Soviets land first or also land on the moon with the intent of creating a moon base gap.What, if anything, might have made moon bases an established thing by now?
no offence but how is that going to get a moon base? the moon simply wasn't exploitable at the time, and really isn't that exploitable now as it is much cheaper to source said items here.Nixon listen to his transition team advisor, Nobel Prize (laser inventor) Charles Townes, in Janaury 1969, and Apollo does not stop. What help would be a Zond circumlunar shot before Apollo 8; plus a successfull Luna 15 in July 1969 bringing samples before Apollo 11.
I think the first question was if when Apollo 11 lands on moon or subsequent landings they discover huge veins of precious metals, platinum and rare earths