Soviet secrets: Are there dead cosmonauts in orbit above Earth?

two factoids: The Italian Brothers were "ham" radio operators and Gagarin orbited just once, not three times.

Great article, Alex. Didn't really know much about the Russian casualties, but generally they've been less risk averse than we have. The secrecy seems to me to be par for the course for that era, considering that perception was part of the tradecraft, even at the strategic level.

Carl - See below. It was detected as spam. Since Apollo 8 we have been looking at the moon from several perspectives but I think you are assuming too much in regards to observation. 1. The command module had tiny windows that the pilot used specifically for confirming navigational information the computers provided (i.e. confirming electronic fixes) 2. Electronic technology of the 1960's is hardly adequate for covering the entire surface of the moon nor even clearly identifying every crater on the lunar surface 3. Pilots flew precise orbits around the moon at specific locations deemed most desirable to NASA scientists (geologists) for studying the moon. They did not circumnavigate the entire moon's surface as they were flying specific missions and orbits so they could precisely return to Earth. Even these missions had problems as the best pilots in the world overshot or missed specific landing zones. 4. Only the Chinese have expressed interest in mapping the moon's surface with the most current technology via satellites at the present time. They have stated that they plan to specifically target Apollo landings. 5. The dark sideof the moon is specifically that... the dark side of the moon. The Earth and moon's orbit is such that we only see one side of the moon from Earth. If I am flying a sortie and conducting a precision nav in zero visibility you don't have time to look out the window and view the entire surface of a small planet. It's not feasible. 6. After Apollo 11 NASA started cutting back on moon missions. Only 12 men have landed on the moon via lunar landers from six command modules. Six sorties can't map the entire surface of a planet. 7. The schematics and blueprints for the Saturn V have been lost. NASA has admitted this several times. Hundreds of different contractors worked to build the components of the Saturn V. They did not have entire schematics and blueprints to the entire machine that had the detail to build it back. There are companies that built components in the 1960s and 70s that don't even exist anymore. Several pieces of this technology are gone forever. Even the technology created for the rocket boosters unique to the Saturn V has been lost. A good friend from college was a NASA engineer working on rocket technology in the early 00's. Most of this information comes straight from the source. Here's my original reply: The Soviets indeed had the means to make this attempt. Through the Gemini and Apollo programs (especially after Apollo 1) the USSR was beating us left and right until Apollo 8. Even Chris Kraft with the Apollo MCC has stated this several times as well as other astronauts attached to the program. Albeit some of this was due to the NASA red tape and inability to make critical decisions during Gemini before the USSR claimed fame and proved it via documentation (i.e. video recordingsand flight data). I wasn't stating that the attempt had even less than a half percent of a probability of success and definitely no chance of leaving the regolith of the moon's surface. This would be a suicide mission where a cosmonaut would land to claim Russian victory and then quickly die on the surface. Either way the Soviets would claim victory. The rumor I have heard over the years is that the USSR impacted like a missile on the surface. While very unlikely, it is plausible given the USSR's early successes in space flight. If it was on the dark side of the moon we will never know in our lifetime unless the Chinese map the entire surface. Thanks to the current president NASA has been gutted and over the years even NASA has lost the schematics and blueprints to the Saturn V... which was the crowing achievement of mankind's most powerful machine. While in college I had Physics and Astronomy labs at 0200 every Thursday night and would peer at the moon's surface. It's truly BA that our guys were able to make several missionsto the moon and Apollo 11 made history. Gene Cernan would have landed Apollo 10 without a doubt if NASA hadn't cut his fuel reserve. That guy is a certified American hero and truly an inspiration.

Carl - See below. It was detected as spam. Since Apollo 8 we have been looking at the moon from several perspectives but I think you are assuming too much in regards to observation. 1. The command module had tiny windows that the pilot used specifically for confirming navigational information the computers provided (i.e. confirming electronic fixes) 2. Electronic technology of the 1960's is hardly adequate for covering the entire surface of the moon nor even clearly identifying every crater on the lunar surface 3. Pilots flew precise orbits around the moon at specific locations deemed most desirable to NASA scientists (geologists) for studying the moon. They did not circumnavigate the entire moon's surface as they were flying specific missions and orbits so they could precisely return to Earth. Even these missions had problems as the best pilots in the world overshot or missed specific landing zones. 4. Only the Chinese have interest in mapping the moon's surface with the most current technology via satellites at the present time. They have stated that they plan to specifically target Apollo landings. 5. The dark side of the moon is specifically that... the dark side of the moon... with no light from the sun. The Earth and moon's orbit is such that we only see one side of the moon The Soviets indeed had the means to make this attempt. Through the Gemini and Apollo programs (especially after Apollo 1) the USSR was beating us left and right until Apollo 8. Even Chris Kraft with the Apollo MCC has stated this several times as well as other astronauts attached to the program. Albeit some of this was due to the NASA red tape and inability to make critical decisions during Gemini before the USSR claimed fame and proved it via documentation (i.e. video recordings and flight data). I wasn't stating that the attempt had even less than a half percent of a probability of success and definitely no chance of leaving the regolith of the moon's surface. This would be a suicide mission where a cosmonaut would land to claim Russian victory and then quickly die on the surface. Either way the Soviets would claim victory. The rumor I have heard over the years is that the USSR impacted like a missile on the surface. While very unlikely, it is plausible given the USSR's early successes in space flight. If it was on the dark side of the moon we will never know in our lifetime unless the Chinese map the entire surface. Thanks to the current president NASA hasbeen gutted and over the years even NASA has lost the schematics and blueprints to the Saturn V... which was the crowing achievement of mankind's most powerful machine. While in college I had Physics and Astronomy labs at 0200 every Thursday night and would peer at the moon'ssurface. It's truly BA that our guys were able to make several missionsto the moon and Apollo 11 made history. Gene Cernan would have landed Apollo 10 without a doubt if NASA hadn't cut his fuel reserve. That guy is a certified American hero and truly an inspiration.

I can't find your reply to YP so I will comment on it here. First, you said that, if the Ruskies landed on the dark side of the moon, we will never know unless the Chinese visit the moon but we have already had ships orbit the moon a number of times, we have had some very good looks at the dark side of the moon, and you can bet NASA was looking. They took plenty of pictures and you can bet they scanned those pictures the best they could. If it is there, they have probably found it but have not said anything about it. On the other hand, they probably know if it isn't there too. Second, NASA may have lost the schematics and blue prints to the Saturn rocket but you can bet that, in some archives somewhere, the Military and builders of the Saturn are still nice and safe. NASA wasn't the only one who had schematics and blue prints for the Saturn rocket and I can't believe that ALL of the schematics and blue prints were lost. If nothing else, they could piece them together with copies of parts of the schematics and blue prints each of the builders had.