WI: America claims the Moon?

[Emperor Norton I]

Correct me if I'm but the entire treaty was something the US wanted and had a huge hand in fostering. With setbacks in the space programs, and overestimation in the Soviet space program, Johnson feared the Soviets might reach the moon before the US, and lay claim to it. Johnson was afraid the Soviets wouldn't sign it, which they blissfully did in the end because they knew they would likely not reach the moon.

 

[danwild6]

Correct me if I'm but the entire treaty was something the US wanted and had a huge hand in fostering. With setbacks in the space programs, and overestimation in the Soviet space program, Johnson feared the Soviets might reach the moon before the US, and lay claim to it. Johnson was afraid the Soviets wouldn't sign it, which they blissfully did in the end because they knew they would likely not reach the moon.

I guess what we need is better American intelligence on the Soviet space program and/or no Apollo 1 disaster.

 

[Bill Cameron]

I guess what we need is better American intelligence on the Soviet space program and/or no Apollo 1 disaster.

Dan,

I don't really know about the effects of no Apollo 1 disaster, perhaps just a bigger disaster later, so Truth is Life is your best bet in answering that one.

Regarding better US intelligence regarding the Soviet moon program, even if Korolyov himself was making daily phone calls to the Oval Office with updates any US intelligence regarding the Soviet moon program would only echo the Soviets' own beliefs that their program was in the race.

It wasn't until the two failed N-1 launches occurred in 1969 that the USSR secretly gave up on a moon landing and even then there was some testing of various components in Earth orbit as late as the early 70s.


Bill