watching g.w. news live from berlin i'm next peiser coming up next red moon rising a film about russia's secret lunar program and its spectacular failure don't forget you can get all the latest news from around the world our web site at state of the dot com thanks for your company and see just. unity and justice and freedom the 1st words of the german national anthem and the 3 central values that the foundation of this country have these failures developed in 1st war during. our german it starts oct 21st on t w. pictures

of moscow's moon rocket images that were to be among the soviet union's most closely guarded state secrets. and pictures of cars minot's training for a moon landing in the so-called star city near moscow the soviet union was determined to beat the united states in the race to put a man on the moon a race that would cost russian and american lives. the russians had always set the pace but in the end they ultimately lost the 20th century's most prestigious race.

opened in 1957 baikonur cosmodrome was moscow's gateway to the stars. after the launch of several sputnik satellites and unmanned moon probes in the late 1950 s. the whole world assumed that the soviets would also be using baikonur to send cosmonauts to the moon. there were certainly concrete plans but nothing was leaked there were no official statements nothing to indicate the soviet union's plans step of. all decisions on the space program were classified top secret including the moon program. or my program in fact if you browse the newspapers of this time you won't find anything not even iraq the plans for the unmanned probes were for their war nor

america. nowhere did it indicate we were working on moon projects or the. morning of the. secrecy was the order of the day there were no preliminary briefings before the moon probes in 1959 nothing was to be revealed until the sensational mission was complete. sergei cuttle yoffe the father of the soviet union space triumphs had been wondering for some time how to approach a moon landing was. images from early soviet science fiction films inspired the imaginations of moonstruck rocket men like.

one already let it go the way he said to me then in 25 years man will be on the moon. i said no that science fiction maybe it will happen someday but we want to experience it. and he said it will happen and our lifetime. is that the put in that. but the vision of landing on the moon was still pure speculation perhaps simply outlandish dreams coverly of realized that he needed a completely new rocket and a convincing argument. his legendary r 7 sputnik carrier rockets was too weak to transport people to the moon but he hadn't even started yet is next triumph came in 1961 with you what he got in the 1st man in space. the kremlin

boss was delighted with the coup whereas sputnik success had shocked the americans they got in flight humiliated them. just a few days after the soviet triumph president kennedy announced a bold some said foolhardy plan you're american and abroad. i believe. the minute. we're hearing the goal. of landing a man on the mall and returning him safely to the year. there was no official reaction from the kremlin but soviet leader nikita khrushchev called in missed his love kell the president of the soviet academy of sciences and asked him how serious kennedy was. to go with the go go. kill this reply or that this was a serious statement. and that the americans were highly capable but that he didn't

believe they would reach their goal by the end of the decade. or their god in any case he said we were ready to take on such a challenge either khrushchev said well then we must think about it what no more. so while it wasn't yet clear what the kremlin leader would decide it was clear that the us program would soak up huge resources and any soviet moonshot would cost at least as much. was very torn did he want to could he even invest so much in such a vague project. he was ready to be forced. to swallow when me but if you will have a bad 1000000000 have been of the bin to. me that got a little. bit give the. go forward.

the richer the kimberley. white hole of thought but also competition at that time was complete dition over the but ducked. mail but and meet. you think it's city. who view the forest for the serious. problem or for agriculture was in a very bad state there was almost a famine the problem had to be solved the problem. the fabric of the socialist economy was starting to unravel production plants were falling behind and there were widespread shortages of many come artie's agriculture was failing even after the major maize planting campaign ordered by khrushchev himself a campaign that prompted germany's newsmagazine desh to ask in 1962 maize or the

moon. by that time kennedy had already inspected a mock up of the apollo space ship. the u.s. was forging ahead while the soviets hadn't decided whether to join the race at all let alone whether they could afford it. at the vienna summit a year earlier the u.s. president had twice offered to work together with the soviets to send a man to the moon. whether he meant it seriously or not khrushchev twice said yet. back home near moscow the rocket men were already in the starting blocks and raring to go the kremlin's refusal to commit left them frustrated and angry. but chief designer left no stone unturned in his attempts to persuade the kremlin boss to change his mind. was it. here

but was he afraid of official but i would read it carlo. told here where boat store is. totally of knew quite well how to sell his moon project he promised that the armed forces would be able to use the . technology afterwards which made the project seem relatively inexpensive but that was a lie. 1962 finally brought the 1st ray of hope. was told to come up with more precise plans for his in one moon rocket. meanwhile his r 7 rocket was knocking up new records and creating new heroes for public consumption tito's. nikolayev and in the summer of 63 valentina tereshkova the 1st woman in space. but colonel yobs moon landing project

