as part of an annual event to call for the protection of ancient grazing routes that are being threatened by urbanization a protest is now in its 13th yeah. and watching data news up next a documentary red moon rising the soviet union's secret luna plan i'm rebecca races in the land from me and the entire team thanks for. the mail and under the ground news a delusion. is personal devices the topics that affect us all. climate change in the return of. only reinforces check out.

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 and 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 the road in the gulf or the all decisions on the space program were classified top secret including the moon program. or their 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 the war nor america. nowhere did we were working on my own projects. 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 cuddle 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 cut off.

one or rather let it go the way he said to me then and 25 years man will be on the moon. i said no that science fiction well maybe it will happen someday but we want to experience that and he said it will happen and our lifetime is that the pigeon 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 his 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 sunset full hearty clad american enterprise. i believe that this nation should commit it. would seem to go on for that. landing a man in the morning and returning him safely to the year. there was no official reaction from the kremlin but soviet leader nikita khrushchev called and missed his love kell desh president of the soviet academy of sciences and asked him how serious kennedy was. to go with the go go. to the video killed 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 the khrushchev said well then we must think about what the where . so while it wasn't yet clear what the kremlin leader would decide it was clear that the u.s. 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 i mean if you will have to pay a 1000000000 the leader of the bin to. me. that i got out of your. let's give them. all for. or would. there be sure that they can

do it. my father thought the most competition at that time was complete titian over the but duction. milk bar and of meat. you think it's. cool view the 1st serious. problem or for agriculture was in a very bad state there was almost a famine the problem had to be solved. the fabric of the socialist economy was starting to unravel production plants were falling behind and there were widespread shortages of many commodities 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 mains 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 nyet . 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.

but that. 'd he was here for official but i would. told he were both told his story 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 end one moon rocket. meanwhile his r 7 rocket was knocking up new records and creating new heroes for public consumption tito of poets 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. the spy 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 indicate. 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 cost minot's would be working around the clock from then on. the movement to be misused we had 24 hour shifts sometimes we couldn't go home for several weeks but we slept at work on the tables covered with a fur jacket and with a cap under our heads. but. after the birth of my 1st child

i couldn't pick my wife up from the hospital because i had to work. this thing. 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 begun. 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 but in their bio the main culprit here wasn't karloff but groups go. mainly due to his difficult character. growth go through it rather highly of himself. 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 korolyov would be prepared to use 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 missile. images he had witnessed at the inferno had left deep scars in coral yards 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 will hold off i will do it with the cruise missile was not requirement was one of the best bizarreness but he was the best jet engine as i. do the same is you will

fly the best. design they 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 preview. if it will be the part of this competition that he would have been the kind of computers and what if you think that you will fail. not that i know i do it with you or go. for us absolutely convinced that the moon landing would work through that at the end it was also convinced he would experience it himself on another 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 earth and the kinks i mean anybody who worked with. chief designer sergey cut on the off had to be both magician and manager. could in fact everyone with his enthusiasm the people surrounding him or his true disciples. my up of you would have given your life for him. or more which gobble up for a while while he could have been a divisional commander to the quotable our leader was her he was a real leader that's what they say a later version when you me it people followed him they believed in him

unconditionally. they thought he was doing everything right. despite all the setbacks and delays 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 those cards spacecraft was an important step on the way to the moon. landings were obviously progressing. assuming 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 echelons of soviet power. thousands of soviet workers and technicians were forbidden to speak about the new moon rocket. everything was kept strictly under wraps. we were under constant pressure from the k.g.b. . if we went on vacation and didn't tell anyone we were censored. yards. if you were traveling on the train and you went to the restaurant car to have dinner more just to sit and talk with a cagey minder would come up to you the instance maybe after half an hour sleep they tap you on the shoulder and tell you it was time you went back to your seat and this is. the new n one moon rocket was bigger than anything the soviets had built the from. 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 i had to do more but get out of the board we had big problems with the equipment on the ground it was. worth the money fortunately the entire ground preparation for the flights especially the ground testing of all space gear wasn't carried out as normally it should have been. if you want to be successful you have to carry out the soil tests properly. 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 pair of them. they are pretty sure the hole in the center we measured and that was 50 feet. and this obviously was

a big enough for that was pretty certain. that this metaphor 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 yobs t. . 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. there was no one over we knew that using so many engines would make the whole thing unreliable for shearson or us uk but we had no other solution at the time. and mostly if we lack the necessary technical and experimental know how we simply did not have the necessary resources no resources. 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 you have remained optimistic. and walk the planet or didn't. really hide 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 all wanted it got no good at the. writing to the new kremlin chief leonid brezhnev in 1965 he guaranteed the soviet union would carry out a moon landing by 968 carl you 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 will. insert you know real forces very tense and very hard during this

time score one vostok you know he didn't like a lot of what was going on knew for sure. that i believe all things weren't going the way they should or he was irritable and very disciplined. would you have run you just a prenup. 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. certainly if it will scare. 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. here. but karl yoffe didn't survive the operation.

