Cosmic Propaganda

The Soviet Space program... in stamps

On July 21, 1969, astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin prepared to lift off from Tranquility Base on the surface of the Moon. Their journey was the culmination of years of work and billions of dollars in spending. The astronauts’ journey had captivated the world and would be trumpeted as a triumph of American ingenuity, capitalism, and democracy. It was the climax of the Space Race, a blow from which the Soviet space program would never recover and a feat that NASA would never be able to match.

I’m sure you knew all that. But did you know that, at the very moment Aldrin and Armstrong were preparing for liftoff, another craft plowed into the surface of the Moon, only 350 miles away from Tranquility Base? This was Luna 15, an unmanned Soviet probe designed to land on the Moon, collect some samples, and fly back to Earth.

Luna 15 had been launched ahead of Apollo 11 in an attempt to bring material back from the Moon before the Americans could, although even the leaders of the Soviet…