continue to lose ground to the americans the teams at the baikonur cosmodrome were ready and waiting for their marching orders which didn't come. their u.s. challengers were baffled they'd been flying espionage missions since the 1950 s. and had assumed the soviets would not let them win without a fight. despite planes had been monitoring the r 7 launch facility since the outset and it was thought that a moon shot could not be launched from there. often the cia's analysts couldn't believe their eyes. the thing about it go with the satellites or you are saying the same thing about iraq 3rd 4th and that that you have to if you're down or constructing something.

you've got to do it well because we've got are. but the u.s. just couldn't find anything there was simply no evidence of a lunar program. then in 1964 they saw a lot of new activity and construction sites at baikonur. it was the 1st indication that moscow was planning something bigger after all. in fact the construction work had been running at full speed since august when khrushchev had finally given the green light for a manned moon mission. soviet cars minot's would be working around the clock from then on. movement of emus just we had 24 hour shifts sometimes we couldn't go home for several weeks but we slept at work on the tables not covered with a fur jacket and with a cap under our heads. but in my granny's after the birth of my 1st child

i couldn't pick my wife up from the hospital because i knew i had to work. through this thing. and we had to make a lot of sacrifices you know. but i still look back on this time as the happiest time of my life. the kremlin had decreed that colonel ya would deliver the new n one moon rocket by 966 but everyone knew that was just an illusion. in fact there is much to suggest that the race to the moon had been lost before it had even be got. not only because the americans were 3 years ahead. but also because of valentino. the gifted engineer had worked for coral yard for years but now refused to continue developing engines for him. a brutal power struggle between

2 alpha males had begun. oh i don't know what in there mile the main culprit here wasn't car off but groups go. mainly due to his difficult character. glasgow thought rather highly of him self. and because of his character was unwilling to compromise. at one meeting in moscow the 2 almost came to blows in front of those present not even the kremlin leader himself could reconcile the squabbling technocrats it was an argument neither could win and a fatal disaster for the soviets moon program. the dispute was triggered by the question as to whether carly often would be prepared to use those new engines which made use of some highly toxic components.

ever since a devastating missed launch of a military missile had killed more than 100 people including some of his staff cardiod had been convinced that engines were too dangerous for the launch stages of manned moon missiles. the images he had witnessed of the inferno had left deep scars in karl yoest mind he was convinced that a false start would result. in more deaths. so he needed to find someone else to build the engines for him even though there was actually no replacement for klitschko in the end the contract went to nicole like his next of a designer who had previously only worked in the aircraft industry. but i look told off i will do with the cruise missile was his hope was not new car was one of the best designers but he with the best jet engine does a. good receivers and he will fly the best that id.

card design will though you will build the cruise ship. it will take when he will do it or maybe for will he will never do it. those weren't the best conditions for a race where your competitor has been steadily working through its test program for the last 3 years. each component would be tested until everything worked perfectly the soviets needed americal. but i don't. want to believe that. if it will be the part of this competition that he would remove kind of a bit was and what if you think that you will fail. not that i know my dear with you or go. for us absolutely convinced that the moon landing would work through did it at the end it was also convinced he would experience it himself. not his powers

of persuasion or so great that we believed it too. as long as calling off was a lie or there was no doubt in our minds that the 7 in your body of work with. chief designer sergei carly off had to be both magician and manager carlo fortune. could in fact everyone with his enthusiasm the people surrounding him or his true disciples. my of of you would have given your life for him. the wall which gobble up why it was he could have been a divisional commander to go back where will our leader was or he was a real leader that's what they say a leader urgent when you're ready. people followed him they believed in him

unconditionally. they thought he was doing everything right. despite all the sec backs and allays the soviet lunar program slowly got going in 1965 and exactly on of was the 1st man to float freely in space. a space walk outside the orbiting was cut spacecraft was an important step on the way to the moon. landings were obviously progressing. sunni cia reconnaissance aircraft were also monitoring the construction of the huge new hangar in baikonur where the n one moon rocket was due to be assembled although they could only assume that that is what it was meant for the americans still had no contacts or sources in the