there gaper i was going to go sergei probably overage probably off guard because of the failure of our doctors. were broken pick a mob use that there were not only disasters with missiles but also with people. the next day karl yobs 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 puddle of each car yards 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. move there are no workers there with the. car death was completely unexpected. the owner was. hard to find someone to match his personality quickly with the man that they're for karloff was simply irreplaceable in many ways. though you were a game is. 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. book it was a mistake. or no he was his deputy who else could it have been the a book tory but he did not have coddled off the authority he was a very weak personality. which will are issues.

will stop at least sheen was a weak leader recorded for them and there was another thing he also had a drinking problem but the more shocking it well. within just a few weeks of taking office however the new chief designer had already notched 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 sonata a bit hard to lay down the drive from the orbit. 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. to. 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 ca's us 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 virtual 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. 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 . to 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 on manned test flights had failed before he was making a manned flight with the new spaceship. of had always stipulated that manned flights could only take place after 3 successful unmanned flights his successor machine over ruled hand. no weaker it was a new spaceship and

a new chief designer they wanted to show that even death wouldn't stop us who could show up. at the sales it's not everything went smoothly when we were the varying for the launch fuel there were a lot of complaints from technicians and engineers or other aboard ship of as a man some more pretty serious. but the new chief designer was prepared to take any risks and overruled the objections of his staff. come out all the new comer of shouldn't have started it all but official i tried everything to make sure the launch did not go ahead. i contacted all my superiors with a including the head of launch preparation and 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. just to. get. the big chance to finally make up lost ground in the race to the moon was too tempting. and again fate took its course. and the launch sequence continued without any problems come off reported that everything was fine and going to plan. but then one of the 2 sons sails failed and the energy supply started to break down. was the launch was aborted. then came disaster so it's 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. down 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. you know sparky school. the secret pictures wouldn't be seen for decades. but there were some official pictures and news. circles loser for it so we only reported big successes or big tragedies for sure going to get.

the reports didn't mention that the soviet union's 1st dead cosmonaut had 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 launch 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 problematic brainchild many in the program now had doubts. recognizes you're going to argue the end one moon rocket was very complicated and required far

too many engines 3 years carol you off 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. everything carl gough did was great unfortunately even his mistakes in the end one was college golf faulty design you know the kurdish 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 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. always we saw it on the pad and then we saw the effects of it are sure that. when that thing went off it just tore the hell out of it and. they called the end one big mother as well as jay bird because it was being assembled on launch site jay. but what they had actually photographed was just a dummy to train the launch team on ramp procedures it was the same size and had all the fittings that the original had it just didn't fly. another jaybird was sighted on the 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 1969. design a machine came under renewed pressure to finally get the m 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 onto trucks. on feb 21st the long awaited. countdown began. the boosters were ready to go. but u.s. intelligence missed it. last ignition. the m one lifts off the 30 engines in the 1st stage straining at their limit speak. to the level never thing was huge around 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 with and we were very excited intense. then you want 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 seems confident. ricky of the machine is a missile or exploders but no one saw it as a catastrophe yet everyone was optimistic that the rocket would fly the next time with you would be sold the 2nd flight was prepared with a lot of acuity. 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 tire launch site was wrecked the only thing left working was the escape route . one was. there we watched it and then. we saw the after effects of but then burst into flames and here you can clearly see the

burnt area you can see the round hole plates have been 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's 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 as a surrogate both were in that if my father had not died in 1966 perhaps we would not have handed the moon to the americans. for now don't look. 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 calling young 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. they sound entices but are a drain on natural resources guitars made of african and many. forests across the region are threatened the american guitar builder is taking responsibility. financing 70 reforestation incoming. eco africa. 30 minutes on t.w. .

get. after the fall of the berlin. summer night.

this is due to the news live from berlin protesters in hong kong to fire back and to make their voices heard thousands of demonstrators take to the streets for an on the rise rally undeterred by recent violent attacks on pro-democracy activists also coming up. libyans are voicing elections that will determine whether left wing president evo morales will be given a full time in office. and travel hump way around the world on just one plane an airline makes history sitting in.