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Throughout time,

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governments and the
people who work for them

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have done strange
and even terrible things

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in the name of national interest,

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especially in the race to control space.

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Tonight, the daring theft
of an enemy spacecraft

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at the start of the cold war.

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There are so many
places where this could fail.

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At worst, you're going
to be caught in the act

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and they're going to shoot you.

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The plan to nuke the moon.

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If the Russians really are planning

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to hit the moon with a nuclear
weapon, then guess what?

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America needs to
beat them to the punch.

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And a shocking cover-up of
the space age's worst disaster.

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70 coffins have been delivered

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to a Russian space center.

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Something catastrophic has taken place.

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It's time to bring the
secrets of deep space to light.

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It's 1959.

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The U.S. and the Soviet union

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are locked in fierce competition

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on earth and in space.

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So when the CIA gets the chance

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to steal some Russian
technological secrets,

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the agency doesn't think twice.

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The summer of 1959,
the cold war was still

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very much an active conflict,

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but things were thawing just a little bit.

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Both sides decided that they
should do a cultural exchange.

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First stop is New York.

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The Soviet union mounts a large display

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of some of their main
technical advances.

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What's particularly interesting

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to the American government is a display

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of the Soviet lunar spacecraft.

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The Soviets are blazing
ahead in the space race.

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In January 1959, they
launch the first spacecraft

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to leave earth's orbit.

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From the Americans' perspective,

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the Soviets can do no wrong.

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And they want to find out
how they're so successful.

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So American spies
are sent to the exhibition

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to check out a replica of the Luna.

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But when they get to the display,

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they're hit with a pretty big realization.

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What they're looking at is not a model.

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It's the actual spacecraft

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that is being presented to the public.

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They're presented with
this incredible opportunity

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to get up close to the
Soviets' crown Jewel.

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If American space engineers

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can somehow take a look inside,

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they could work out the
secret of Soviet success.

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There's just no way to inspect the Luna

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while it's in New York.

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It's guarded 24/7 by kgb officers.

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But the Soviet exhibition is on tour.

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It's moving to Mexico City,

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where the CIA have
a much better chance

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of getting a closer look.

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The Americans decide
to try the unthinkable.

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The question is how
do you steal something

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the size of a school bus from
under the nose of the kgb?

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The CIA come up with a plan.

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Wait for the exhibition to finish.

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Distract the guards.

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And intercept the
Luna while it's in transit.

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And if they can get the
truck with the Luna in it,

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somehow separate from everything else,

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they just might be able to take a look.

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And then return it
without anyone realizing.

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This is an insane plot.

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You're trying to steal a
spaceship from the kgb.

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If you do get caught,

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they have grounds to
shoot you on the spot.

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It sounds like the plot of
a Hollywood heist movie.

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But on December 15th,
the CIA makes it happen.

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The exhibition is over.

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The exhibits are loaded onto trucks

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to be stored overnight at a train depot.

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CIA already had operatives in place

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that were positioned perfectly

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to assist in the kidnapping of the lunik.

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They make sure the
Luna is on the last truck,

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and it heads straight
into rush-hour traffic.

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The guards have been working hard.

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They're following this truck,
but they want the day to end.

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They want to clock out.

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There's a farewell party at their hotel,

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and nobody wants to miss out.

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But what they don't know
is that this big blowout

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has been organized by the CIA,

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because the plan is to keep
the kgb distracted all night

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with beautiful women
and rivers of Tequila.

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The Soviet guards leave
the Luna with the truck driver.

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What they don't know is that

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he's working with the Americans.

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The CIA has kidnapped the spaceship

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and the plan is working perfectly.

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With the Luna now in their possession,

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the CIA divert its route.

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They've commandeered a
private salvage yard for the night

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that's fenced off from prying eyes.

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So while the kgb are having a party,

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the American engineers
have the opportunity

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to get their hands on modern technology

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that's devised by the Russians.

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They only have until dawn
to learn everything they can

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about the Soviet space ship.

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The men take their shoes
off so they don't leave

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any kind of debris and
they get right inside.

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They start taking it apart bolt by bolt.

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Photographing everything.

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It was a chance for them
to steal as much information

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as they needed to boost
the American space program.

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But there's a huge problem.

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The Soviets have
placed a tamper-proof seal

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inside some of the most important parts.

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In order to photograph it,

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they're going to have to break this seal.

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The Russians are going to know
that they were inside the Luna.

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The operatives have no
choice but to pull in a favor.

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So what they do

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is get a local forger
to remake it overnight.

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The forger must turn around
an exact copy of the seal

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in a few hours.

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By daybreak, the Luna
is back in one piece.

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The Soviet guards roll out of the party

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nursing these killer
hangovers with no clue

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that their prize exhibit has
spent the night with the enemy.

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It's incredible to think that
this whole thing worked.

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The Luna continues its global tour,

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with the Soviets none the wiser.

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The question is

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did the heist advance
america's space program?

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According to CIA documents
declassified in 1994...

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The answer is yes.

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The Americans used the intel

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to calculate the weight of the spacecraft

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and from that, they can
work out the size and weight

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of the missile the Soviets
are using to launch it.

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It's just the kind of detailed intelligence

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the Americans need to
blast ahead in the space race.

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And on August 10th,

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they launch a corona spy satellite

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that orbits 17 times around the earth.

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The superpower space
race becomes a sprint

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to land a man on the lunar surface.

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But both nations have
other plans for the moon

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that are so shocking they
remain secret for 40 years.

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Throughout the 1950s and '60s,

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we lived under constant
fear of a nuclear attack.

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You are, every day,
being fed a steady diet of

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you need to be terrified

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that the world's going to end next week.

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There are a lot of outrageous headlines

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during this time period.

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The one that caught the attention

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of the American public the most was...

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"They'll bomb the moon."

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It's a headline that just looks like

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it came straight out of a comic book.

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The news has the
white house in a panic.

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Are the Russians really
going to go through with this,

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or is it just a wild rumor?

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For the American military, this is no joke.

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It responds in 1958 by
launching secret project a119.

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The U.S. air force calls upon
12 of the country's leading

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astrophysicists to take part in
a highly sensitive assignment.

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The team includes a young
graduate named Carl sagan,

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in the days before he was a
world-renowned astronomer.

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The plan is simple.

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If the Russians really are planning

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to hit the moon with a nuclear
weapon, then guess what?

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America needs to
beat them to the punch.

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One side is planning something insane,

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the other side has to match it.

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But the U.S. has a challenge.

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There's no point in nuking
the moon if no one can see it.

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The moon has no atmosphere.

