Inside the Soviets' failed moon program

Fascinating pictures

An interesting article, but those opening sentences are a little misleading. Matt Hardigree might wish to improve his research in future. I would argue the phrase landed the probe Luna 2 on the surface of the moon Impacted with the moon would be more accurate, the spacecraft was destroyed when it hit the moon. If that is Mr Hardigree's definition of a landing then I for one am glad he is not an airline pilot (although it is a job he would have for only one flight I suspect). The first landing was actually with Luna 9 in 1966. I would also dispute the phrase Soviet scientists were well ahead of... [More]

An interesting article, but those opening sentences are a little misleading. Matt Hardigree might wish to improve his research in future. I would argue the phrase Impacted with the moon would be more accurate, the spacecraft was destroyed when it hit the moon. If that is Mr Hardigree's definition of a landing then I for one am glad he is not an airline pilot (although it is a job he would have for only one flight I suspect). The first landing was actually with Luna 9 in 1966. I would also dispute the phrase Ahead yes, but well ahead??? By mentioning the fact that the Soviets achieved lunar orb... [More]

With the myth of a huge Soviet superiority in the early days of space exploration being perpetuated to this day (often, as in this case, as the result of poor research), is it any wonder that this fallacy is so often repeated by those that believe that Apollo was a hoax? To be fair to the author he did say the Soviets were ahead "before" JFK declared the moon race was on. So that would be pre-September 1962. Up until then, the Soviets had some notable firsts: 1957: First satellite, Sputnik 1 1957: First animal to enter Earth orbit, the dog Laika on Sputnik 2 1959: First firing of a rocket in E... [More]

In Soviet Russia, moon lands on you!