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The Space Race
What If... the Russians got to the Moon first?
In 1961 President Kennedy famously committed the United States to landing a manned spacecraft on the Moon "before this decade is out". Eight years later, Neil Armstrong was the first human to stand on another world, acknowledging: "That's one small step for (a) man, one giant leap for mankind".
Imagine if those words had been spoken in Russian.
At the time of Kennedy's announcement to Congress the idea of a man landing on the moon was a dream. Neither the Americans nor the Soviets then had the technology nor the delivery systems to achieve the desired result. It was a gamble which considerably upped the ante, committing both superpowers to inordinate expense: arguably a big bang that ended in a whimper.
But what if the Soviets had got to the moon first?
We hear how the Soviets arguably had a much more serious attitude to space than the Americans. It's plausible that they would have created a lunar station, and considered manned missions to Mars.
Sergei Korolev, the impressive head of the Russian space effort died in 1966 whilst having his haemorroids operated on. Had he lived, he might well have given the States a run for their money.
Next Week:
What If... Alexander the Great had gone West not East?
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photo: Jerry Bauer
Professor Christopher Andrew of Cambridge University asks what if major turning points in history had taken a different turn. By altering a single plausible fact, he re-examines the events of the day. The result is always thought-provoking, and refreshes our memories of what did actually happen. In suggesting an alternative history, we can reflect on how extraordinary it is that things did indeed happen in the way they did. |
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to the 3 April 2003 programme