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That blast will not produce
the iconic mushroom cloud

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that we expect from a nuclear explosion.

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They come up with a solution.

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Detonate the bomb along
the moon's Terminator line,

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the border between where
the shadow meets the light.

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So that bright flash
of light will be visible

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to the naked eye and
the resulting cloud of dust

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and debris that's kicked
up by the nuclear weapon

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is going to be illuminated by the sun.

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With a key problem solved,
the American team is ready

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in the event the president says go.

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In 1958, in perhaps
the most surreal contest

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of the space race, American
and Soviet scientists

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compete to hit the moon
with a nuclear bomb.

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The question is

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will either side blow up
the earth in the process?

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If the nuclear payload is
too heavy for the rocket,

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the rocket could fall back to
earth and the bomb detonates.

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The big event suddenly becomes
a tragedy on a massive scale

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and possibly the start of a nuclear war.

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But the risk of apocalypse isn't enough

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to make the U.S. pull the plug.

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The team puts forward this plan

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to use a w25 warhead,
which is a smaller device,

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but crucially, it will still
be visible from earth.

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Problem solved. All
systems are ready to go.

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The science works.

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Are they actually going to do this?

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At the last minute,
there's one more concern

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that throws plans into a tailspin.

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The nuclear fallout could contaminate

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the moon's surface for years.

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Which means nobody can go up there.

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And that's a big problem

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because landing a man
on the moon is looking

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00:12:02,040 --> 00:12:04,320
more and more scientifically possible.

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The U.S. realizes that
stepping on the moon

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is a bigger win than blowing it up.

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In January 1959,
project a119 is canceled.

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And the Soviets also
come to their senses.

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That doesn't mean
the space race is over.

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The next goal?

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Be the first to set up a
permanent base on the moon.

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It won't be easy, but in
1959, the U.S. military

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launches project horizon
to accomplish the goal.

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The moon is an extremely
hostile environment.

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The temperature range is huge.

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In the sunlight, it can reach
up to 225 degrees fahrenheit,

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while in the dark, it
can drop to minus 243.

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Plus, the thin atmosphere means

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that there is no protection
from cosmic radiation

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00:13:02,160 --> 00:13:04,560
and there's no protection
from meteorites.

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So the safest place is
beneath the lunar surface.

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This moon base is planned to consist

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of an underground network of tubes.

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And they serve as living quarters,

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storage, lab space, and the entire facility

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will be powered by nuclear reactors.

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The move itself will
be a massive operation.

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00:13:32,480 --> 00:13:37,960
The proposal calls for
about 147 saturn launches

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to get not only the
materials up to the moon,

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but also the things that will
become the space station

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and the crew themselves.

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This will take ten years
to do and cost $6 billion.

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In today's money, that's $64 billion.

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$64 billion.

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Why would the government

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00:14:01,040 --> 00:14:04,720
consider spending an
unthinkable sum of money

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00:14:04,840 --> 00:14:07,080
building an outpost on the moon?

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00:14:08,960 --> 00:14:11,840
Classified documents released in 2014

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00:14:11,960 --> 00:14:13,000
provide the answer.

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00:14:16,360 --> 00:14:18,760
The Americans know that
the Soviets intend to build

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00:14:18,880 --> 00:14:20,360
their own moon base,

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00:14:20,480 --> 00:14:23,800
and they do not want to be
neighbors with these guys.

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The Soviets have the
momentum in this space race,

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00:14:28,040 --> 00:14:30,360
and there's a sense that
the moon is up for grabs,

258
00:14:30,480 --> 00:14:31,600
and they want to claim it.

259
00:14:33,640 --> 00:14:36,440
The Soviet initiative is called zvezda,

260
00:14:36,560 --> 00:14:39,840
which translates as star.

261
00:14:39,960 --> 00:14:43,560
The Soviet designs are
very similar to project horizon.

262
00:14:43,680 --> 00:14:47,000
But there's a little bit more
emphasis on comforts.

263
00:14:47,120 --> 00:14:49,720
They put in video screens
displaying Russian vistas

264
00:14:49,840 --> 00:14:53,240
to comfort homesick cosmonauts.

265
00:14:53,360 --> 00:14:56,040
The Soviets build a prototype

266
00:14:56,160 --> 00:14:58,320
and they stick a group
of cosmonauts in it

267
00:14:58,440 --> 00:15:00,560
for a year as a simulation.

268
00:15:03,080 --> 00:15:06,760
But the U.S. is planning
more than a lunar land grab.

269
00:15:09,200 --> 00:15:11,080
The true purpose of project horizon

270
00:15:11,200 --> 00:15:15,400
is to turn the moon into
an American fortress.

271
00:15:19,400 --> 00:15:22,080
The first one to colonize the moon

272
00:15:22,200 --> 00:15:24,680
could also be the first
one to weaponize it.

273
00:15:29,240 --> 00:15:30,800
The moon's distance from the earth

274
00:15:30,920 --> 00:15:34,720
makes an outpost difficult
to attack and easy to defend.

275
00:15:38,280 --> 00:15:41,920
They even have plans for
armed combat on the moon.

276
00:15:42,040 --> 00:15:45,200
I'm talking about astronauts
armed with weapons

277
00:15:45,320 --> 00:15:48,560
on the surface of the
moon shooting it out.

278
00:15:48,680 --> 00:15:51,600
During the cold war, it was
a competition to dream up

279
00:15:51,720 --> 00:15:54,560
what's the worst thing
that our enemy can do

280
00:15:54,680 --> 00:15:56,840
and how can we counter it?

281
00:15:56,960 --> 00:15:58,560
And it just led to doing crazy things

282
00:15:58,680 --> 00:16:00,400
or planning crazy things.

283
00:16:00,520 --> 00:16:04,440
Fortunately, lunar
combat never breaks out.

284
00:16:04,560 --> 00:16:07,680
In 1959, project horizon is shelved

285
00:16:07,800 --> 00:16:10,880
by a newly-formed agency,

286
00:16:11,000 --> 00:16:15,160
the dream of militarization of the moon

287
00:16:15,280 --> 00:16:18,560
is over, at least for now.

288
00:16:22,720 --> 00:16:26,320
It's 1960, and as the
contest for space continues,

289
00:16:26,440 --> 00:16:29,320
the Soviets want to
land a knockout punch.

290
00:16:29,440 --> 00:16:32,840
They build a rocket
powered by a new kind of fuel

291
00:16:32,960 --> 00:16:36,440
called devil's venom.

292
00:16:36,560 --> 00:16:38,280
It will end in tragedy.

