wormyguy
Banned
In December 1968, the Soviet Union had its last opportunity to attempt to beat the United States to a manned circumnavigation of the moon. A Proton rocket was readied at Baikonur, and a crew was prepared to perform the mission. However, the Soviet authorities decided against it at the last minute, given the horrible record of test moon circumnavigations with the Proton - 10 of 11 test launches failed or resulted in the death of their biological payloads, and none would have been survivable for humans. That turned out to be a good decision, as when that very rocket was launched, it too was a failure.
However, what if the Soviets had decided to be reckless and attempted the launch?
What would have been the implications of a failure, and especially what would have been the implications of a successful mission, several days before the Americans launched Apollo 8?
However, what if the Soviets had decided to be reckless and attempted the launch?
What would have been the implications of a failure, and especially what would have been the implications of a successful mission, several days before the Americans launched Apollo 8?