Unique Illustrations Of How The USSR Imagined Life In Space

As a kid, I remember hearing about the famous Space Race and imagining a huge Star Wars-like battle between American and Soviet astronauts. Though I bet those historical missions were definitely something worth watching, we all know that the root of what we know as the Space Race was an intense political show-off between powers. Now, it’s widely believed that the ultimate winner of this race was the US by sending Neil Armstrong and his crew to the Moon. However, if we’re being honest, that race had already been won multiple times by the Soviet Space Program.

Just a little summary. The Space Race began in 1955, when both powers announced they were sending the very first artificial satellite to space. The USSR was the first to do so when, in 1957, they managed to put Sputnik 1 in orbit around the Earth (point for the Soviet Union). From this moment on, they would achieve a lot of firsts before their American rivals. Some of these include the very the first man to orbit in space (Yuri Gagarin), the first woman in space (Valentina Tereshkova), the first spacewalk (Alexei Leonov), the first lunar landing (unmanned), the first animal in space, and the first space station.

NASA had a few accomplishments, but nothing compared to the list of firsts the Soviets had already achieved. For the American government, the race was all about beating the USSR and proving they were the strongest power (well, that and ensuring they didn’t have the technology to start a huge nuclear war). However, the Soviets had more ambitious and kind of sci-fi plans. They wanted to create a Communist utopia in space and conquer the universe.

Read more: The Forgotten Animals That Made Space Travel Possible For Humans

The images below are just a few of the many ideas and visions the USSR had regarding space and their plans to build this new nation outside the world. From children’s books, to science magazines, and propaganda posters, here’s how the USSR envisioned life in space.

1553703160543 ussr russia space race propaganda posters 10 - unique illustrations of how the ussr imagined life in space “The Moon Station Dome” by Andrei Sokolov

1553703218045 ussr russia space race propaganda posters 11 - unique illustrations of how the ussr imagined life in space “Station Moon” by Pavel Klushantsev

1553703230646 ussr russia space race propaganda posters 12 - unique illustrations of how the ussr imagined life in space “Planet Bases” by Andrei Sokolov

1553703242006 ussr russia space race propaganda posters 13 - unique illustrations of how the ussr imagined life in space Cover of Tekhnika Molodezhi

Read more: Does Space Really Smell Like Fried Steak? Astronauts Debunk The Myths

1553703296151 ussr russia space race propaganda posters 14 - unique illustrations of how the ussr imagined life in space “Planet Bases” by Andrei Sokolov

1553703307394 ussr russia space race propaganda posters 15 - unique illustrations of how the ussr imagined life in space “Planet Bases” by Andrei Sokolov

1553703331530 ussr russia space race propaganda posters 4 - unique illustrations of how the ussr imagined life in space “Journey Into Cosmos” by A.S. Sysoyev, N.V. Shchelznyaka and N.M. Kolchitskogo

1553703348733 ussr russia space race propaganda posters 5 - unique illustrations of how the ussr imagined life in space “A city and a superhighway” by Sergei Gavrish

1553703361112 ussr russia space race propaganda posters 6 - unique illustrations of how the ussr imagined life in space “A community under the surface of Moon” from Tekhnika Molodezhi

1553703373704 ussr russia space race propaganda posters 8 - unique illustrations of how the ussr imagined life in space Cover of Tekhnika Molodezhi (Youth Technics Magazine)

1553703387463 ussr russia space race propaganda posters 9 - unique illustrations of how the ussr imagined life in space “Let’s Conquer Space” by L. Golovanov

Read more: The 19 Most Staggering Photos Of Our Universe That’ll Transport You To Other Worlds

1553703431146 ussr russia space race propaganda posters 16 - unique illustrations of how the ussr imagined life in space “Creative resources of Socialism are boundless!” by V. Viktorov

1553703449893 ussr russia space race propaganda posters 1 - unique illustrations of how the ussr imagined life in space From Station “Moon” (Stantsiia “Luna”) by Pavel Klushantsev

1553703461835 ussr russia space race propaganda posters 2 - unique illustrations of how the ussr imagined life in space “Untitled” by V. Burmistrov

1553703473989 ussr russia space race propaganda posters 3 - unique illustrations of how the ussr imagined life in space Cover of Tekhnika Molodezhi

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