293
00:16:43,000 --> 00:16:45,680
In October of 1960, an
American news story breaks

294
00:16:45,800 --> 00:16:48,120
about a Soviet rocket engineer's death.

295
00:16:50,680 --> 00:16:53,640
Mitrofan nedelin is a highly decorated

296
00:16:53,760 --> 00:16:58,960
military commander and he's
known as the chief of rockets.

297
00:16:59,080 --> 00:17:00,720
According to the Soviet press release,

298
00:17:00,840 --> 00:17:05,240
he died the previous
day in an air accident.

299
00:17:05,360 --> 00:17:07,560
As Russia mourns an important leader,

300
00:17:07,680 --> 00:17:10,560
the CIA investigates his death.

301
00:17:12,280 --> 00:17:16,680
But it finds no record
of a Soviet air crash.

302
00:17:16,800 --> 00:17:20,800
And the secret report
is full of suspicious gaps.

303
00:17:22,760 --> 00:17:23,960
According to the report,

304
00:17:24,080 --> 00:17:26,280
something catastrophic happened.

305
00:17:28,880 --> 00:17:30,640
70 coffins have been delivered

306
00:17:30,760 --> 00:17:33,160
to a Russian space center.

307
00:17:33,280 --> 00:17:35,080
It's clear the Soviet space program

308
00:17:35,200 --> 00:17:37,480
has experienced a disaster.

309
00:17:37,600 --> 00:17:39,880
But what kind?

310
00:17:40,000 --> 00:17:42,280
Rumors start bouncing
around about nedelin's death.

311
00:17:42,400 --> 00:17:44,160
Some say that it was an air crash.

312
00:17:44,280 --> 00:17:47,600
Some say that it was a fatal explosion.

313
00:17:47,720 --> 00:17:50,200
The one thing that
everyone can agree on

314
00:17:50,320 --> 00:17:52,480
is that it happened in
southern Kazakhstan,

315
00:17:52,600 --> 00:17:57,960
the location of the Soviets'
biggest missile launch site.

316
00:17:58,080 --> 00:18:01,600
The events remain a
mystery for 39 years.

317
00:18:01,720 --> 00:18:04,160
Then a former space officer

318
00:18:04,280 --> 00:18:07,880
decides it's finally safe to come clean.

319
00:18:16,800 --> 00:18:19,960
At the Russian cosmodrome,
chief nedelin is developing

320
00:18:20,080 --> 00:18:24,160
a top-secret new missile, the r-16.

321
00:18:24,280 --> 00:18:25,880
Now, it's a space rocket,

322
00:18:26,000 --> 00:18:30,000
but its purpose has nothing
to do with space exploration.

323
00:18:32,120 --> 00:18:35,440
The r-16 is basically a super weapon.

324
00:18:35,560 --> 00:18:37,440
It's actually an intercontinental

325
00:18:37,560 --> 00:18:41,360
ballistic missile designed
to hit long-range targets.

326
00:18:41,480 --> 00:18:44,440
The weapon enters space,
then falls back to earth

327
00:18:44,560 --> 00:18:46,360
to strike its targets.

328
00:18:47,880 --> 00:18:50,160
It has a range of almost 7,000 miles,

329
00:18:50,280 --> 00:18:53,440
carrying a 5-to 6-megaton
nuclear warhead.

330
00:18:53,560 --> 00:18:56,600
This could decimate the
United States from Russia.

331
00:19:00,280 --> 00:19:02,840
The Soviet union wants
to launch this missile

332
00:19:02,960 --> 00:19:05,240
for the first time on the 43rd anniversary

333
00:19:05,360 --> 00:19:06,640
of the Russian revolution.

334
00:19:09,080 --> 00:19:11,840
It's all symbolism, but the Soviets wanted

335
00:19:11,960 --> 00:19:15,320
to send shock waves about
Russian power around the world

336
00:19:15,440 --> 00:19:17,600
with this new weapon.

337
00:19:17,720 --> 00:19:21,080
It's never been tested
and nedelin is under

338
00:19:21,200 --> 00:19:23,360
increasing pressure to launch it.

339
00:19:25,000 --> 00:19:26,960
Nedelin has hundreds of engineers

340
00:19:27,080 --> 00:19:30,920
working at this ferocious
pace to meet this deadline.

341
00:19:31,040 --> 00:19:33,880
It's a dangerous environment.

342
00:19:34,000 --> 00:19:36,800
The r-16 requires a highly volatile fuel

343
00:19:36,920 --> 00:19:40,120
that's known as devil's venom.

344
00:19:40,240 --> 00:19:42,640
It's so corrosive that

345
00:19:42,760 --> 00:19:44,600
as soon as you put it in the fuel tanks,

346
00:19:44,720 --> 00:19:47,480
it starts to literally
eat away at the rocket.

347
00:19:50,280 --> 00:19:51,480
As the test date approaches,

348
00:19:51,560 --> 00:19:53,000
there are problems with the rocket,

349
00:19:53,120 --> 00:19:55,680
but Soviet scientists
don't want to admit failure.

350
00:19:55,800 --> 00:19:57,400
They want to hit this deadline,

351
00:19:57,520 --> 00:19:59,680
so they keep pressing forward.

352
00:20:02,840 --> 00:20:06,000
On the morning of the
test, the 100-foot-high r-16

353
00:20:06,120 --> 00:20:10,720
is fueled with devil's
venom, ready for launch.

354
00:20:10,840 --> 00:20:14,200
Things start to go wrong right away.

355
00:20:14,320 --> 00:20:17,480
Part of the electrics short-circuit.

356
00:20:17,600 --> 00:20:18,760
Chief nedelin and his staff

357
00:20:18,880 --> 00:20:21,600
are supposed to leave the launch area.

358
00:20:21,720 --> 00:20:25,400
They're just milling around
the launch pad and the missile,

359
00:20:25,520 --> 00:20:27,760
violating every safety protocol,

360
00:20:27,880 --> 00:20:30,880
and the missile begins to spit out sparks

361
00:20:31,000 --> 00:20:33,280
and then it begins to
spit out devil's venom.

362
00:20:34,960 --> 00:20:38,360
What happens next is captured on film,

363
00:20:38,480 --> 00:20:42,440
but the shocking images
are suppressed for 30 years.

364
00:20:49,280 --> 00:20:51,560
The electrical issue sparks the fuel,

365
00:20:51,680 --> 00:20:53,160
which bursts the fuel tanks

366
00:20:53,280 --> 00:20:57,480
and triggers this
earth-shattering explosion.

367
00:20:59,160 --> 00:21:03,240
Anyone near the rocket
was killed instantly.

