The Golovans (Russian: голованы, lit. "Headies") are a fictional alien race from the Noon Universe created by the Strugatsky brothers. Their homeworld is called Saraksh, allegedly discovered by A.-I. Bader in 2148 AD. The first contact between Golovans and a human was registered in 2157 (initiated by Maxim Kammerer) although officially it happened three years later in 2160 (see Lev Abalkin).
Golovans are mentioned in "Inhabited Island", "Beetle in an Anthill" and "The Time Wanderers".
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Golovans are described as a dog-like race with disproportionately large heads. The latter are the reason for their name.
Despite the Golovans' mental and intellectual abilities that easily surpass those of humans, they don't have even basic technology and prefer to use alien ones (although they can easily live without it).
Golovans are considered a lucky mutation of Saraksh fauna because of extreme radiation levels after the atomic war on Saraksh although some sources believe that they were genetically bred by the local humanity before the war. They resided within Saraksh's irradiated, heavily fortified "forest."
Because of the mystery Golovans like to surround themselves with, the first official contact between them and humans was registered twelve years after the discovery of their homeworld. A young scientist and progressor Lev Abalkin was the first to meet and to study them and he was also the only human to work in a pair with a Golovan, Schokn-Itrch. The latter later became the head of the Golovans' permanent embassy on Earth.
After the official contact a number of personal exchange programs were set up (Abalkin was a participant in one of those). Towards the end of the 22nd century, the Golovans decided that they had learned all they possibly could from space exploration and downscaled their involvement in human space programs.
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