THE OTHER MOON LANDING
Sunday, July 19, 2009
As America readies confetti and party hats for the 40th anniversary of the moon landing, it's worth remembering the 50th anniversary of the actual, first-ever moon landing. That would be the touch down of Luna 2, a Soviet space probe that looks like a sea urchin with most of its quills removed.
Much like the Soviet Union itself, the thing crashed. But it did manage to leave a plaque -- and two balls.
It blows my mind that the first human civilization to fly into space and onto the moon was totalitarian communist. That fact will be true forever.
What's more, both the Soviet and American space programs relied on Nazi scientists and the Third Reich's invention of the rocket.
Totalitarianism enabled and pioneered all space travel.