368
00:21:03,360 --> 00:21:05,480
Anyone else had to try to escape

369
00:21:05,600 --> 00:21:09,480
this mass of flames and toxic gas.

370
00:21:09,600 --> 00:21:12,520
But they were all trapped in
the area by a security fence.

371
00:21:14,280 --> 00:21:15,960
Some workers burned to death.

372
00:21:16,080 --> 00:21:18,440
Others died from inhaling fumes.

373
00:21:18,560 --> 00:21:20,800
It was an absolute disaster.

374
00:21:20,920 --> 00:21:24,400
Chief nedelin, along with
many important engineers,

375
00:21:24,520 --> 00:21:25,760
are killed.

376
00:21:25,880 --> 00:21:28,520
It's a horrific failure.

377
00:21:30,560 --> 00:21:33,080
In the aftermath, survivors
and relatives of the dead

378
00:21:33,200 --> 00:21:37,600
are ordered to describe
the tragedy as a plane crash.

379
00:21:37,720 --> 00:21:40,200
It's one of the many fatal
accidents that affected

380
00:21:40,320 --> 00:21:43,480
the space program, covered
up by the government.

381
00:21:45,160 --> 00:21:48,000
The exact number of
people who lost their lives

382
00:21:48,120 --> 00:21:51,160
while working on the
Soviet space program

383
00:21:51,280 --> 00:21:53,160
remains unknown to this day.

384
00:21:59,120 --> 00:22:00,696
For six years, the U.S.
and the Soviet union

385
00:22:00,720 --> 00:22:03,720
invest billions on deep
space competition.

386
00:22:03,840 --> 00:22:07,160
Then, in 1963, the U.S.
seems to change tack.

387
00:22:07,280 --> 00:22:10,520
The air force announces
the first-ever space lab.

388
00:22:10,640 --> 00:22:12,680
Called the manned orbiting laboratory,

389
00:22:12,800 --> 00:22:17,360
or mol, it will be launched
to benefit all humanity.

390
00:22:19,840 --> 00:22:23,160
The U.S. develop and
test a two-man operated

391
00:22:23,280 --> 00:22:26,440
scientific research station.

392
00:22:26,560 --> 00:22:28,640
It's designed to remain in orbit

393
00:22:28,760 --> 00:22:31,160
150 miles above the earth's surface,

394
00:22:31,280 --> 00:22:35,080
is 60 feet long, with a
laboratory and a living space.

395
00:22:36,560 --> 00:22:38,280
A program designed to evaluate

396
00:22:38,400 --> 00:22:42,480
man's performance in space
over extended periods of time.

397
00:22:42,600 --> 00:22:46,560
The design team comes up
with incredible innovations.

398
00:22:46,680 --> 00:22:48,440
They develop the next generation

399
00:22:48,560 --> 00:22:50,040
of flexible space suits.

400
00:22:51,840 --> 00:22:54,040
The laboratory simulator becomes part

401
00:22:54,160 --> 00:22:56,520
of NASA's future projects,

402
00:22:56,640 --> 00:23:00,600
as does the mol's
waste generation system.

403
00:23:00,720 --> 00:23:02,480
The individuals who trained on the mol

404
00:23:02,600 --> 00:23:04,080
all later went on to be the pioneers

405
00:23:04,200 --> 00:23:06,320
who manned some of the
early space shuttle missions.

406
00:23:08,000 --> 00:23:09,416
The project's greatest
technical breakthrough

407
00:23:09,440 --> 00:23:11,120
is its own giant camera.

408
00:23:14,240 --> 00:23:16,640
The camera is the size of a car.

409
00:23:19,240 --> 00:23:23,040
It uses an external mirror
that is as tall as a man.

410
00:23:23,160 --> 00:23:24,680
It is described as the perfect tool

411
00:23:24,800 --> 00:23:27,840
for conducting scientific studies of earth.

412
00:23:27,960 --> 00:23:31,360
Things like tracking
tectonic plates or air pollution

413
00:23:31,480 --> 00:23:34,000
or studying the polar caps.

414
00:23:34,120 --> 00:23:37,320
All to benefit humankind.

415
00:23:37,440 --> 00:23:39,560
The benefits seem endless.

416
00:23:42,200 --> 00:23:44,120
In November 1966,

417
00:23:44,240 --> 00:23:46,800
the first prototype is
ready for test launch.

418
00:23:46,920 --> 00:23:49,360
All launch commit lights are green.

419
00:23:49,480 --> 00:23:51,080
T-minus 10 seconds.

420
00:23:52,640 --> 00:23:55,200
The mol enters orbit
and remains in contact

421
00:23:55,320 --> 00:23:57,680
with the earth for 30 days.

422
00:24:01,480 --> 00:24:03,240
It's a huge success.

423
00:24:04,880 --> 00:24:06,160
But behind all the excitement

424
00:24:06,280 --> 00:24:09,600
hides a stunning secret.

425
00:24:09,720 --> 00:24:13,080
In 2015, the military
declassifies documents that

426
00:24:13,200 --> 00:24:16,840
expose the science project
as an elaborate cover story.

427
00:24:19,880 --> 00:24:25,520
The real intent of the camera,
to spy on the Russians.

428
00:24:25,640 --> 00:24:27,400
Since 1960, the American military

429
00:24:27,520 --> 00:24:30,040
has been monitoring
Russia's nuclear capabilities

430
00:24:30,160 --> 00:24:31,760
from surveillance satellites.

431
00:24:31,880 --> 00:24:33,320
Photographs from space

432
00:24:33,440 --> 00:24:35,720
of value to strategic intelligence

433
00:24:35,840 --> 00:24:38,760
completely revolutionized
the intelligence process.

434
00:24:40,200 --> 00:24:42,000
After the cameras take the pictures,

435
00:24:42,120 --> 00:24:45,240
the film needs to be
processed back on earth.

436
00:24:45,360 --> 00:24:49,160
By that point, it could
be too late to react.

437
00:24:49,280 --> 00:24:51,600
What good is intel on an enemy attack

438
00:24:51,720 --> 00:24:55,200
if it arrives too late to respond?

439
00:24:55,320 --> 00:25:00,800
One solution is a spy camera
operated by astronauts.

440
00:25:00,920 --> 00:25:03,400
The crew on the mol could
actually direct the camera

441
00:25:03,520 --> 00:25:05,720
at exactly what they
wanted to take a picture of.

442
00:25:08,800 --> 00:25:11,120
They can report what they are looking at,

443
00:25:11,240 --> 00:25:12,600
and then the crew back on earth

444
00:25:12,720 --> 00:25:15,960
knows exactly what
photos they'll be getting.

