The only thing that just a few people know is that the Soviets also had a moon-rocket, the N1. The N1 was not just a copy of the Saturn V, like the later Buran was in comparison with the Space Shuttle, but an independent rocket with an astonishing first stage powered by 30 engines! The following documentary shows what went on between the Soviet Union, the United States and the Moon.
What if the Soviet Union had beaten the US to the Moon?
The Americans won the race to the Moon when Neil Armstrong set foot on the lunar surface in 1969. That single act trumped the Soviet achievement of sending the first man into space eight years earlier. But what might have happened if the Soviet Union had got to the Moon first? Read more
N1 or N-1 or 11A52 (1, -1, 1152 in Russian) was a secret Soviet rocket intended to send Soviet cosmonauts to the Moon. It is also known by NATO as the G-1e or SL-15. The Soviet classified technical name N1 was an abbreviation from the Russian word nositel' (carrier). On the 3rd July, 1969, at liftoff a loose bolt was ingested into a fuel pump, which failed. After detecting the inoperative fuel pump, the automatic engine control shut off 29 of 30 engines, which caused the rocket to stall. The rocket exploded 23 seconds after shutting off the engines, destroying the rocket and launch tower in the biggest explosion in the history of rocketry. Read more