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, ...

In July 1969, the Soviet Union launched its giant N-1 booster in a last-ditch push to reach the Moon, and watched it collapse into one of the most powerful non-nuclear explosions in history. Using ...