445
00:25:16,080 --> 00:25:20,680
From its orbit between 150 to 170 miles,

446
00:25:20,800 --> 00:25:26,160
it can resolve places and
objects 9,000 feet across.

447
00:25:26,280 --> 00:25:29,680
That's easily big enough to get detail

448
00:25:29,800 --> 00:25:31,120
from military installations

449
00:25:31,240 --> 00:25:33,200
and other really important sites

450
00:25:33,320 --> 00:25:36,400
that the United States is trying to spy on.

451
00:25:36,520 --> 00:25:40,240
The camera works, but at a huge price.

452
00:25:40,360 --> 00:25:45,960
The mol costs a whopping $13 billion.

453
00:25:46,080 --> 00:25:48,320
It was too expensive, and
the evolution of technology

454
00:25:48,440 --> 00:25:51,160
was making modern day
satellites better equipped

455
00:25:51,280 --> 00:25:52,840
to carry out the same operation

456
00:25:52,960 --> 00:25:54,840
that the mol was supposed to carry out.

457
00:25:54,960 --> 00:25:58,920
The mol is mothballed
after just one flight.

458
00:25:59,040 --> 00:26:02,280
But there is one more twist in this tale.

459
00:26:02,400 --> 00:26:05,000
The cover story that the
mol will make discoveries

460
00:26:05,120 --> 00:26:09,720
for the benefit of the
planet ultimately comes true.

461
00:26:09,840 --> 00:26:13,120
Technology from the mol
would be used in "sky lab,"

462
00:26:13,240 --> 00:26:16,200
america's first space station.

463
00:26:16,320 --> 00:26:18,560
Launched in may 1973,

464
00:26:18,680 --> 00:26:22,200
it proves humans can live
in space for weeks at a time.

465
00:26:28,200 --> 00:26:29,376
The space race was never just about

466
00:26:29,400 --> 00:26:30,480
getting a man on the moon.

467
00:26:30,600 --> 00:26:33,080
It was about fighting wars on earth.

468
00:26:33,200 --> 00:26:37,960
In 1966, the Soviets test a
weapon of mass destruction

469
00:26:38,080 --> 00:26:40,960
that can dodge america's
early warning system

470
00:26:41,080 --> 00:26:43,560
by using the physics of space.

471
00:26:48,800 --> 00:26:51,600
By 1961, the U.S. is protecting itself

472
00:26:51,720 --> 00:26:54,240
by building a network of giant radars

473
00:26:54,360 --> 00:26:57,760
that can detect incoming
weapons launched from Russia.

474
00:27:00,000 --> 00:27:02,096
If the Soviets are going
to attack the United States

475
00:27:02,120 --> 00:27:04,520
via missile launches, they're going to fly

476
00:27:04,640 --> 00:27:07,880
those missiles on the most direct route,

477
00:27:08,000 --> 00:27:09,560
and that's over the north pole.

478
00:27:11,560 --> 00:27:14,200
The radar system gives
the U.S. a big advantage.

479
00:27:14,320 --> 00:27:17,480
It has time to respond.

480
00:27:17,600 --> 00:27:19,160
It would give them 20 minutes.

481
00:27:19,280 --> 00:27:20,720
20 minutes doesn't sound like much,

482
00:27:20,840 --> 00:27:22,720
but that would be enough for us

483
00:27:22,840 --> 00:27:25,240
to get a retaliatory strike underway.

484
00:27:30,120 --> 00:27:33,640
For the Soviets, this warning
system poses a big problem.

485
00:27:33,760 --> 00:27:35,160
They no longer have the capability

486
00:27:35,280 --> 00:27:37,120
to unleash a secret, decisive attack.

487
00:27:40,040 --> 00:27:44,240
Now the Soviets need to
find a new way to attack.

488
00:27:44,360 --> 00:27:47,640
If they could launch an
attack from someplace else,

489
00:27:47,760 --> 00:27:50,240
the Americans would
not be able to detect them

490
00:27:50,360 --> 00:27:51,880
and we won't be prepared for it,

491
00:27:52,000 --> 00:27:54,880
and so they come up
with this brilliant idea.

492
00:27:55,000 --> 00:27:56,240
The Soviets have already

493
00:27:56,360 --> 00:27:58,160
launched satellites into space.

494
00:27:58,280 --> 00:28:02,120
Why not do the same
with a nuclear bomb?

495
00:28:02,240 --> 00:28:03,520
And it's called the

496
00:28:03,640 --> 00:28:05,880
fractional orbital bombardment system.

497
00:28:07,360 --> 00:28:10,760
The idea is simple and terrifying.

498
00:28:10,880 --> 00:28:13,400
The missile enters
orbit, circles the planet,

499
00:28:13,520 --> 00:28:17,880
and can be directed to strike
in any direction at any time.

500
00:28:18,000 --> 00:28:21,640
The way the system works
is it's launched into orbit,

501
00:28:21,760 --> 00:28:23,040
and then it just waits.

502
00:28:26,600 --> 00:28:28,600
Once the signal is given to attack...

503
00:28:30,440 --> 00:28:35,200
It leaves orbit, enters
earth's atmosphere,

504
00:28:35,320 --> 00:28:36,920
and then it releases its warheads.

505
00:28:39,280 --> 00:28:40,680
And what's so deadly is that

506
00:28:40,800 --> 00:28:43,400
they're very close to the target.

507
00:28:43,520 --> 00:28:46,400
It could drop a nuclear
weapon on us at any point.

508
00:28:46,520 --> 00:28:48,960
And in this way, the Soviet union would

509
00:28:49,080 --> 00:28:52,040
win the chess game and get checkmate.

510
00:28:52,160 --> 00:28:54,320
That is terrifying.

511
00:28:57,000 --> 00:29:01,640
At first, the Soviets need
to test to see if it works.

512
00:29:01,760 --> 00:29:04,800
In the bleak midwinter
in the Kazakhstan desert,

513
00:29:04,920 --> 00:29:07,400
the Soviets launched
their brand-new missile.

514
00:29:07,520 --> 00:29:11,720
It's programmed to land
4,000 miles away in kamchatka.

515
00:29:11,840 --> 00:29:14,240
To avoid destroying northeast Russia,

516
00:29:14,360 --> 00:29:18,160
the tests are conducted
without a warhead.

517
00:29:18,280 --> 00:29:21,760
The fobs tests begin to
go wrong immediately.

518
00:29:21,880 --> 00:29:25,920
The missiles go off target,
they break apart in the air,

519
00:29:26,040 --> 00:29:29,400
they rain down on parts of the earth.

