Before his death he was officially identified only as "Glavny Konstruktor" ("Главный Конструктор"), or the "Chief Designer", to protect him from possible Cold War assassination attempts by the United States. Even some of the cosmonauts who worked with him were unaware of his last name; he only went by "Chief Designer." Only following his death in 1966 was his identity revealed and he received the appropriate public recognition as the driving force behind Soviet accomplishments in space exploration during and following the International Geophysical Year.