)
But with Vostok I and VI -> First man and woman on space. I can't find anything.

So I would be very grateful if you can tell me where I can search for good information, maybe the problem is that the information isn't in English and I need to search on Russian webs...
Thank you all!

 

[mfb]

US spacecraft will certainly be easier. There are more US spacecraft you can study.
Starship should be an interesting case. Polished steel for orbital re-entry is an unconventional choice.

 

[scottdave]

I was thinking along the same lines as @mfb . Maybe just do a history of specifications within the United States programs. You should have a nice timeline of materials choices (and why they were chosen at the time).