520
00:29:29,520 --> 00:29:31,440
The embarrassing setbacks threatened

521
00:29:31,560 --> 00:29:33,760
to derail the project.

522
00:29:33,880 --> 00:29:35,800
The mechanics of rerouting the missile

523
00:29:35,920 --> 00:29:39,360
into its attack position
are difficult to perfect.

524
00:29:39,480 --> 00:29:41,480
But the Soviets keep pushing

525
00:29:41,600 --> 00:29:45,440
and the missile improves
with each launch.

526
00:29:45,560 --> 00:29:47,400
In the summer of 1967,

527
00:29:47,520 --> 00:29:50,960
American spies deliver
a highly classified report

528
00:29:51,080 --> 00:29:53,920
with news the Pentagon
has been dreading.

529
00:29:56,720 --> 00:30:00,200
The secret orbital missile actually works.

530
00:30:04,520 --> 00:30:07,120
The successful tests
travel across the south pole,

531
00:30:07,240 --> 00:30:08,720
but most importantly,

532
00:30:08,840 --> 00:30:11,040
they dodge those arctic radar systems.

533
00:30:13,280 --> 00:30:16,200
The test is non-nuclear,
but it provides a powerful

534
00:30:16,320 --> 00:30:18,600
proof of concept that they can do it.

535
00:30:18,720 --> 00:30:20,040
And if they decide to do it,

536
00:30:20,160 --> 00:30:22,480
what they're going to
swing toward the earth

537
00:30:22,600 --> 00:30:26,440
is a 5-megaton
strategic nuclear weapon.

538
00:30:28,040 --> 00:30:30,160
5 megatons is not going to look pretty

539
00:30:30,280 --> 00:30:32,040
if it's directed at southern California.

540
00:30:35,680 --> 00:30:39,440
In November 1967, the
Soviets unveil their new missile

541
00:30:39,560 --> 00:30:41,240
at a red square parade,

542
00:30:41,360 --> 00:30:45,360
announcing they can deliver a
nuke to anywhere in the world.

543
00:30:45,480 --> 00:30:49,520
Their secret weapon
is no longer a secret.

544
00:30:49,640 --> 00:30:52,160
The Soviets have created
something so frightening

545
00:30:52,280 --> 00:30:54,120
that the UN steps in.

546
00:30:55,840 --> 00:31:00,920
In 1967, both superpowers
signed the outer space treaty,

547
00:31:01,040 --> 00:31:04,600
which prohibits the placement
of nuclear weapons in orbit.

548
00:31:04,720 --> 00:31:06,280
But that doesn't stop the Soviets

549
00:31:06,400 --> 00:31:07,960
finding new opportunities,

550
00:31:08,080 --> 00:31:12,320
like arming a space
station with a secret Cannon.

551
00:31:19,760 --> 00:31:22,240
The Soviet military is in
the middle of developing

552
00:31:22,360 --> 00:31:24,840
a space station, the almaz,

553
00:31:24,960 --> 00:31:27,600
and they want it in orbit
as soon as possible.

554
00:31:27,720 --> 00:31:30,360
But NASA is ahead of the
game with the imminent launch

555
00:31:30,480 --> 00:31:33,840
of their "sky lab" space station.

556
00:31:33,960 --> 00:31:35,520
You've got Russian space stations,

557
00:31:35,640 --> 00:31:37,720
American space stations.

558
00:31:37,840 --> 00:31:41,000
What happens if they eventually meet?

559
00:31:41,120 --> 00:31:42,360
And then if they meet,

560
00:31:42,480 --> 00:31:46,240
what happens if that
contact is not friendly?

561
00:31:46,360 --> 00:31:48,280
The Soviets don't take any chances.

562
00:31:48,400 --> 00:31:51,400
They set up a highly
classified military project

563
00:31:51,520 --> 00:31:54,560
to prepare for enemy attacks in space

564
00:31:54,680 --> 00:31:56,920
by arming the "almaz 2" space station

565
00:31:57,040 --> 00:31:59,160
with a fully-functioning space Cannon.

566
00:32:00,960 --> 00:32:02,960
They approach a
Soviet weapons designer

567
00:32:03,080 --> 00:32:07,600
to create a gun that can fire in space.

568
00:32:07,720 --> 00:32:10,320
Normal artillery is really heavy.

569
00:32:10,440 --> 00:32:12,480
And weight is at a
premium in space flight,

570
00:32:12,600 --> 00:32:14,600
so they needed something a lot lighter.

571
00:32:16,440 --> 00:32:18,000
The Soviet space engineers

572
00:32:18,120 --> 00:32:22,920
decide to adapt an
autocannon, the rikhter r-23.

573
00:32:23,040 --> 00:32:25,200
It's the fastest firing
single-barrel Cannon

574
00:32:25,320 --> 00:32:27,440
ever used by the Soviet air force,

575
00:32:27,560 --> 00:32:31,600
dispatching 2,500 rounds per minute.

576
00:32:31,720 --> 00:32:33,280
The r-23 was designed

577
00:32:33,400 --> 00:32:35,880
for the first Soviet supersonic bomber,

578
00:32:36,000 --> 00:32:38,600
so it's already compact and lightweight.

579
00:32:38,720 --> 00:32:40,600
It's also brutally effective.

580
00:32:42,120 --> 00:32:44,200
You've got 23-millimeter rounds that are

581
00:32:44,320 --> 00:32:47,600
punching these holes from a mile away.

582
00:32:49,160 --> 00:32:50,560
So if it can do that on earth,

583
00:32:50,680 --> 00:32:53,000
it's going to do enough
to cause serious damage

584
00:32:53,120 --> 00:32:56,880
to any American space
station that tries to approach.

585
00:32:57,000 --> 00:32:58,600
But fitting a gun to a spaceship

586
00:32:58,720 --> 00:33:01,880
is a little different from
fitting one to a plane.

587
00:33:02,000 --> 00:33:03,960
On a plane, you have a rotating turret,

588
00:33:04,080 --> 00:33:06,560
and the gun can be
turned to follow the target

589
00:33:06,680 --> 00:33:08,560
and to shoot it down from any angle.

590
00:33:08,680 --> 00:33:12,240
But the engineers can't
figure a way to achieve this

591
00:33:12,360 --> 00:33:14,080
in a space vehicle.

592
00:33:15,080 --> 00:33:16,360
The Cannon has to be fixed

593
00:33:16,480 --> 00:33:19,880
in place, so for the
operator to line up the target,

594
00:33:20,000 --> 00:33:23,120
they'd have to pivot
the entire space station,

595
00:33:23,240 --> 00:33:27,720
which is a big problem if
the target is moving at speed.

