When, in July 1969, Neil Armstrong made one giant leap for mankind, America went down in popular history as the winner of the space race. But the real space pioneers of the 20th century were the Soviets. Between 1961 and 1966, they realized a number of spectacular historical achievements, including the first man and woman in space. Up to that point, they seemed unstoppable. Then a string of misfortunes struck. The deaths of two key figures, Sergei Korolev, the godfather of the programme, and hero and icon Yuri Gagarin, were followed by a series of mechanical setbacks. This allowed the Americans to streak ahead and ultimately claim victory. But it did not end there.
While Russia led the space race for much of the early 1960s, things took a turn for the worse in the second half of the decade. The untimely death of the inspirational leader of the Soviet space program, Sergei Korolev, in 1966, followed in quick success by those of space heroes Vladimir Komarov and Yuri Gagarin, set the Russian program back on its heels, losses from which it ultimately never recovered. The USA now became pre-eminent in the race to the moon, culminating in the Apollo moon landing in 1969.
