Cosmonauts

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 realised a number of spectacular historical achievements including the first man and woman in space, the first spacewalk and the first unmanned lunar landing. This series uses unseen archive footage and compelling interviews to reveal the story of the space race from the other side of the iron curtain.