596
00:33:27,840 --> 00:33:29,200
And there's another challenge.

597
00:33:29,320 --> 00:33:33,400
When the Cannon
fires... It's going to recoil.

598
00:33:36,080 --> 00:33:38,280
And that's a huge problem in space.

599
00:33:38,400 --> 00:33:40,880
When it's fired in zero gravity,

600
00:33:41,000 --> 00:33:43,600
the recoil could inadvertently

601
00:33:43,720 --> 00:33:47,400
force the orbiting space
station well off course.

602
00:33:49,400 --> 00:33:52,000
There's only one way to be sure.

603
00:33:52,120 --> 00:33:57,040
In 1974, the Soviets
conduct a secret live test.

604
00:33:59,240 --> 00:34:02,160
The Soviets launch an
almaz that has a gun on it.

605
00:34:03,880 --> 00:34:05,680
The crew spends about
three weeks in orbit

606
00:34:05,800 --> 00:34:08,600
running various tests,
and then they go home

607
00:34:08,720 --> 00:34:11,520
because the Soviets don't
want to have a crew on board

608
00:34:11,640 --> 00:34:14,440
in case the test of this
gun goes badly wrong.

609
00:34:14,560 --> 00:34:16,000
The crew's off the vessel,

610
00:34:16,120 --> 00:34:18,600
but the space station is still in orbit.

611
00:34:18,720 --> 00:34:21,360
It's time to test the Cannon.

612
00:34:21,480 --> 00:34:24,240
Officials on the ground fire
the gun by remote control.

613
00:34:26,840 --> 00:34:27,816
They shoot it once.

614
00:34:27,840 --> 00:34:28,816
They shoot it twice.

615
00:34:28,840 --> 00:34:30,640
They shoot it three times.

616
00:34:32,360 --> 00:34:36,480
It's the first time a gun has
ever been fired in space.

617
00:34:36,600 --> 00:34:41,360
But firing a gun in space
has unexpected downsides.

618
00:34:41,480 --> 00:34:43,120
If you miss your target,

619
00:34:43,240 --> 00:34:46,240
that bullet would have so much
energy and momentum behind it

620
00:34:46,360 --> 00:34:49,280
that it would potentially keep going.

621
00:34:49,400 --> 00:34:52,640
There could still be Russian
bullets orbiting the earth.

622
00:34:53,800 --> 00:34:55,360
The test is never repeated

623
00:34:55,480 --> 00:34:56,840
and the gun is decommissioned

624
00:34:56,960 --> 00:35:00,320
and stored secretly for 40 years.

625
00:35:00,440 --> 00:35:01,720
It's a weapon that many people

626
00:35:01,760 --> 00:35:03,920
didn't even believe existed.

627
00:35:04,040 --> 00:35:07,600
Then in 2015, a Russian TV show

628
00:35:07,720 --> 00:35:10,440
visits a private military collection

629
00:35:10,560 --> 00:35:15,400
and the almaz space Cannon
is finally revealed to the world.

630
00:35:20,360 --> 00:35:23,960
In 1983, a final showdown
of the space race begins

631
00:35:24,080 --> 00:35:25,640
when Ronald Reagan announces a plan

632
00:35:25,760 --> 00:35:29,000
to put laser guns in space.

633
00:35:29,120 --> 00:35:32,160
It's called the strategic
defense initiative.

634
00:35:32,280 --> 00:35:34,440
Most people know it as star wars,

635
00:35:34,560 --> 00:35:37,480
and Russia strikes back
with a plan of its own.

636
00:35:39,720 --> 00:35:41,040
My fellow Americans,

637
00:35:41,160 --> 00:35:43,440
thank you for sharing
your time with me tonight.

638
00:35:43,560 --> 00:35:46,120
Tonight, we're launching an
effort which holds the promise

639
00:35:46,240 --> 00:35:48,720
of changing the course of human history.

640
00:35:48,840 --> 00:35:50,400
Ronald Reagan makes
this announcement

641
00:35:50,520 --> 00:35:52,000
that shocks the world.

642
00:35:52,120 --> 00:35:55,960
He's launching a
strategic defense initiative.

643
00:35:56,080 --> 00:35:59,360
The plan is to launch
a network of satellites

644
00:35:59,480 --> 00:36:01,600
armed with defensive lasers,

645
00:36:01,720 --> 00:36:05,000
lasers that can shoot
down Russian missiles.

646
00:36:08,640 --> 00:36:10,560
If a laser could shoot down a missile

647
00:36:10,680 --> 00:36:12,160
before it ever reached the homeland,

648
00:36:12,280 --> 00:36:13,720
it would make all nuclear weapons...

649
00:36:13,800 --> 00:36:15,680
Impotent and obsolete.

650
00:36:15,800 --> 00:36:19,080
The program requires
radical new technology

651
00:36:19,200 --> 00:36:20,960
that doesn't even exist yet.

652
00:36:23,440 --> 00:36:25,056
Critics around the
world started to see this

653
00:36:25,080 --> 00:36:26,760
as a science fiction tale.

654
00:36:26,880 --> 00:36:29,280
So Reagan's program
started to be called

655
00:36:29,400 --> 00:36:30,480
the star wars program.

656
00:36:31,960 --> 00:36:35,160
The western media poked fun.

657
00:36:35,280 --> 00:36:39,520
But the reaction in
Moscow is deadly serious.

658
00:36:46,640 --> 00:36:48,536
When the Soviets found
out about Reagan's plan

659
00:36:48,560 --> 00:36:51,080
to put a laser in space,
they see it totally different.

660
00:36:51,200 --> 00:36:53,440
What they see is a chance
for the Americans to launch

661
00:36:53,560 --> 00:36:55,160
nuclear weapons against Russia,

662
00:36:55,280 --> 00:36:57,400
but then the laser would incapacitate

663
00:36:57,520 --> 00:36:59,800
only Russian nuclear
warheads in response.

664
00:36:59,920 --> 00:37:01,880
They see it as a
one-sided threat that doesn't

665
00:37:02,000 --> 00:37:05,440
nullify the nuclear arms
race, but instead intensifies it.

666
00:37:05,560 --> 00:37:08,680
So they go about
creating their own platform.

667
00:37:08,800 --> 00:37:11,200
If america is planning star wars,

668
00:37:11,320 --> 00:37:14,640
then the Soviets must find an answer.

