Did Stalin Kill the Soviet Moonlanding?

Of the many reasons the Soviets failed to reach the moon, perhaps none is stranger than the possible role of Joseph Stalin.

The Chief Designer and the Soviet Lead

Sergey Korolyov was the Chief Designer of the Soviet space program. His role was similar to that of Werner von Braun for the Americans—critically important. Like von Braun, he was a leader and a manager. Neither man was the best engineer or rocket scientist. But they knew how to guide a large-scale space project.

In any case, the Soviets took an early lead, largely due to their larger rockets which could lift heavy objects into orbit. They put the first satellite into space (Sputnik), the first man into space (Gagarin), and performed the first space walk (Leonov). But as the space race hit a crucial point, Korolyov’s needed to have an operation. It was supposed to be a routine operation.

A “routine” Operation

That day in January 1966, Dr. Boris Petrovsky planned to remove a few small polyps from Korolyov’s intestine. The polyps were small and, although one was bleeding, the operation was seen as merely a precaution to protect the health of the leader of the nation’s space program.

However, Dr. Petrovsky who was the Soviet Union’s minister of health had not performed operations for quite some time.While removing the polyps, the doctor did more damage than good, and the patient suffered severe bleeding. Worse, the doctor discovered a previously undetected tumor—a very big one, which was malignant.

Maybe Korolyov was already doomed. But perhaps not.

Where Stalin Comes In

Korolyov needed to be intubated—he was having trouble breathing. But, due to a jaw injury Korolyov had suffered years earlier, as a prisoner in Stalin’s gulug, that couldn’t be done. Instead, he was kept under an oxygen mask.

Now very nervous, Dr. Petrovsky called in his best surgeon. But it was too late. Korolyov was dead. The man who was leading the moonlanding effort was gone. With intubation, would Korolyov have survived long enough for the other surgeon to save him? Who knows?

The Soviet’s tried to keep their moon program going, but Korolyov’s successor wasn’t up to the task. He couldn’t get the giant Russian moonrocket, the N1, to fly. And, although the death of Korolyov and the failure of the N1 was secret, that was the true end of the race for the moon.