dcn@ihuxl.UUCP (Dave Newkirk) (11/26/84)
The December 1984 issue of Astronomy magazine contains an interesting article concerning the Soviet space program. Part fact and part speculation, the article presents the Soviet side of the race to the Moon. Some of the information has appeared in other sources, but this is the first time I have seen a comprehensive treatment of the Soviet Moon landing program. For example, in December 1968, a Zond spacecraft was manned for a launch two weeks before the Apollo 8 mission, but the Soviet launch was cancelled for unknown reasons. And again in July 1969, a Soviet booster exploded during a launch of an unmanned sample return mission, probably meant to beat Apollo 11 to the Moon. After years of hearing the Soviets say they never meant to send manned missions to the Moon, it's interesting to see what they were really working on. Dave Newkirk, ihnp4!ihuxl!dcn