inner esle non's of soviet power. thousands of soviet workers and technicians were forbidden to speak about the new moon rocket. everything was kept strictly under wraps. and in what little skull that we were under constant pressure from the k.g.b. group if we went on vacation and didn't tell anyone we were censored as a young kids. if you were traveling on the train and you went to the restaurant car to have dinner or just to sit and talk. with a cagey minder would come up to you these days maybe after half an hour they tap you on the shoulder and tell you it was time you went back to your seat and this is . the new anyone moon rocket was bigger than anything the soviets had built before. the 1st stage had

a diameter of 7000 meters but they had no way of transporting such a colossus. so they decided to build it on site which also meant the vast hangar had to be located right next to the launch pad. it was a big investment that would eat into the already tight budget with sometimes fatal consequences. especially for the ground testing of the new rocket. that had to do more with that of the board we had big problems with the equipment on the ground it was your worth and fortunately the entire ground preparation for the flights especially the ground testing of all space here wasn't carried out as normally it should have been your. if you want to be successful you have to carry out the soil tests properly that. there were some test

beds but no money for the new ones necessary to complete testing of the 1st stage no money no test beds no test of a gigantic 1st stage that was a new situation for all concerned a kind of intergalactic russian roulette. but everyone drew a cloak of silence over any difficulties. the cia was watching as best it could and trying to make sense out of what it was seeing it wasn't just the huge assembly hangar that had now caught its eye but also a big new construction site that suggested a new launch pad bigger than any before. we saw the parable. of the hole in the center we measured it and that was 50 feet. and this obviously was

a big enough for they were pretty certain. that this missile was a big one. the analysts put together drawings and 3 d. models from the shadows cast on the ground as a way of estimating the size of structures. it quickly became clear that this launch facility was for a rocket roughly the same size as the american saturn 5. the saturn 5 was already quite well advanced. the engine tests were almost complete the launch vehicle was well on schedule as was the apollo spacecraft itself. carl young's team. on the other hand was way behind their competitors as well as

their own deadlines. the engines were still the big problem too weak to unreliable and too many 30 of them in the 1st stage alone. that was not monogamous we knew that using so many engines would make the whole thing unreliable for sure so when you have sucked but we had no other solution at the time for us here we lack the necessary technical and experimental know how we simply did not have the necessary resources. no the source says. it's not just the moon rocket that was causing problems they hadn't even started thinking about the moon capsule. there weren't even any models of it it was only on paper. but carl young remained optimistic. and walked the creditor didn't. prescribe your lordship he was able to motivate his employees he

could appear at the plant in the middle of the night and say. we have to work we have to be the 1st and i saw that the boss was with him and so they worked hard and put their heart and soul into it. he was able to inspire and organize large collectives. he always knew what he wanted and how to achieve it you know what you've got now that you're. writing to the new kremlin chief leonid brezhnev in 1965 he guaranteed the soviet union would carry out a moon landing by 968. knew he had to keep the kremlin rulers happy. but he also knew that a manned lunar mission was still a long way off. for a little bill. and 30000 for his very tense and very hard during this time score

one vostok you know he didn't like a lot of what was going on. with a rival he felt things weren't going the where they should or he was irritable and very disciplined. but they're very new just a pretty unit. but the chief designer didn't give up they've been making progress in spite of all the difficulties. but then fate intervened on january 14th 1966 courage of went into the hospital for a routine procedure. the minister of health was to perform the operation himself. partly if they're also careful minister of health pitofsky had a good relationship with my father. he thought he should treat a man of such social standing himself that's why he performed the operation he was actually a good surgeon. careful. but carli of didn't survive the operation.

there gaper i was going to sergei probably overage probably of died because of the failure of our doctors he. came our beers that there were not only disasters with missiles but also with people. the next day karl your body was laid in state in the moscow colum hall his cosmonauts forming an honor guard their chief designer the man responsible for all their cosmic trials sergei puzzle of each call young at last became known to the public. his portrait on the kremlin wall was the 1st time most people had set eyes on this little known hero of the soviet union. and at last the americans found out who had humiliated them so often in the early years of the space race. but there was no word of

a successor nothing had been decided. that with the. korea death was completely unexpected. the owner was. hard to find someone to match his personality quickly move them in that they're for karloff was simply irreplaceable in many ways. though is their game is slipping and. in one fell swoop the soviet moonshot had lost its visionary its clever manager with the links to the kremlin its great motivator and its driving force by stealing machine was appointed the new chief designer. but what peter was interested in. when your he was his deputy who else could it have been in your book glory but he did not have coddled you off the authority he was a very weak personality. which you were issues.

