While Armstrong and Aldrin walked on the Moon in July 1969, a Soviet robot was already circling overhead, racing to drill the lunar surface and rush its own samples back to Earth before Apollo 11 could splash down — until it crashed into a mountainside in Mare Crisium with the whole secret race nearly unknown to the public.

While Armstrong and Aldrin walked on the Moon in July 1969, a Soviet robot was already circling overhead, racing to drill the lunar surface and rush its own samples back to Earth before Apollo 11 could splash down — until it crashed into a mountainside in Mare Crisium with the whole secret race nearly unknown to the public.

The story of Luna 15 is one of the great “what ifs” of the Cold War-era Space Race. It’s also a story most Americans are unfamiliar with. We were told that Apollo 11 defeated the Soviet Union in the race to the moon.  Apollo 11 Lander 19FortyFive Visit to the Smithsonian on 6/24/2026. Original 19FortyFive.com image. Regarding the placement of human beings on the lunar surface, this is true.  But the Soviets, smarting from the failure of their ow…