669
00:37:14,760 --> 00:37:16,040
They set up a secret project

670
00:37:16,160 --> 00:37:21,800
to build a space battle
station armed with lasers.

671
00:37:21,920 --> 00:37:24,880
Within a year of Reagan's
"star wars" speech,

672
00:37:25,000 --> 00:37:26,840
Soviet scientists are commissioned

673
00:37:26,960 --> 00:37:32,320
to provide a laser capable of
destroying American satellites.

674
00:37:32,440 --> 00:37:36,400
This 1 million-watt
laser is the first weapon

675
00:37:36,520 --> 00:37:39,360
on their planned orbital
weapons platform,

676
00:37:39,480 --> 00:37:41,240
essentially a space station

677
00:37:41,360 --> 00:37:44,800
that is armed with
cutting-edge weaponry.

678
00:37:44,920 --> 00:37:47,160
It's a radical new technology.

679
00:37:47,280 --> 00:37:50,960
No one has put a laser in space before.

680
00:37:51,080 --> 00:37:53,800
The mysterious weapon
is called "polyus skif,"

681
00:37:53,920 --> 00:37:58,640
which roughly translates
to north pole barbarian.

682
00:37:58,760 --> 00:38:02,240
Whatever the name, it's a killer.

683
00:38:02,360 --> 00:38:04,480
The "polyus skif" is massive.

684
00:38:04,600 --> 00:38:08,880
It's two tractor trailers
long and weighs 80 tons.

685
00:38:09,000 --> 00:38:12,680
It requires a huge rocket to launch it.

686
00:38:12,800 --> 00:38:15,040
The Soviet space laser is way ahead

687
00:38:15,160 --> 00:38:16,960
of Reagan's star wars,

688
00:38:17,080 --> 00:38:19,240
and it's a potential game-changer.

689
00:38:19,360 --> 00:38:23,720
Some call it a Battlestar
that will weaponize space.

690
00:38:23,840 --> 00:38:26,720
They've essentially created a death star.

691
00:38:26,840 --> 00:38:29,360
A real death star.

692
00:38:29,480 --> 00:38:31,680
In 1987, it's ready

693
00:38:31,800 --> 00:38:34,880
to be launched into orbit and tested.

694
00:38:35,000 --> 00:38:37,320
But there's been a change at the kremlin.

695
00:38:37,440 --> 00:38:39,360
The Soviet union has a new leader

696
00:38:39,480 --> 00:38:43,080
who's looking to slow
down the space race.

697
00:38:43,200 --> 00:38:45,680
Mikhail gorbachev has
publicly proposed an end

698
00:38:45,800 --> 00:38:47,880
to the development of space weapons.

699
00:38:48,000 --> 00:38:51,280
Because he's promising
to reduce the cold war,

700
00:38:51,400 --> 00:38:52,736
the development of a space-based laser

701
00:38:52,760 --> 00:38:54,600
is going to blow a hole in peace talks.

702
00:38:54,720 --> 00:38:56,640
But gorbachev doesn't
want to pull the plug

703
00:38:56,760 --> 00:38:59,240
on "polyus" quite yet.

704
00:38:59,360 --> 00:39:02,720
The Soviet union has already
sunk a lot of money into this,

705
00:39:02,840 --> 00:39:04,240
so the launch is going to go ahead.

706
00:39:04,360 --> 00:39:08,400
But he orders them to
not test the laser in space.

707
00:39:08,520 --> 00:39:10,000
It's not a good look.

708
00:39:14,920 --> 00:39:17,800
On launch day,
gorbachev's so concerned

709
00:39:17,920 --> 00:39:21,800
about western reaction to the
laser that he bans any photos.

710
00:39:23,280 --> 00:39:24,840
All the journalists and photographers

711
00:39:24,920 --> 00:39:27,160
could only stand on the
opposite side of the rocket.

712
00:39:27,280 --> 00:39:30,160
That was gorbachev's solution
to making sure that history

713
00:39:30,280 --> 00:39:32,160
only told the tale of what they could see,

714
00:39:32,280 --> 00:39:34,280
which was a clean
rocket going into space,

715
00:39:34,400 --> 00:39:36,760
when in fact, there
was a covert death ray

716
00:39:36,880 --> 00:39:39,680
on the other side of the rocket
that was trying to be hidden.

717
00:39:41,640 --> 00:39:45,360
- The launch goes ahead...
- As discreetly as possible.

718
00:39:47,400 --> 00:39:50,480
The day that the "polyus" is
set to launch, it's a big day.

719
00:39:50,600 --> 00:39:54,000
The officials are out there.

720
00:39:54,120 --> 00:39:56,640
The launch proceeds.

721
00:39:56,760 --> 00:39:59,520
And it's looking good initially.

722
00:39:59,640 --> 00:40:00,640
But then...

723
00:40:03,160 --> 00:40:08,120
Something goes terribly
wrong, spins out of control,

724
00:40:08,240 --> 00:40:13,240
plunges back to earth,
burning up in the atmosphere.

725
00:40:13,360 --> 00:40:16,320
Everything is lost.

726
00:40:16,440 --> 00:40:19,240
It's a complete disaster.

727
00:40:19,360 --> 00:40:22,080
In the end, both programs failed.

728
00:40:22,200 --> 00:40:24,720
Reagan ran out of funding
for his star wars program,

729
00:40:24,840 --> 00:40:26,960
and the idea of space-based lasers

730
00:40:27,080 --> 00:40:29,360
still remains a thing of science fiction.

731
00:40:29,480 --> 00:40:33,240
But the question is for how long?

732
00:40:33,360 --> 00:40:36,160
In 1991, the collapse of the Soviet union

733
00:40:36,280 --> 00:40:40,200
puts an end to the cold
war phase of the space race.

734
00:40:40,320 --> 00:40:44,960
But the contest to control
deep space is far from over.

735
00:40:45,080 --> 00:40:47,800
New players from SpaceX in america

736
00:40:47,920 --> 00:40:51,640
to China, India, and Japan
are looking to the moon.

737
00:40:51,760 --> 00:40:53,240
And beyond.

738
00:40:56,680 --> 00:40:59,400
From covert plans to nuke the moon

739
00:40:59,520 --> 00:41:03,440
to tragic attempts to cover
up shocking disasters,

740
00:41:03,560 --> 00:41:06,920
competition in deep space
will continue to inspire strange,

741
00:41:07,040 --> 00:41:11,440
terrible and sometimes
inspiring missions.

742
00:41:11,560 --> 00:41:12,960
I'm David duchovny.

743
00:41:13,080 --> 00:41:16,000
Thanks for watching
"secrets declassified."