will stop at least sheen was a weak leader recorders for them and there was another thing he also had a drinking problem but the more shocking the welcome. within just a few weeks of taking office however the new chief designer had already knocked up his 1st success the luna 9 probe made the 1st ever soft landing on the moon surface and sent back the 1st sensational photos. the next leap forward came just weeks later when luna 10 became the 1st satellite to take up a moon orbit. internet synoptic a bit hard to lay down the drive from the moon's orbit is. a great moment at the 23rd party congress of the communist party of the soviet union. work on the actual lunar landing program may have been hitting snags but it wasn't meant for the

headlines anyway. the top secret project was still in the running. lunar cosmonauts. were already being recruited no one was supposed to know how well trained the cosmonauts already were these are secret pictures from lunar landing training. the moon landing in star city near moscow was going perfectly according to plan. but all activity was indoors out of sight of the u.s. spy planes. u.s. intelligence was still focusing on baikonur although there was still nothing to suggest that a moon shot would be soaring over the steps of cousins done any time soon. the launch vehicle was far from ready.

the americans could breathe easier especially as the apollo program already seemed to be on the homestretch they were aiming to launch the new spacecraft in 1967 virgil gus grissom edward white and roger chaffee were carrying out final tests on january 27th the crew knew there were issues with the craft. mere seconds after mission control heard the words we've got a fire in the cockpit the astronauts were dead. the tragedy was a huge setback. the u.s. space program suddenly ground to a complete standstill. yet. it gave the soviets a chance to make up some lost ground just a week after the apollo disaster the kremlin adopted a decree on the national importance of soviet lunar programs. spurred on by both

new hope and new pressure to perform work on the soyuz spacecraft was accelerated it was a central component of the moon landing. docking training continued in the simulator . but then came the launch order even though the new spacecraft wasn't fully ready . leadin me a come out off on his way to his soyuz spacecraft just 3 months after the apollo one accident come out off was to be launched into space his companions tried to cheer him up but despite the fact that all 3 unmanned test flights had failed before he was making a manned flight with the new spaceship carl yoffe had always stipulated that manned flights could only take place after 3 successful unmanned flights his successor machine over ruled him. no we could have it was a new spaceship and

a new chief designer they wanted to show that even death wouldn't stop us. with a show. of it at sales it's not everything went smoothly when we were preparing for the launch was a feeling there were a lot of complaints from technicians and engineers. it was aboard ship of the same and some more pretty serious. but the new chief designer was prepared to take any risks and overruled the objections of his staff. will come out all come out of shouldn't have started it all but official i tried everything to make sure the launch did not go ahead and. i contacted all my superiors with a including the head of launch preparation i said to him we can't do this and he

said to me a lot of this is a decision of the central committee of the party as if we could do anything about it. there was no point in trying anymore. the big chance to finally make up lost ground in the race to the moon was too tempting. and again fate took its course. the launch sequence continued without any problems reported that everything was fine and going to plan . but then one of the 2 sons sales failed and the energy supply started to break down. was was the launch was aborted. then came disaster soyuz once parachute system failed and the space pod smashed into the

ground. stops there was basically nothing left in. his body he was vaporized and burned. forgot there were some photos that were terrible because there was almost nothing left to see there was practically nothing left at all if everything had been burnt to a crisp and. your and your thoughts are kishka. the secret pictures wouldn't be seen for decades. but there were some official pictures and news. circle slews are concerned we only reported big successes or big tragedies you for sure got to get.

the reports didn't mention that the soviet union's 1st dead cause may not have been a victim of its moon program. the actual purpose of the mission was also kept dark. nothing was said about the moon program or the cancellation of the soyuz 2 mission which had been due to take place a day after comaroff lunch and dock with him later a crucial maneuver on the way to the moon. but in baikonur work on the lunar rocket continued slowly. all the launch schedules were scrapped. new problems were constantly cropping up with the n one rocket clearly loves problematic brainchild many in the program now had doubts. rocket unless if you're going to argue the end one moon rocket was very

complicated and required far too many engines. yes carol yes had lived he would have been fired a few months later anyway. that was how it was. we had reached the limits of the technology. is it worth. everything carl yoffe did was great unfortunately even his mistakes this is in the end one was college golf faulty design. the kurdish national cricketer. no one knew when the mammoth moon rocket would finally be towed from the hangar to the launch site then finally at the end of 1967 it was time to roll out the soviet super booster. in a ceremony prior to launch the crimean sparkling wine replaced the traditional bottle of champagne to send the vessel on its initial voyage. the spectacle wasn't

