Until 13 May 1961, the Soviet Union had officially (albeit secretly) been working on a project to built a spacecraft armed with a nuclear weapon which would be sent to be detonated on the surface of the moon. The project also called for the creation of the appropriate device to record the detonation, presumably to allow Earth-bound scientists to analyze the results, including the impact of the moon’s gravity and negligible atmosphere, and study the subsequent debris cloud and its spread as it moves away from the moon. These results could then be compared to a similar aftermath of a nuclear blast of a similar yield on Earth, with a magnificent array of physical and math algorithms to make estimated projections on the impact of, say, a nuclear weapon taking out a hostile nation’s satellite or manned spacecraft. Why do you ask?
It’s not that cooler heads prevailed – similar efforts were being considered in the United States at roughly the same time. Instead, the smashing success of Yuri Gagarin’s manned spaceflight – and the world’s reaction thereto – loosened the purse strings of the Duma for this new universe of spacey-wacey things. Because of funding vehicles being what they are, Moscow undoubtedly had to perform fiscal gymnastics to allocate the funds required – by turning over resources if they could be proven to have a defensive objective. With the USSR’s massive defensive budget, it would be far easier to shave down a few pet projects and reallocate the billions of rubles to the space program. Hey presto! The moon is safe.
The date noted above (13 May 1961) wasn’t plucked from a hat – it’s the date that adorns a Top Secret directive from the Central Committee of the CPSU and the Council of Ministers of the USSR, ordering some projects be scrapped and others be repurposed and rescheduled. The directive (Order No. 420-174) refers to other directives by number and date; the only directive identified in the document that was not repurposed was that for setting off a nuclear weapon on the surface of the moon. “Let’s leave that to the Yanks” may have been the rallying cry at the time, but we’re not sure if Moscow was even aware of Washington’s similar project.
The “nuke the moon” directive, according to the text of the “don’t nuke the moon” directive, is Order No. 979-457, dated 23 August 1958. The staff at Translating History continues to look for this directive, and any other documents outlining the ins and outs of the project, but so far, no luck. We’ll publish the translations of that material as we come across it.
Take a look at the translation below for a look at how aggressive the Soviets were hoping to prosecute the space problem, to include flights to Mars and Venus and back again.
TOP SECRET
HIGHLY SENSITIVE
Subject to return in 24 hours to Group No. 1
Central Committee of the CPSU and Council of Ministers of the USSR
ORDER
No. 420-174 dated 13 May 1961
Moscow, the Kremlin
Concerning the revision of plans for spacecraft in the direction of defense tasks
For the purpose of concentrating the material resources and efforts of design bureaus and industry primarily on tasks associated with the defense of the country, in a partial change to Orders of the Central Committee of the CPSU and Council of Ministers of the USSR No. 979-457 (dated 23 August 1958), 714-295 and 715-296 (dated 23 June 1960), and 1110-462 (dated 11 October 1960), the Central Committee of the CPSU and Council of Ministers of the USSR ORDER:
1. The adoption of the recommendation of the Commission of the Presidium of the Council of Ministers of the USSR on Military-Industrial Issues on halting work, changing the scope of work, and postponement of deadlines for the following areas:
a) to cease work on the creation of Object “Ye” with special charge and means to record the detonation on the surface of the Moon, as provided for in Order of the Central Committee of the CPSU and Council of Ministers of the USSR No. 979-457 dated 23 August 1958;
b) to cease work on the creation of a lunar satellite (Object Ye-7), as provided for in Order of the Central Committee of the CPSU and Council of Ministers of the USSR No. 1110-462, dated 11 October 1960;
c) to cease development of a heavy interplanetary ship for flight to Mars and Venus, as provided for in Order of the Central Committee of the CPSU and Council of Ministers of the USSR No. 715-296, dated 23 June 1960;
d) to cease development of a controlled automatic unmanned space glider to study outer space and for flights to Mars and Venus and returning to Earth, to touch down at a designated airfield, as provided for in Order of the Central Committee of the CPSU and Council of Ministers of the USSR No. 714-295, dated 23 June 1960;
e) cease work to prepare expeditions to the surface of the Moon, Mars, and Venus, as provided for in Order of the Central Committee of the CPSU and Council of Ministers of the USSR No. 715-296, dated 23 June 1960;
f) limit work to preliminary design efforts in the following areas:
– the creation of a ship to fly around the Moon, as provided in Order of the Central Committee of the CPSU and Council of Ministers of the USSR No. 715-296, dated 23 June 1960. Preliminary design deadline to be postponed to 1963;
– the creation of a powerful launch vehicle (the N-2), as provided in Order of the Central Committee of the CPSU and Council of Ministers of the USSR No. 715-296, dated 23 June 1960. Preliminary design deadline (with the performance of the necessary amount of experimental work) to be postponed to 1965;
– the creation of an automatic unmanned space glider to study outer space and fly to the Moon with a return to the Earth and touch down at a designated airfield (K), as provided in Order of the Central Committee of the CPSU and Council of Ministers of the USSR No. 714-295, dated 23 June 1960. Preliminary design deadline to be postponed to 1963;
– the creation of a launch vehicle for the automatic unmanned space glider designed to study outer space and fly to the Moon with a return to the Earth and touch down at a designated airfield, as provided in Paragraph 7 and Attachment No. 2 to Order of the Central Committee of the CPSU and Council of Ministers of the USSR No. 714-295, dated 23 June 1960 (with the performance of the necessary amount of experimental work). Preliminary design deadline to be postponed to 1962;
– the creation of space gliders, as provided in Order of the Central Committee of the CPSU and Council of Ministers of the USSR No. 714-295, dated 23 June 1960. Preliminary design deadline to be postponed to 1962, after which a decision will be made regarding further work in this area;
– development of a manned heavy satellite station, as provided in Order of the Central Committee of the CPSU and Council of Ministers of the USSR No. 715-296, dated 23 June 1960.
The manned heavy satellite station is to be developed, primarily based on the execution of combat missions.
The Commission of the Presidium of the Council of Ministers of the USSR on Military-Industrial Issues is to conduct a review of the preliminary designs and submit proposals to the CC CPSU on plans for the further work to be carried out in these areas;
g) postpone deadlines for launch preparations of the following spacecraft, as provided in Order of the Central Committee of the CPSU and Council of Ministers of the USSR No. 1110-462, dated 11 October 1960:
– Elektron satellite – to 1962;
– Ye-6 spacecraft – to 1962;
h) postpone deadline for the creation of the launch vehicle (the N-1), as provided in Order of the Central Committee of the CPSU and Council of Ministers of the USSR No.715-296, dated 23 June 1960, to 1965.
2. In order to accelerate the development of the Vostok spacecraft (automatic and manned), beginning in 1961, confer the manufacture of these objects and their launch vehicles to the Kuybyshev Sovnarkhoz (Factory No. 1).
Entrust Comrades Rudnev (convening), Kalmykov, Ryabikov, Dementyev, Butom, and Zakharov within one month to prepare and submit for approval to the Commission of the Presidium of the Council of Ministers of the USSR on Military-Industrial Issues a coordinated plan for 1961 for the manufacture and delivery of Vostok spacecraft with launch vehicles and their component parts.
Translation © 2025 by Michael Estes and TranslatingHistory.org
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