The Price of Admission to Mission Control

Apollo 11 was set to launch on July 16th 1969 as the command module pilot Collins would remain in orbit while Armstrong and Aldrin walked on the moon. The Soviets had already attempted an unmanned launch of the N1 in February 1969 it ended in disaster with the rocket crashing 183 seconds after liftoff, but the Soviets were undeterred they tried again on July 3rd less than two weeks before the US Was set to launch Apollo 11 this time the rocket barely got off the ground It lifted only a few hundred feet before collapsing back onto the launch pad in flames. If Apollo 11 succeeded the race would be lost and the Soviets knew it So they decided to send their Luna 15 an unmanned