In July 1969, just weeks before Apollo 11, the Soviet Union’s massive N-1 Moon rocket detonated on the launch pad in one of the most powerful non-nuclear explosions in history. Kept secret for decades ...

In 1969, the Soviet Union’s Saturn V rival exploded at Baikonur in a blast witnesses compared to the end of the world, just days before Apollo 11. But it was only one chapter in a darker story, ...