lost on the american observers on december 11th 1967 they managed to get their 1st photo of the giant and one rock and we had it nailed down we watched that baby and i couldn't get over how big it was it was just like a big cone. and we spotted it and. always saw it on the pad and then we saw the effects or are sure that. when that thing went off it just tore the hell out of it. they called the end one big mother as well as jaybird because it was being assembled on launch site j. . but what they had actually photographed was just a dummy to train the launch team on ramp procedures it was the same size that had all the fittings that the original had it just didn't fly. another jaybird was sighted on a launch pad in september 1968 but there was still

a long way to go to the actual take off in june the cia had predicted that the soviets would not be able to make a moon landing before mid 1971 it seemed they were right. the lunar landing program was still stuck firmly on the ground. the kremlin summoned leading scientists and politicians to a crisis meeting in moscow at the beginning of january 1969. the americans had just entered the homestretch with their apollo 8 lunar orbit the moon seemed close enough to touch the race almost over. the decisive apollo 11 flight was scheduled for summer 969. design a machine came under renewed pressure to finally get the n one airborne and although he was almost resigned to failure the launch date was

now slowly approaching. in mid february 1994 locomotives towed the colossus towards the ramp on 2 tracks. on february 21st the long awaited countdown began. the boosters were ready to. but u.s. intelligence missed it the air. ignition. the m one lifts off the 30 engines in the 1st stage straining at their limits for week as through the rubble never thing was huge. when the rocket began to lift off. everything within a radius of 5 kilometers. everything rattled and trembled we were filming the start from a long way off and we were very excited and dance. then you were to stay on your

bull fight the rockets launched player was almost 3 times as long as the rocket itself and were a 300 metre long torch that shone a long way. to. 51 seconds then there was an explosion in the 1st stage. nevertheless the launch team still seemed confident. like it or the ship was a missile or exploded but no one saw it as a catastrophe yet everyone was optimistic that the rocket would fly the next time you would be sol the 2nd flight was prepared for you. just 5 months before the american scheduled apollo 11 launch the soviets were relaxed and optimistic preparations for the 2nd attempt were already underway in june.

the cia knew what was going on this time and were able to warn the us president in advance about the jaybirds forthcoming launch in by canoe on. july 3rd 1969 countdown for the 2nd takeoff attempt. at. this time the 105 metre high colossus only managed to get a few meters off the ground before the engines shut down again the 1st stage had failed i am the entire launch site was wrecked the only thing left working was the escape route. that one was. there we watched it and then. we saw the aftereffects of but then burst on the flames and here you can clearly see the

burn area you can see the powerful plates of them knocked down. it was a rude awakening from the dream of space flight. a few days later neil armstrong and buzz aldrin stepped onto the moon surface and sealed america's victory nearly 400000 kilometers from earth. the unofficial race to the moon was over the soviet union had lost. the boy i forget both were in that if my father had not died in 1966 perhaps we would not have handed the moon to the americans. or now that it. mighty moon rocket never managed to overcome earth's gravity the soviets made several more attempts the final one in 1972 lasting exactly 107 seconds

until again the 1st stage exploded. the final end came in 1974 all documents relating to the moon program were destroyed on orders from on high. as silently and secretly as it came into the world the n one disappeared the remains of the gigantic rocket landed on the scrap heap of history some parts gave playgrounds a futuristic look other parts were converted into pics dies. only the insiders still know the stories connected with the scrap metal and many still firmly believe that the soviet union could have won the race to the moon if call you all of hadn't died so early if bush had made more of an effort or if the kremlin hadn't been so has a tent. that's a whole lot of ifs but history has never been written and what if.

the melting arctic. and spitsbergen the temperature is rising 15 times faster than anywhere else in the world researchers here are observing the effects of climate change firsthand. in other words one fish i've been working here for 20 years and i've seen how things have changed it makes me sad to fish because it's just in the. 90 minutes on d w. a

city in ruins murong a. symbol of a long conflict in the philippines between the muslims and the christian population last miles fighters occupied the city center in 2017 president of church's response was told. by little. it will never regain full color of. conquest turned into tragedy is not the kind of freedom that we want. how did we become a gateway to islamist terror. an exclusive report from a destroyed city. philippines in the sights of ah yes starts october 24th on d w. this

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