The history of the space race between the united states and the soviet union, which was intensified or even spawned by the cold war between the two superpowers, was won by the americans through the alienation that took place on july 20, 1969. This is after the Russians managed to overcome all the barriers up to that time and after they almost managed to take the face of the Americans and take this historic step, small for a man, but huge for humanity.

Few people know that NASA and the Space Agency planned to join forces to take a step to the moon together. And no, it’s not just a nice and idealized scenario of Ukraine, starting with the question “what if?”. This is pure reality. But, yes, we can extrapolate and imagine what the world and future space projects would look like if the USA and the USSR clapped their hands. In the meantime, let me explain to you how such a project, which today seems incredible, became possible. But first of all, why didn’t he materialize again.

In 1962, as you well know, was the closest humanity came to nuclear war. A year earlier, the United States had deployed nuclear-tipped missiles in Italy and Turkey. It was then that they launched the failed invasion of the Bay of Pigs in Cuba, the goal of which was to destroy the Castro regime. As a result of this failure, the Americans launched a widespread campaign of sabotage and propaganda in Cuba, as well as a series of hundreds of assassination attempts against the Cuban dictator. And this time they all failed.

The next move on the geopolitical chessboard it belonged to the Soviets, who decided to move their intermediate-range ballistic missiles to Cuba, only 140 kilometers from the border with the United States. What happened next is mostly known. The US naval blockade, mutual threats of nuclear bombing, war plans and trembling fingers on the red button. Fortunately for humanity, everything ended diplomatically, with the withdrawal of missiles from both sides, an agreement not to attack the Cuban state except as a result of serious provocation, and the installation of the famous red telephone. The phone, which in one way or another symbolizes the recently concluded agreement on the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons between the two world superpowers. The whole world breathed a sigh of relief and seemed to come out much better from a scandal that could have had disastrous consequences.

It was a brief period when the United States and the USSR experienced an unprecedented rapprochement. And it would be visible, also for a short period, on cosmic plans.

In parallel with the hostilities, the space race continued, and the USSR, as I said, broke record after record. First satellite launched, 1959. First man in space, 1961. First woman in space, 1963. First 24-hour space mission, 1961. First simultaneous flight of two astronauts, 1962. First civilian in space, 1963, Ch. .

From that moment on, it became clear that the moon was the ultimate goal, and the only way for the Americans to win the space race was to get there before the Russians. And for this, John F. Kennedy spared no effort. We don’t do it because it’s easy, we do it because it’s hard. We do it because we can, he said in a famous speech, referring to the spirit of adventure and sacrifice of the pioneers who colonized the North American continent.

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First of all, it was about the image of the United States and its relations with its own allies. A new defeat by the Russians would be tantamount to a catastrophe not only at the domestic political level, but also at the external level. The very reputation of the United States as a great power was at stake.

But the costs were huge. 25 billion dollars at the time. That’s the equivalent of $176 billion today. An amount that few were willing to accept and pay. This is where disputes arise.

And here we come to the moment of September 20, 1963. Then John F. Kennedy delivered a new historic speech to the members of the UN General Assembly. It was obviously a pre-prepared and arranged speech with his team of geopolitical scientists, however spontaneous it may have been. No president would do that. At least, not with our head on our shoulders, because we also have current examples that begin to contradict this situation.

And then Kennedy said that the USA and the USSR should unite their efforts. “There is room for cooperation and joint efforts,” he said. “And among these possibilities, I also list a joint mission to the moon. And this would mean a completely new approach to the Cold War.” This proposal left everyone present speechless. Less so than Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko, who applauded loudly at the end of the speech and who publicly called Kennedy’s proposal an auspicious sign.

In Moscow, Nikita Khrushchev considered such a possibility, although there was reluctance on both sides.

A space alliance would open the way to the enemy’s technological secrets. And no one knew for sure whether this would be an advantage or a disadvantage. Each wanted to know how far the other had come, giving as little information as possible. Some historians have commented on the US president’s decision, arguing that it was aimed not at an incredible rapprochement with the Russians, but at a significant reduction in the astronomical costs of future manned landings. An alliance with the Russians would mean, beyond all considerations, the sharing of costs. And it wasn’t from there. In addition, the Americans knew that the Soviet Union had invested heavily in its own program to send cosmonaut Oleksii Leonov to the surface of the moon. And many were sure that the Russians would get there first. So, in addition to avoiding colossal financial losses, the Americans could avoid the risk of another historic defeat. And the plan seemed as good as it could get. But it was never implemented.

Only two months after this intervention in the UN, Kennedy was shot. Obviously, this speech was not the reason for his murder, but that is less important. What is certain is that he was replaced by Lyndon Johnson, a president with notoriously anti-Russian views. In fact, Johnson did not even want to hear about cooperation with the Russians, and everything collapsed like a sandcastle. The sudden and controversial death of Sergei Korolev, head of the Soviet space program, in 1966 would be a decisive blow to the Russians, who until then seemed to have a slight edge in the race to the moon.

Three years later, in 1969, Neil Armstrong went to the moon with Buzz Aldrin and planted an American flag in the regolith, marking a historic victory. This was when all Soviet plans suddenly disappeared, along with much of the funding for the Soviet space program. The fact that Armstrong visited the Soviet Union in the same year and gave speeches in St. Petersburg, Moscow or Novosibirsk was nothing more than a pale attempt at friendship between the two states, and several joint programs of the 70s no longer mattered. So many .

And yet, you can’t help but wonder, in light of Kennedy’s proposal, what it would look like if…

Plot: Adrian Nicolae | Sound design: Ovidiu Popica

Music/SFX: Epidemic Sound, NASA Soundcloud, John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum