Only if the N1 didn't have an annoying habit of shaking itself apart in mid flight.

the other guy and the girl are holding hands...weird...nothing wrong with that, just odd.
silly Ruskies :)

these cards are really cute.

@goldfarb: you're right. It just looks terribly odd

@goldfarb: I think it might be a family, with the bouncy one being a kid and the two holding hands being a couple.

Either that or the Soviets were dreaming of hot, moon-landing threesomes in space.

Sounds like an io9 post waiting to happen!

I think it has something to do with Luna 2. The Soviets actually managed to crash a rocket with pennants, looking just like the one our little friend there is holding, onto the moon in 1959. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luna_2

It's a vision of the future: the auburn-haired lad is a space tourist, and the lady is his handler.

Having lived in Russia a while, I was surprised to find that over there it is considered 'common knowledge' that the moon landing was faked.

Talk to anyone, not just conspiracy dweebs, or nutters, but anyone, even young well-educated post-Soviet folks, and they will adamantly explain all the reasons they were taught in school why it's impossible we landed there etc. etc.

In fact, they're often surprised when talking to an American that we actually DO believe in the moon landing, and any conversation on the subject just kind of leads nowhere, as it's obvious both members live in different truthiverses, and are convinced that the other is just a victim of their country's propaganda.

There's a growing number of the "tin-foil hat" crowd in this country that believe it.

I work at one of the NASA centers. I shouldn't say which. If it was a fake it sure was an elaborate, expensive, well-crafted, and higly documented ruse.

Notice that part of the US in not drown on that picture of the earth?

That's funny about them not believing in the moon landing, and sad because when you stack up all the accumulated knowledge of space and space travel, the Russians have nothing to be ashamed of. Those sort of stories just make them look like sore losers.

2 bakana

It's strange to hear that most Russians don't believe in American moon landing. I am Russian and live in Russia all my life and have to say that it's not true.

People who don't believe in common knowledge are everywhere but they are a minority.

It's not also true that at schools they teach that moon landing was faked. Are you sure you have lived in the same Russia I live in?

Sorry if I offended you Alex, I was just speaking based upon my experience. Incidentally the Russians I met while living abroad were some of the warmest, smartest, and friendliest people I've known, and I by no means meant to insult the country.

I lived in Moscow for a year and met and talked with a variety of Russians of a variety of ages, and generally any time the topic came up, the conversation veered as described above.

The first time I encountered the phenomenon was when talking with the girlfriend of a colleague, a twenty-something from Novgorod doing graduate work in engineering. Certainly not a country hick, nor uneducated, nor an old Soviet-educated relic, but she nonetheless was very certain that the moon landing wasn't possible and didn't happen. Her arguments, though incorrect, were related with the fanaticism of a conspiracy nut but with with the confidence and matter-of-factness of someone for whom this was simply the truth.

I subsequently had similar dead-end debates with other (friendly, intelligent) Russians at get-togethers, as well as several of my Russian students. I wouldn't say it was ALL Russians, but that I encountered the attitude with such frequency in Russia's cosmopolitan capital makes it seem like its a pretty ubiquitous mindset.

How old are you Alex? If you're quite young maybe the modern state schooling is ideologically different than it once was. Or maybe the younger Russians I talked to were influenced by Soviet-era parents who were products of the Soviet school system, rather than the Russian school system itself?

Alex, sorry if I offended you! I was just speaking from my experiences and it was not my intent to insult Russia or Russians. The people I met while living there are some of the warmest, funniest, friendliest people I've known.

I lived in Moscow for about a year and a half, and any time discussion of the moon landing came up with Russians of various ages or backgrounds, it always veered as described in my above post.

The first time was at a party with the girlfriend of a colleague of mine. She was a twenty-something student from Vladimir studying engineering - not a country bumpkin, quite intelligent, very friendly and normal, and certainly not a Soviet relic. However she was unflinching in her conviction that the Moon landing was impossible and did not happen. She spoke not with the fanaticism of a conspiracy nut, but with the assuredness of someone relating something she had always known to be fact.

Similar dead-end discussions came up frequently at get-togethers where there were both Russians and ex-pats present, and I also had several similar discussions with my Russian students (before I learned to just avoid that whole topic).

How old are you, Alex, if I may ask? If you're quite young it's possible the State schools are ideologically different now than they were even in the recent past. If not, maybe the Russians I talked to were influenced by the opinions of parents educated in Soviet-era schools. But seriously, the mentality I describe was pretty much ubiquitous to me, and your perspective is both surprising and interesting and makes me curious to hear your perpsective.@Alex_M: @Alex_M:

Blast, I hate the comment feature. Sometimes my comments vanish, sometimes they are posted, and sometimes both.

Not only did I double-post, but I re-typed that whole long thing thinking it was lost forever! Argh.