Neck and Neck

NECK AND NECK

The pace of the race to the Moon quickened in late 1968 as both the Soviets and the Americans strove to land there first.

1968
September	Soviet Zond 5 unmanned test flight loops around Moon and returns to Earth.
October	U.S. Apollo 7 manned test flight of command and service modules in Earth orbit. Unmanned Zond 6 circumlunar flight.
December	Soviet manned flight to Moon canceled after October Zond problems. Apollo 8 crew orbits Moon and returns safely.
1969
February	Soviet attempt to launch N-1 Moonrocket fails.
March	Apollo 9 test of lunar module in Earth orbit.
May	Apollo 10 test flight of lunar module, descent from lunar orbit to low altitude above Moon.
July	Second Soviet N-1 launch failure. Launch of Luna 15 lander for robotic collection and return of Moon rocks (crashed). Apollo 11 crew succeeds in first landing on the Moon.

ALMOST THERE

The end of the Moon Race appeared imminent with the successful completion of the Apollo 8 and Apollo 10 missions.

In a suspenseful first foray, the crew of Apollo 8 looped around the Moon in December 1968. They were the first people to see "Earthrise." Five months later, the Apollo 10 crew went into lunar orbit and tested the lunar module in a partial descent to the Moon.

These missions built confidence that the United States was ready to proceed with the lunar landing. The big question was what the Soviets were planning to do.

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NASA#: AS8-14-2383

A FINAL SOVIET GAMBIT

When it became evident after the second N-1 rocket launch failure that the U.S.S.R. could not send a man to the Moon ahead of the Americans, the Soviets attempted to obtain the first lunar rock and soil samples, sending a robot instead of a cosmonaut.

Luna 15, an automated sample return craft, was launched to the Moon two days before Apollo 11. It crash-landed there shortly after U.S. astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin first stepped onto the Moon. If the Luna 15 lander had not crashed, it would have returned to Earth with lunar soil just hours ahead of the Apollo 11 crew.

headlines mentioning both Apollo 11 and Luna 15

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