The Moon Page #3

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the Americans had a lot

of catching up to do.

Their Cold War rival,

the Soviet Union, was way ahead.

The Russian's ambitious space programme

produced a string of firsts,

including the first satellite in

orbit and the first man in space.

And in 1959, they'd set out to solve

one of the moon's greatest mysteries -

something that had kept humans

guessing for centuries.

What was on the far side of the moon -

the side that always faces away from us?

To find out, the Russian mission would have

to circle the moon for the first time.

On the 7th of October,

the probe disappeared behind

the far side of the moon,

and its cameras leapt into action.

For 40 minutes, it snapped away

whilst scientists waited

on tenterhooks.

When the images were transmitted

back to Earth,

they had their answer.

The far side was actually

just the same as the near side.

But the lack of surprises

didn't matter.

These blurred images made history.

And the mission consolidated the

Russians' lead in the space race.

The Americans weren't

keen on second place.

I guess the American people are

alarmed that a foreign country,

especially an enemy country,

can do this. We fear this.

Definitely alarmed. Do you admire

the Russians for doing it or not?

No. We should've been

first to have it.

The Russians had all the headlines.

But landing a man on the moon

was an entirely new challenge.

At the time when Kennedy made

his famous speech,

scientists knew so little

about the moon

that the prospect of sending a

human there seemed almost reckless.

Their knowledge of lunar geography

was so sketchy,

they didn't know

where they could land safely.

They didn't even know whether the moon's surface

was strong enough to support a space-craft,

or even a man.

They needed answers quickly.

The first step for the Americans was

a series of probes called Ranger.

They carried

on board television cameras

to take detailed close-up pictures

of the lunar surface.

But it wasn't exactly

a sophisticated approach.

The Rangers went in hard, crashing

kamikaze-style into the surface,

furiously filming away

until the moment of destruction.

The 4,300 images

taken by the Ranger probes

were the clearest views

we'd ever had of our moon.

It was now clear

it was a harsh and hostile world.

But the pictures were vital

to prepare for the ultimate goal -

the moon landing.

It was an epic endeavour.

No expense was spared.

At its peak, the moon programme employed

more than 400,000 people in America

and cost over $25 billion, nearly

$150 billion in today's money.

People were electrified

by the race to the moon. And the

United States was spending...

I think it was 4.5% of our entire

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