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Soviet top secret space project gets second life

Published: 20 July, 2009, 19:30

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TAGS: Space, Russia, SciTech


When Neil Armstrong became the first human to walk on the Moon forty years ago, the US took a decisive lead in the space race against the USSR. But decades after, Soviet space engines are selling in the US.

Once the USSR had launched the first satellite and sent the first person into space, Soviet space ambitions rocketed and it turned its attention to the Moon.

Encouraged by previous triumphs, few in the Soviet Union doubted that this round of the space race between the two superpowers would also be won by the USSR. Many believed that a Soviet cosmonaut would be the first man on the Moon.

The best engineers from all over the Union worked day and night to make this dream come true.

With the N-1 Lunar rocket, the USSR’s plans became more realistic.

The spacecraft was one of the most top secret projects, and was designed to carry cosmonauts to the Moon.

The rocket’s heart – its engines – rolled off the construction line at a plant in Samara, in Russia’s Volga region, years before America’s Apollo 11 blasted off.

But the Apollo 11 mission won the race, landing on the Moon in July, 1969.

With America's success and the death of Sergey Korolev, “the father of the Soviet space program”, the Soviet’s lunar dream was literally buried.

Over the years there have been many conspiracy theories surrounding the moon U.S. landing. But they shouldn't be taken seriously, according to cosmonaut Aleksey Leonov, the first man ever to perform a space walk.

“Our team was watching closely how Americans were landing on the moon. So I swear, it's not fake. And we all were keeping our fingers crossed watching American astronauts because we wanted them to succeed,” Aleksey Leonov told RT.

In the mid 1970s, the Soviet Moon program was cancelled and several specially-designed engines were supposed to be destroyed. But the head of Samara’s construction bureau, Nikolay Kuznetsov, didn’t obey the order and decided to save them. He risked his career and could even have been arrested for his actions.

NK-33 engines have been kept in an underground storage for more than 20 years.

“There was a suggestion to display these engines at an exhibition, and one of them was shown. Everyone was surprised at how advanced they were, even 20 years later,” says museum director Natalya Aladieva.

Seventeen years ago, an American company purchased the first lot of Russia’s Soviet space engines.

“This engine is one of the best ever made in Russia. There are also price and production period benefits to consider. There are already a hundred of these engines in the world, and they need to be used. And the price benefit is in that they only require to be revived and adjusted to the spacecraft they are made for,” explains Valery Danilchenko, Motorostroitel plant chief constructor.

Today, the plant’s chief constructor says, full-scale negotiations are underway between Russia and the US to strengthen space co-operation.

“As the United States needs dozens of engines, and we don't have that many ready-made engines, we offered to start a joint venture in Russia. In the next few days we are going to hand over their part of the business plan and consider it at the top level of our companies, and maybe even at governmental level,” Valery Danilchenko adds.

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William July 30, 2009, 22:00
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“Our team was watching closely how Americans were landing on the moon. So I swear, it's not fake. And we all were keeping our fingers crossed watching American astronauts because we wanted them to succeed,” Aleksey Leonov told RT. Back then the compitition between our countries pushed us to succeed. Some was good, some was bad. But the quote from Leonov shows the sportsmanship that existed between professionals doing a job never done before and full of danger. While I was in school we kept up with the MIR space station and the amazing fixes the cosmonauts used to keep it going. All without lead or water to shield them no less. I watch our shuttle launches and watch the astronaut interviews and many, many of them point back to Sputnik as the reason they looked to the stars and dreamed of being in space. They give credit where it is due. Some people, on the other hand, would rather use crackpot conspiracy theories to mask their own bitterness and hatred of the USA and its moon landing. Poor sportsmanship indeed.

Wil Tracer July 28, 2009, 11:24
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A growing number of people do not believe Apollo took men to the moon and back. Having been on both sides of the argument, I was swayed by the overwhelming evidence that it was indeed a hoax. The belief in the moon landings of Apollo grows out of lack of understanding two things: history and the use of propaganda. The 'Cold War', as we know it was not real but contrived by the globalists. Doing deep research, one finds several problems with the notion that the U.S. and the Soviets were really at odds. Here are two examples of many. General Patton was murdered by the combined efforts of the O.S.S. (precursor to the CIA) and Soviet intelligence operatives. This has been borne out with great detail and over 10 years of research in a book titled TARGET PATTON. Patton wanted to fight the Soviets, but he would in fact ruin the chances of the military industrial complex to make billions off of arms sales. Patton wanted to bring the U.S. troops home from the U.S.S.R., but these 20,000 men were to be sacrificed in labor camps and who knows what else under the hands of Stalin. Behind the scenes, the intelligence communities of the world work hand in hand towards the globalist agenda. This was no different during the 'Cold War'.

Wil Tracer July 28, 2009, 11:22
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A second example is the plans for a joint U.S.-Soviet moon trip. Two months before he was assassinated, JFK announced his plan to join with the U.S.S.R. in going to the moon together. He did so at the United Nations. This would end both the cold war and the space race (both manufactured fakes). The Russian scientists at the very top knew that space travel was impossible due to the high levels of radiation, unless HEAVY lead or water shielding was used. The Soviets at the top helped cover up the hoax, because they stood to gain billions in arms production, and perhaps were threatened by the U.S. or bribed to conceal the truth. Much more can be learned of this, but above all it is important to note that both the citizens of the U.S. and the former U.S.S.R. continue to be deceived by their respective governments. Propaganda has been used on all of us. We saw the landings on T.V., and it was celebrated. We gained an emotional attachment to something which cannot be proven. Watch the film Did We Go? by Aron Ranen, or Astronauts Gone Wild by AFTH, LLC. It's very difficult, in fact impossible to prove that Apollo took men to the moon. But it's much more simple to prove we did not go, when we examine primary film and whistle blower evidence. Cheers.